Long covid brain fog mental health and Very High IQ (VHIQ)

Glossary 

Long Covid is where symptoms of COVID-19 remain, or develop, long after the initial infection – usually after 4 weeks. Symptoms of long COVID can last for weeks or sometimes months, and include: extreme fatigue (tiredness) shortness of breath, brain fog, heart palpitations, chest pain or tightness.

Brain Fog is a life-altering condition characterised by slow thinking, confusion, difficulty remembering things, and poor concentration

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Very High IQ is an IQ score over 140, while 120 - 140 is classed as "very superior intelligence". 110 - 119 is "superior intelligence", while 90 - 109 is "normal or average intelligence".

It's been a long time I did not write something in my blog but I wanted to share something with you today about my healing journey.

In March 2020 I caught covid-19. I won't go into the details but it was quite bad. I had 18 months of long covid symptoms including brain fog. It was very frustrating for me because my brain has always been my strength and my memory was amazing before covid-19. I was able to remember little insignificant details of everything. But while I had noticed that about my brain abilities I never ever thought It was not the same for everyone. I never questioned that. 

In June 2020, I had a conversation with a friend of mine from Bordeaux about something I posted on my social media. I usually post things to make people think or inspire them rarely light topics I have to admit. I am not interested  in them as I am not interested in conspiracy theories nor fake news either (because accuracy to me is extremely important).

My friend mentioned me for the first time the word "Zebra" (I learnt that day that Zebra was the nickname of someone highly gifted???)  and told me "did you notice you are one, aren't you? (well no not really!!! I said to myself). I replied to him "Hmmm I am pretty sure you are too presomptuous me highly gifted you are kidding!!!"  I had no idea what it was meaning at all. On a private conversation he sent to me lots of professional things to read. 

At that time I was still struggling with my brain fog so unable to focus properly as usual but I read it all and I decided to let my IQ checked by a professional by curiosity (I learnt after by my Neuropsy that being curious and open to new experience is a sign of High IQ, I did not know. Arborescent divergent thinking, introversion (and shyness), extreme empathy, brutal honesty, creativity and hypersensitivity are also a sign of it).

I asked one of my friends who is psychiatrist here in Melbourne to guide me properly on that  new journey of self discovery and he referred me to one of his colleagues Neuropsychiatrist. We were at that time in lockdown. So we did the WAIS-IV online. I was very stressed and my brain fog was playing a bad game with me too because of my anxiety level (another symptoms of long covid unfortunately). 

I had 3 sessions, first the interview, second the tests that last ages, third the results and debrief.

I was shocked by the result full scale IQ 143 I could not believe it at all but after the debrief it made sense especially since I had brain fog (which I talked about it with my neuropsy) because I was feeling very disabled without my brain and my memory. 

My life did not change much after I found out the result but I got to know myself better but I had experienced lot of rejections and misunderstanding because people were thinking that I was way too much for them to handle. I was not like them so difference makes people scared unfortunately. I cleaned my entourage. 

I did not give up on humankind. I started to do even more research on the topic in terms of medical studies and brain research and especially how to fix my brain fog symptoms.

Research into the biological bases of human intelligence differences is surveyed. Work on brain event-related potentials (ERPs) suggests that people with high IQ test scores: 

(1) show faster responses in some test conditions; 

(2) have ERP waveforms that can be distinguished from those of people with lower IQs; and 

(3) might have less variability in their ERPs. 

People with higher psychometric intelligence have, on average, larger brains, and possibly faster neural conduction speed. A few small functional brain-scanning studies suggest that, in healthy individuals, people who are of higher IQ have lower cerebral metabolic rates during mentally active conditions. 

The last research shows that the brains of highly intelligent individuals are better at staying focused, the research suggests. People with higher IQs have more stable interactions between regions of their brain, a study finds. 

So you get now the big picture... brain fog makes you lacking of focus but your brain as a VHIQ wants to stay focus in any circumstances. So you feel like you are becoming completely nut you start fighting against yourself and it is increasing even more your level of anxiety. 

I was living in a dark vicious circle. What if I have lost my memory for good? What if I lose my cognitive function for good? This is the kind of questions I asked myself for 20 months on and on.  The long covid was not (and still is not) a pleasurable experience but I think for me personally the worst was the brain fog. I felt like my life was a nightmare and seriously, I started to become seriously depressed about it. I was moody and extremely reactive to others... 

I lost 2 jobs in a row (I never experienced that before) because I was disabled (yes let's call a spade a spade) without being officially recognised as if (Australia still does not recognise long covid). I kept that to myself (because I tend to never ask help when I've got an issue, I always fixed my own problem by myself since my youth) and some of my entourage have been recently shocked to know the reality of my life and what I was experiencing (some of you will be now I presume too). 

It's been now few months that I got back to normal no more brain fog and so the full capacity of my brain. I fixed it with vaccinations, dance therapy movement (which gave me the idea of helping more people with long covid and brain fog in the future), healthy lifestyle, healthy food (no alcohol and lots of exercises). My sleeping pattern is not back to the normal so I work on that right now. It is a long recovery journey but I am getting there. 

The positive thing is that I know now who I am, my abilities, my limits, my vulnerability and also I know that it made me stronger than ever. The lesson I learnt from that... not being ashamed to ask for help when it is necessary!

My new journey is about to start and I hope to be able (with my skills and experience) to help as many people I can in their rehabilitation journey. 

Long covid, brain fog and mental health can happen to anyone so keep an eye to your entourage. Remember that someone who struggles is not often someone who looks depressed. Some signs can alert you such as change in mood, hermit mode, or someone smiling too much but their eyes show pain.