Brain fog after trauma is real and measurable. Research links trauma and chronic stress to slower processing, weaker focus and working memory, and harder decisions, because stress chemicals weaken the brain’s planning center, the prefrontal cortex. Studies also suggest these stress-related changes can improve when stress eases.

Over the last nine months, I have been blown away by what our team is learning about how trauma and thinking are linked.

Last week I shared Tanisha’s Rising Phoenix story. She told me she spent years trying to figure out who she was. If you have carried that same weight, you may know the other side of it: reading the same email three times, losing your train of thought mid-sentence, or second-guessing a decision you already made.

What Is Brain Fog After Trauma?

Brain fog is a common name for a group of symptoms: trouble concentrating, slower thinking, forgetfulness, and a sense that your mind is full of static. It is not a medical diagnosis. Instead, it describes what many people feel, and researchers can measure how thinking changes underneath it. After trauma, grief, or illness, it can show up as difficulty focusing, holding information in mind, and making choices.

Why Can’t I Think Clearly After Trauma?

Your brain is built to protect you. When you live through danger, it learns to stay on alert. Stress chemicals flood the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain you use to focus, hold information in mind, weigh options, and decide. Research from Yale neuroscientist Amy Arnsten shows that even mild, uncontrollable stress can quickly weaken those prefrontal abilities, and longer stress changes the structure of the brain cells involved. Meanwhile, the amygdala, your fast threat-detection system, takes the lead. That is useful in an emergency but exhausting as a way to live.

The effect shows up in studies. For example, a 2015 meta-analysis in Psychological Bulletin pooled 60 studies and more than 4,000 people, and found that people with PTSD scored lower on tests of verbal learning, processing speed, attention, working memory, and executive function. Newer research agrees: a 2025 analysis of 53 studies found the same pattern, with a smaller overall effect.

In plain terms, brain fog is real, and it is a modest shift that research suggests can improve, not a sign that something is permanently broken.

Your brain is not broken.

I need to say it again for anyone who was convinced like I was for decades: your brain is not broken.

There is healing. And there is so much hope and goodness ahead!

Why do I second guess everything after trauma?

Part of the answer is the same prefrontal story. Under stress, decisions tend to shift toward more risk-taking and less careful weighing, according to a 2016 meta-analysis of 32 datasets, though the effect is small. When the part of you that decides is working through static, every choice can feel heavier. It’s decision fatigue on a whole new level.

The other part is how you see yourself.

Brain imaging studies find that in people with PTSD, the brain’s self-related network responds differently when they judge words and images about themselves. That does not mean something is wrong with you. It means that after trauma, your brain may be working from an older story about who you are, and in our experience it can take new evidence for that story to update.

Is brain fog after trauma permanent?

It does not have to be. Your brain is constantly collecting evidence of who you are. It also defaults to familiar patterns, which is why old thinking returns so quickly. Once your brain receives new evidence that challenges those patterns, things can start to change for the better!

Grief can leave a similar fog. A 2023 review proposes that grief pulls the brain’s memory and habit systems out of balance, which may explain the foggy, forgetful feeling many people describe.

Can you measure brain fog?

Brain fog is how it feels. Researchers measure how the thinking changes underneath it.

At FIORIA, we do this with our Brain Analysis, which uses a touch-based cognitive tool developed by Dr. Mark Tommerdahl, our neuroscience advisor.

Does the Brain Analysis hurt?

Absolutely not. Gentle vibrations are sent through your fingertips, and you answer simple questions, such as which finger felt the vibration first. The session takes about 15 minutes and scores eight measures: your brain’s processing speed, focus, fatigue, accuracy, sequencing, timing perception, plasticity, and connectivity. It is not a diagnostic tool, and we do not use it to diagnose anything. We use it to track tangible change.

During a Rising Phoenix Experience, we take a Brain Analysis three times: early in the day, midway through, and at the end. Here is what we are seeing. In early results from about a dozen clients and case study participants, scores such as reaction time and focus have improved by 30 to 60%, and those gains are holding five to six months later! We are still early in the research, and I will keep sharing what we learn.

Dr. Tommerdahl has reviewed the results with us and presented them to clinicians he works with!

Brian and I can’t believe it. What started in 2020 as one question, how can we help people see themselves the way God sees them, is now being discussed by clinicians. Cue tears. So many tears.

But we don’t want this experience to be limited to a one-day mountain top experience. We want full integration for you! Lasting change! Freedom and healing in ways you never imagined possible!

What helps the brain recover?

I am not a therapist, and the Rising Phoenix Experience is not a replacement for therapy or medical care. If your fog is severe, sudden, or getting worse, please talk with your doctor.

We are seeing early signs that repeating true evidence, which the brain sees visually many times a day, supports lasting change for our Rising Phoenixes and case study participants.

What I can tell you is that I see a powerful shift when we give the brain new evidence.

Before a Rising Phoenix day, we ask the people who love you what they see in you, and we read those Words aloud to you. You revisit specific memories where you tapped into your strengths, I guide you into embodying those truths, and you leave the day with Best Of photos that represent who you truly are.

Over the next 9 to 12 months, we follow you with neuroscience-backed exercises, check-ins, and more Brain Analysis, so what shifts on the day integrates into daily life.

Tanisha is a good example of what that evidence can do. Weeks after her portraits arrived, she wrote: “…this is what healing and being set free looks like.” You can read her full story in Why Do I Avoid Photos of Myself? One Woman Flew In to See Herself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can trauma cause brain fog?

Brain fog after trauma is real and measurable. Research links trauma and chronic stress to slower processing, weaker focus and working memory, and harder decisions. Brain fog is a lay term rather than a diagnosis. However, the thinking changes behind it can be measured.

How long does brain fog last after trauma?

It varies from person to person. Studies suggest stress-related changes can improve when stress eases, but no one can give you a timeline. If the fog lasts or gets worse, talk with your doctor or therapist.

Is trauma brain fog permanent?

Research suggests it does not have to be. The brain is always collecting evidence of who you are and what is true. We build new evidence into every part of your day, which can bring powerful breakthroughs.

Why do I second guess everything after trauma?

Stress weakens the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s decision center, and trauma can change how the brain responds to information about yourself. Together, those shifts can make choices feel harder and self-trust feel shaky.

Can grief or illness cause brain fog?

Yes. Many people report fog during grief or illness, and a 2023 review proposes a brain-based explanation for grief fog. Researchers are still studying it. Grief is a sacred journey. If you are in the midst of grief, be kind to yourself. Give yourself permission to take up more space and time. You are worthy of it.

Can you measure brain fog?

Brain fog itself is a feeling, but related thinking skills can be measured. What your brain is experiencing is real. At FIORIA, we use a specific Brain Analysis, a touch-based cognitive assessment tool, three times during a Rising Phoenix day.

What is the Rising Phoenix Experience?

A two-part experience. Part One is a full day at the FIORIA studio in Frisco, Texas, for people healing from trauma, grief, illness, pain, or sudden life change. This experience has also been powerful for high performers who have hit a glass ceiling in how they see themselves and what they are capable of.

Part Two follows for 9 to 12 months with neuroscience-backed exercises, check-ins, and more Brain Analysis.

How do I get started?

Book a free Rising Phoenix Clarity Call with Me Ra or Brian.

If your brain needs a breakthrough

If you are exhausted by brain fog and second-guessing every decision, you are not broken, and you are not alone. This is who the Rising Phoenix Experience is for. If that’s you, book a free clarity call with me or Brian.

Book Your Free Rising Phoenix Clarity Call

We have four Rising Phoenix dates left in December. If your brain needs a breakthrough before the new year, let’s talk.

with so much love, still we rise

Me Ra

About Me Ra Koh: Me Ra Koh’s story begins in a psychiatric ward, after years of believing her brain was broken. From living out of her car to capturing the beauty of resilience, her work has been featured on Oprah, Live with Kelly & Mark, and her Disney show Capture the Story. She is the co-founder of FIORIA and the FIORIA Institute in Frisco, Texas, where she and her husband Brian created Visual Identity Embodiment, a neuroscience-informed approach with a dramatic impact on people who feel stuck in their healing or their performance. It is the foundation of their Rising Phoenix Experience, a full-day experience with Brain Analysis, followed by a year of guided integration. In 2007, Sony invited her to be one of the first women photographers sponsored by a camera manufacturer. She is the author of six books. A sought-after keynote speaker, she has taken the stage across North America, Europe, and Asia, to audiences as large as 20,000. Follow Me Ra on Instagram at @merakoh for neuroscience-informed insights on identity, brain health, and worth.

Sources

• Scott et al., 2015, Psychological Bulletin, meta-analysis of neurocognitive functioning in PTSD: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25365762/
• Aspelund et al., 2025, European Journal of Psychotraumatology, multilevel meta-analysis: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11894747/
• Arnsten, 2009, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, stress and the prefrontal cortex: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn2648
• Starcke and Brand, 2016, Psychological Bulletin, decision making under stress: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Decision-making-under-stress:-A-selective-review-Starcke-Brand/920eb37402dc95de6497d31f99b8b79c0d88829d
• Bluhm et al., 2012, self-reflection in PTSD: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2011.01773.x
• Frewen et al., 2017, self- and other-referential processing in women with PTSD: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5475303/
• Liston, McEwen, and Casey, 2009, PNAS, stress and prefrontal attention control: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23782649_Liston_C_McEwen_BS_Casey_BJ_Psychosocial_stress_reversibly_disrupts_prefrontal_processing_and_attentional_control_Proc_Natl_Acad_Sci_USA_106_912-917
• McEwen et al., stress effects on neuronal structure: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4677120/
• 2023 review of neurocognitive processes in bereavement: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37172799/
• Cortical Metrics, how the brain analysis works: https://www.corticalmetrics.com/howitworks
• Mikkelsen et al., 2020, Scientific Reports, reproducibility of vibrotactile measures: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-63208-z