An unofficial term
coined by a Noah Colpaert for the condition
know as "brain
fog" taking the prefix "ideo," meaning "idea," and combining it with with the word "atrophy," meaning the wasting away of the body. The wasting away of
one's ability to process information clearly.
In most cases, ideotrophy is a temporary condition that comes and goes. It is a form of dissociation, similar to amnesia, anhedonia, and analgesia. Most commonly, you
may experience this condition when your body is fatigued, when it must prioritize other functions over the mind's ability to process information due to the body
lacking sufficient energy. In the
case of dissociation as a result of trauma, the body reacts to the mind by intervening and inhibiting thought to preserve emotional stability and side-step triggers from past trauma—often against the wishes and even to the detriment of the person suffering from the condition.
"I don't know
doc... It's
like there's this veil between me and my thoughts: is that fogginess in my head ideotrophy?"
Some
guy on the internet couldn't find an official term for "brain
fog" after searching senselessly for an hour and created the word "ideotrophy" to sate his frustrations.
One
day, "ideotrophy" may be adopted as an official term to describe the condition commonly known as "brain
fog."
Ideotrophy, analgesia, amnesia, and anhedonia are all potential symptoms affiliated with dissociation and dissociative disorders—especially with regards to the aspect of depersonalization, more so than derealization.