‘Is there something wrong with me?’: A qualitative study on Covid-19 brain fog experience among selected Filipino college students

• Main Authors: Cabrera, Ma Lucellina Bartolome, Bautista, Bianca Denise Roa, Mendoza, Ricci Marie Cuesta, Nasol, Anne Faustine Jomoc
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2022
• Subjects: Brain; Cognition disorders > Students; Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_psych/22; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdb_psych/article/1033/viewcontent/2022_BautistaCabrera_Mendoza_Nasol_Is_There_Something_Wrong_With_Me_Full_text.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in the Philippines, studies about the consequences of the virus on the human body continue to emerge as well. At a cognitive level, little is known about how the virus affects the functioning of an individual who becomes infected. Thus, the study aimed to make sense of the experiences of Filipino college students who had brain fog due to COVID-19, as well as how brain fog affected their cognitive abilities and mental health, through the lens of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Semi-structured interviews with four college students from Metro Manila were conducted through Zoom. The students were asked about their experiences, feelings, and the state of their cognitive functioning within and outside the university. The steps in IPA were carried out in the analysis of data, and this revealed five (5) superordinate themes: challenges due to virus contraction, challenges in cognitive processes, negative emotionality, negative self-perception, and active efforts to address brain fog. Furthermore, the implications of the findings were discussed in relation to COVID-19 experiences, brain fog symptoms, and mental health after-effects. Keywords: brain fog, cognitive deficits, interpretative phenomenological analysis, COVID-19, college students, experiences