WELLBEING
ASK Mariella
In her introductory Second Act column for HELLO!, Mariella Frostrup takes a deep dive into brain fog
PHOTO: KATE MARTIN/THE FOLD. THE INFORMATION IN THIS COLUMN IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE, DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENT
HELLO! SECOND ACT
Q Dear Mariella, is it possible to identify brain fog, as opposed to that vague feeling of simply not being sufficiently across things, which many women suffer from?
‘Brain fog is less talked about but it is as common as the hot flush. As someone who comes from two generations of dementia on my maternal line, I feel as though a permanent damp sponge has been in my head since the age of 48.
When I did live radio every day, I scribbled down every passing thought or it would evaporate into thin air. Worse still is forgetting names, such as that of my best friend’s 20-year-old. That happened to me last weekend as I was telling an anecdote. Their name floated back into my head at 2am the following morning, when I’d much rather have been asleep.