[Frogm4n]

I've read on and off for years, but there wasn't usually more than a week gap at the longest. Then, I came down with multiple rounds of COVID-19 and have lasting effects including brain fog. At times I simply can not read without constantly losing my place on the page or becoming suddenly exhausted. There's something about long form that is especially taxing, be it books or articles or movies or a TV series. It's quite a contrast in that long form reading is difficult, but random things like forums, short form news, social media, etc. aren't especially taxing.

On good stretches I can read and read and burn through a few books. If I get too much mental or health stress then I'm only going to be good enough to watch YouTube videos and space out. I'm very sure I've lost IQ points from it, but I get to wait for a(n upcoming) medical evaluation to confirm how poorly it's gotten. I've started using a phrase that sounds silly, but is effective at communicating a bad day: "Sorry, I couldn't brain enough to get X done today."

What I find also interesting is that I was a tutor for adult students with learning disabilities/TBI when I was in college. I'm now experiencing exactly what some of those people were.