Anyone else feel like COVID broke their brain?

no

I've had every jab you can, never had covid -- started running marathons during the pandemic and I'm in my fifties. Times keep dropping. My career is going gangbusters and I've got a couple million saved and a few sweet real estate holdings to keep cash flow flowin'. Not feeling the side effects you have made up to justify your selfishness.

The silver lining of the past 3-4 years is that they revealed who has critical thinking skills and who is closer to animal than human. Unfortunately most fall into the latter category. You’d hope that they wouldnt make the same mistake twice, but they have very short memories. It’s sad when it’s a loved one.

I think it has been hard whether you got Covid or not, whether you got the vax or not, whether you were directly impacted or only indirectly...

The fabric of our society was torn and when it was all said and done, we seem to have settled on the "you are in this on your own" as our national response. I think that is pretty typical for America since the Liberals and the Conservatives don't like being told how to live their lives. It is the one thing Americans seem to have in common, myself included.

But that has meant that we have to "do our own homework" and make our own choices and if we mess up, it is our fault. But of course you can't really fix big medical, environmental, social or economic problems by yourself; e.g. climate change, Trump, Covid, A.I., Tran-Women in Women's Sport, Russia, Biden's age, homeless camps, Gaza, single-use plastics, shootings, fentanyl, the southern border, etc.

You feel like you should "do something" about these problems but you can't really fix them.

This is the reality that results in America's anxiety, stress, anger, violence, drug-use. Some of us on this board are "doing just fine" but that doesn't mean the country is doing okay.

Sir what you are describing is depression.

I don't think the illness itself had any particular impact on my, but I'm definitely traumatized by the experience of Covid as a whole. It felt to me like the world had gone mad. I'm still so mad about the impact of school closures on my kids, as well as the endless masking in schools afterwards.

But I think you'll probably feel better if you just find your exercise passion again. It doesn't have to be running. My IT band won't let me run like I used to, so I've been finding a passion for cycling and skiing. Being active helps tremendously with anxiety and depression; I speak from experience.

It also doesn't hurt to talk to a psychiatrist.

Mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety, often feel like your brain "broke" one day all by themselves. Being concerned about highly unlikely events like COVID being the cause of your depression and anxiety is probably a form of health anxiety in itself.

I definitely relate to the OP and think that the post about collective trauma was spot on. I had COVID twice, but it was mild and not a big deal. For me, it's all psychological and the result of a lot of horrible experiences that interrupted all of my momentum. I know that the pandemic didn't affect everyone that much, and I am happy for those who had that experience. It absolutely turned my life upside down - I was in NYC when it started and the lockdown was very disturbing. Then I moved back in with my parents, watched the world burn that summer post-George Floyd and as election tensions rose, and watched my mom wither away with Alzheimer's. Just as I was starting to feel "back to normal" at the end of 2021, the new year started with my girlfriend suffering a significant freak injury requiring multiple surgeries, my best friend very suddenly dying of a drug overdose (he had been clean and sober for years) and my mom dying a few weeks later.

Almost two years after the deaths and four years after the start of the pandemic, I am definitely still recovering. The good news is that I've had plenty of good times and made some nice progress in certain areas in my life, but all of that time alone and being a hermit during the pandemic + all of those other awful experiences definitely took the wind out of my sails. It feels like before the pandemic, I was in my early 30s and taking life by the horns, and I blinked and now I'm pushing 40 and not nearly as motivated as I used to be. But, again, I've certainly had a lot to be grateful for and enjoyed many positive experiences even in the worst of times, and brick by brick I am building "the new normal." I am trying not to put too much pressure on myself to be madly in love with life all the time while also recognizing that life is short and that I want to make the most of every day regardless of circumstances or what has happened in the last few years.

Best of luck to you <3

I say again the gist of my post that was deleted.

My one and only illness caused by a Covid-19 infection made me mentally stronger.

Mods out of control.

Dang! I'm so sorry. Keep pushing forward. It sounds like you're gaining a healthy perspective, at least. Best of luck to *you* and to all of us. ((Hugs)) all around.

covid was a scheme by China and Russia to trick the west into crapping out its economy. It worked.

The Russians never developed an mRNA vaccine and didn't mandate their stuff for everyone. They just kind of played along. They don't even allow GMOs there at all. Healthiest people in the world, that's how they destroyed the west's entire arsenal of planes, tanks, artillery shells

Not sure at this point what the harm is in you vaccinated folks admitting the jab is ruining your health. Seriously. I hear this all day from elderly folks who’ve had multiple jabs and their doctors lie about some long haul nonsense. They all are depressed and miserable but can’t fathom that 7 shots could be doing damage.

Have you ever considered that the overwhelming majority of people who got vaccinated maybe just….didn't have any side effects or consequences…? I got vaccinated and then 2 boosters as was required for international travel and I never experienced a single side effect. I was fit and healthy beforehand and I’m even fitter and healthier now.

I never got Covid (to my knowledge) but knew enough people that got it and were knocked on their ass for weeks afterwards that to me it was a no brainer to reduce my own risk. All the “scary” side effects people type to hype up (myocarditis etc), the funny thing is that just getting a base case of covid had an EVEN STRONGER chance of causing those side effects.

I don’t really care if you got the shots or not, but the idea that those who did are somehow hiding their failing health from you out of shame is looney tunes level of stupid

Sounds like you just hate your job dude

What kind of person would down-vote you and Intergalactic? I appreciated his honest look at the last (very hard) 4 years in his life and I also appreciated your kind words of support for him. I felt the same way.

Yet someone down-votes that? Weird...

I agree with this. It is weird that people cherry-pick the few people who have had negative post-vax outcomes but ignore the billion people who didn't suffer any side effects (and also didn't get killed by Covid).

I am not rushing back to get a vax every time they come out with a new one, but I am not scared of vaccines either.

Covid was not a scheme invented by the Russians, Chinese, Big Pharma, Biden, or Trump.

And yes, the vaccines turn a profit for the the companies that sell them but that doesn't mean they don't work. Ford, for example, makes "big profits" selling trucks and the trucks also work. The same can apply to a vaccine. Everything in life doesn't have to be a conspiracy...

I run outside everyday, take vitamin d, have a decent social life.

How do I fix this persistent fog?

Boom. Not the disease or the vaccine. It's us and how we've allowed real interactions and attention to be monopolized by tech. All for profit. It was happening already, but COVID was rocket fuel. In some ways I understand the conspiracy theories. It could seem like an evil plan by big tech.

Obviously is/was the disease for those who died and those who lost loved ones. But this thing and this era changed almost everyone.