Everyone's talking about 'brain rot,' and it's no joke. Here's how to avoid it.
Feeling confused? You're not alone.
A man having some serious confusion brought on by brain rot.
Do you ever feel like your brain has turned to hamburger? You have difficulty concentrating, mental fogginess and zero attention span. That is a condition known as “brain rot.” Although it isn’t a medical term, plenty of research shows that overstimulation from spending too much time scrolling through social media can create a mushy mental state.
It makes complete sense that spending too much time scrolling through TikTok should break your brain because it evolved to hunt and gather on the African Savannah, not to endlessly scroll through Instagram reels.
When your brain feels like it has disintegrated into yogurt and you can’t muster up a cogent thought, you’re probably having trouble with executive functioning, which consists of your working memory, mental elasticity and self-control. Studies have shown that people who are addicted to social media have trouble with trouble sleeping as well.
Difficulty sleeping can exacerbate mental fogginess, making the brain fog even worse.
How do you know if you’re addicted to social media? If you get seriously agitated when you can’t scroll on your favorite apps or if it’s getting in the way of other hobbies, activities, or responsibilities.
It may seem like scrolling through your phone is a harmless activity, but it’s so enjoyable because it causes some strong neurochemical reactions in your brain.
Scrolling through social media triggers the release of dopamine, a neurochemical that creates feelings of satisfaction and pleasure. The more you scroll, the more you crave it. Your brain links scrolling with gratification, even if you know it has adverse effects. Over time, this can lead to a behavioral addiction.
When people spend too much time on their phones, it can rewire their reward centers so that getting positive mental dopamine rewards from rewarding things such as working on a hobby or hanging out with people in real life becomes less pleasurable than scrolling, posting and getting likes.
Brain scans of people who are addicted to social media resemble those of drug addicts.
When all of this information is taken together, it’s clear that the little phone in our pocket can tremendously impact our ability to think, feel and interact with the real world. So what can we do?
If you feel like your brain has become as helpful as an old catcher’s mitt, it’s probably time to put your phone down and touch grass, work on a non-digital hobby, or have coffee with a friend.
According to the American Psychological Association, enjoying nature is one of the best ways to overcome a sluggish mind. “There is mounting evidence, from dozens and dozens of researchers, that nature has benefits for both physical and psychological human wellbeing,” says Lisa Nisbet, PhD, a psychologist at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, who studies the benefits of people connecting with nature. “You can boost your mood just by walking in nature, even in urban nature. And the sense of connection you have with the natural world seems to contribute to happiness even when you’re not physically immersed in nature.”
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
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An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
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Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.