I was staring at a computer screen that I had seen many times before. My mind went “blank”. A person was sitting across from me waiting to share her information to sign up as a new member at the YMCA. I couldn’t remember how to type the information on the computer… It had been so easy and I had typed it many times before. I had to ask my boss to finish the computer work. He gave me a very confused look, but completed the process. Later he asked what happened and I blamed it on menopause. Needless to say he never brought it up again.

It had been about a year after my husband’s passing. I was moving forward. I was able to move out of our home to a new neighborhood. I was routinely getting out of bed and arriving at my new part-time job on time. I was going through the motions greeting the members with smiles and I was successfully completing my job responsibilities. This moment tripped me up. Why did my mind go blank? Why was I struggling to complete the steps on the computer? It didn’t dawn on me that I could be suffering from “brain fog”…

Merriam Webster’s definition of brain fog…”usually temporary state of diminished mental capacity marked by inability to concentrate or to think or reason clearly.”

Cambridge English Dictionary’s definition of brain fog… “a condition in which you cannot think clearly or pay attention to things in a satisfactory way.

The discussion of the brain fog led me to look into how the brain copes with trauma. I came across this website that helped me understand what can happen to a brain when it has suffered trauma. It definitely happened to me.