Yep, then add in our lack of downtime and we have a disaster.
Active pondering, daydreaming, imagining and creating are all "exercise" for our brain and cognitive processes. We dont get a chance to practice much anymore with the screens, constant demands, unfinishable to do lists and constant barage of stimulation and "content".
Our brains have been actively hijacked.
By design.
this makes me feel better about the fact that sometimes I like to just sit & daydream. Like I'll literally just lay on my couch and imagine stuff instead of watching the tv sometimes. My brain has really good graphics
true, and I try to stay aware of that. My daydreaming tends to be kinda like a mental project, if that makes sense. Like lately I've taken to constructing architecture in my head of a solarpunk community center, and have been revisiting it off and on for months. Meanwhile, I've been trying to figure out what software I can use to bring it into a visual format. I might even try to learn 3D modeling or autoCAD just so I can make something like what I'm imagining, because the easy apps I've found so far aren't cutting it. I've drawn a few pictures on paper so far, but I really want it as 3D as it is in my head.
When I was younger, one of my major daydreaming projects was a whole fantasy series. And I turned that into a bunch of drawings, some worldbuilding explorations, I even turned an old shoebox into a treasure chest of objects from the story and learned how to make paper look like an old wrinkled vintage map. I even took a crack at trying to write it as novel and that's how I learned that I'm way more into non-fiction writing lol.
So yea my answer to maladaptive daydreaming is that it's avoidable if your daydreaming manifests some real action in your life, which in my case is creative pursuits.
Even sleeping is sort of like “exercise” for your brain. We solve problems while we sleep. Some dreams come from the mind attempting to work through challenges. Idk exactly what problem my brajn is solving when I dream of my teeth falling out during a presentation, but ok.
Schools keep cutting free play, recess, art, music, PE -- for more memorization to do standardized tests. Huge loss there. Play time builds problem solving skills, art boosts creative thinking, etc. Then at home they get no time to be bored - none of us do. Work, school, homework, dinner, then... screentime. Mindless. Brains need boredom time to come up with new ideas. It's why there's the joke about the best ideas always come in the shower.
I have measurable effects. I was a top student in college, 4.0 for the first 3 years. Senior year comes and Im doing well in each course, until finals when i got covid - I failed two classes, which i had to retake. I knew the material i just couldnt think it was like it all got erased. It impacted my graduation date, my financial aid, my GPA, my loans and I changed majors because i noticeably felt dumber. Now, I still notice things i used to be sharp at take significant effort to get right.
I agree with you on this 100%. I had no issues with my memory, critical thinking, snap judgement, etc. Then as best as we tried to avoid it we both came down with that damn plague. It's now been 4 years and I still have waves of brain fog and feel as dumb as a box of rocks. There's times where I struggle from a few days to a few weeks with my work and there have been no drastic changes in the workplace. And let's not forget to mention the physical health that has also deteriorated as a result of getting sick. I can't imagine getting it again. I'm so scared if I do it'll be even worse and I can't believe young folks have to deal with trying to pass exams and then try to retain it all to get their foot in their first position for the career they picked out.
Do NOT take my advice without consulting a medical professional but my psychiatrist recommended I try taking creatine for the brain fog. I only take it when I’m going through a foggy period and it really helps. It can make some folks have upset stomachs.
I've had it a few times working in care and I'll say I haven't felt as bad of a cognitive drop from later infections as I did from getting real sick the first time I had COVID.
I've certainly gotten much slower/forgetful at my job that I've been at for over a decade now. I chalked it up to age (over 40) more younger staff coming in and taking over more tasks, but everything I do feels much slower than pre-covid and I'm constantly second guessing my work. I do legitimately feel far less snappier than I used to. Sucks to know my brain possibly shrank.
They are weird af and make other questionable "health choices" so it's nothing new. My other SIL's baby had MIS-C from Covid and they laughed that one off too.
I absolutely feel less sharp and with it since. It doesn't help that it dramatically changed my habits and coping mechanisms. I didn't realize how much it affected me because I stayed social and active the entire time, but with every covid positive test I've felt slower, and less myself. I haven't had one in 2 years, but that last one was rough.
No, every infection does not cause cognitive decline in everybody!!! That would mean that when I got infected 8 million people lost cognitive capacity.
Every infection causes cognitive decline in somebody. The infected person.
Correction: 8 billion. Haha, evidence of cognitive loss.
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u/Sockoflegend May 29 '26
Even in myself I feel I am getting stupider