Jackie McGregor: In a daze - what happens in vagueness stays in vagueness
Recently, whilst filming the fourth Bridget Jones movie, actress Renee Zellweger, was photographed frantically trying to get into her rented home in London. She wiggled the keys in the lock until she finally realised that she was trying to get into the wrong house.
At 55, Renee is a candidate for menopausal brain fog. Though not a medical term, brain fog describes the symptoms that may present as confusion, a loss of immediate focus, distraction, misplacement of items or just not remembering why you went into a room. There is a plethora of ways it can manifest and all of them are quite scary, because many women worry that they might be getting early onset dementia due to foggy memory and the inability to think clearly.
Being of a similar age I know only too well that sinking feeling when your brain appears to have left the building. An example is the night I came out of the chippie, armed with suppers. I jumped into the car, turned to my husband who was driving and issued the instructions, “Step on it, I’m starving!” I then asked him,
“Why are you wearing that stupid hat?” It was as these words left my mouth that I saw from the corner of my eye, my husband sitting in the next car. I’d gotten into the wrong motor! To add to my brain fog, I was under stress, my father had been very ill, and I was worried about him.
When I got a call to say dad was in hospital, I rushed there. The nurse pointed to him. He was unconscious with a huge oxygen mask on. I stroked his hand and kissed his head. He was so ill he looked unrecognisable, which wasn’t surprising, as it wasn’t him! Dad was in the next cubicle. I had accosted a stranger for a good fifteen minutes in my panicked daze, before I realised my mistake. If was as though my brain just couldn’t compute.
I know this is hormonally induced, as I’ve had a brain scan, due to an unrelated medical condition and amazingly, all was normal!
Brain fog affects around two thirds of menopausal and premenopausal women. It’s caused by changing hormone levels in the female brain. Difficulty in concentrating is common. The good news is it isn’t permanent. Harvard Medical School say that menopause is an intense time of life and changes in the brain and body come and go.
Brain fog causes many women to experience moments of confusion and distraction, though few share them with others for fear of being negatively judged - a case of what happens in vagueness stays in vagueness!
My 55-year-old friend suffered a vagueness episode recently when she lost her husband at a large event. He’d told her where to meet him, but she couldn’t recall where. As she searched, she got talking to another woman who’d also mislaid her spouse in the crowd.
“Perhaps we could help each other find our hubbies,” she offered, “what does your husband look like?” she asked.
“He’s over six feet tall, tanned, has green eyes and brown hair. He’s fit and muscly and the spitting image of Hugh Jackman! What does your husband look like?” my friend queried.
“Oh, forget him,” the woman replied excitedly, “let’s find yours!”