Diane came to Flourish with Fatigue looking for support with brain fog that had developed since having long COVID. She had begun noticing thinking problems, particularly at work, where the difficulties felt most visible. She described how proud she used to be of her cognitive abilities: She could multitask easily, keep a mental to-do list in her head, follow busy work conversations, and remember the names of people she had met earlier. Now those things felt much harder, and she found herself worrying that colleagues might notice the difference. That growing sense of insecurity about how she was coming across at work had begun to affect her mental health.
She talked about how frustrating and disheartening this shift had been. “I just want it to be the way it was.” What she was describing was a natural longing for how things used to be, and a sense of loss around what had once felt so easy. We spent time acknowledging just how much this mattered to her, and how painful it is to notice that change.
As we gently stayed with this experience, it became clearer how often her mind returned to the thought: “But I used to be able to do it differently.” This thought carried a great deal of emotional weight: sadness, frustration, and a sense of unfairness. We began by making space for it: noticing when it showed up, recognising the feelings it brought with it, and acknowledging that, given what she had been through, it was understandable that her mind would go there.
Diane began to notice that she was often caught in a kind of internal struggle, a tug-of-war with her thoughts, feelings, memories, and sense of self. At times this looked like trying to push thoughts away or “get rid” of them. At other times, it meant getting pulled in and overwhelmed by them. From an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) perspective, this struggle with our internal experience, when something matters deeply, is very common. It can take up a lot of energy.
A key part of the work involved gently helping Diane turn toward these moments with awareness. Together, we practised noticing when she was being pulled into the struggle, often beginning with small pauses, moments to step back and simply observe what was happening in her mind and body. Importantly, this wasn’t about forcing the thoughts or feelings to change, but about relating to them differently: acknowledging their presence, recognising their emotional weight, and meeting them with compassion.
By exploring this more compassionate relationship to her thoughts and feelings, Diane was able to direct more of her energy and attention towards practical ways to manage her thinking problems.
For example, meetings had become one of the most draining parts of Diane’s workday. She described feeling like conversations were moving too quickly, and by the time she had processed one point, the group had already moved on. We explored ways to make work meetings more manageable.
- Preparing in advance: When possible, Diane asked for agendas or documents ahead of meetings. Spending a few minutes reviewing them meant that the information wasn’t completely new when the conversation started.
- Taking a few minutes to reset: Diane found that doing a short mindful practice or going for a brief walk before and after a meeting helped her to feel calmer and meet her worries with more compassion.
- Creating a note template: Instead of trying to capture everything, she developed a note taking system that helped her to identify what was most important. She found she could be more present in meetings, and more confident that she knew what actions to take afterwards.
- Finding comfortable ways to request pauses and repetitions: Diane found a few phrases such as “Just give me a second to note that down” felt that they supported her to slow things down but in a way that felt both manageable and aligned with how she wanted to come across at work.
At Flourish with Fatigue, our therapy service supports people living with persistent fatigue, including long COVID, ME/Chronic Fatigue syndrome, burnout, autism burnout, menopause, and neurological conditions, to navigate the cognitive, emotional, and practical challenges that often come with them. Our work combines compassionate psychological support with practical strategies for living well alongside fatigue.