Staring trances: is this an aspie thing?

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Dark_Lord_2008
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09 May 2011, 1:06 am

Staring is rude. Do not stare at people.



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09 May 2011, 1:16 am

Absence seizures? It can depend on how long they last and how much awareness you lose. I've actually had moments where I've lost a good hour due to seizure activity in my brain.
Sometimes I can be thinking and then suddenly realise I'm thinking something different. That could be more inattention though. I can't concentrate on my own thoughts.

It could be zoning out which I do too but that involves some daydreaming.

Sometimes in stressful environments I do stare at walls or ceilings and then forget I am until someone says my name and snaps me back into reality.

Absence seizures can be few seconds to a few minutes in length and you really don't know what you were doing before that.

I zoned out much more as a child. I wasn't so much in my head back then, well I was , but my thoughts were not as detailed as they are today. I could easily be staring blankly and not thinking a thing. It's like losing mental consciousness but without passing out.


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09 May 2011, 9:26 am

I do less zoning out than I did before. I remember my boss kindly chiding me before one of my colleague around 2000: Co: "Look, he stares at the door motionless." Boss: "Oh, he often does that." (laughing).

When I do now, my eyes may not be still, often move from one point to another, in a circular fashion. Maybe anxiety or sensory overload?

At home, when I'm listening to music, playing or tinkering with one of my sound equipments, or simply watching the reels spinning while listening to the music the time may pass so rapidly, I think it is something similar to a trance, since my thoughts also slow down significantly.


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09 May 2011, 12:09 pm

Everyone I know says they have staring trances at times, usually when they're tired and their eyes ''go on stalks''. I do that too.


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09 May 2011, 1:49 pm

I heard this is an aspie/autie thing. Not one that every single person with an ASD will necessarily do, but I think it is fairly common. I do this quite a bit, often times without even thinking about it. I remember when I was in junior high, I was staring into space, not really AT anything in particular. There was a person at the other end of stare, and I wasn't looking AT her, but rather through her, and I was doing it subconsciously anyway. I remember her getting this awful scowl of her face, and she shouted, "what are you staring at? What's your problem?" and then went on to make a big scene out of it to her friends. I just kind of sat there in my own little world completely dumbfounded as to why she was flattering herself so much thinking I actually wanted to look at her. Whatever...I still do it sometimes without thinking about it.



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09 May 2011, 2:03 pm

VMSmith wrote:
my eyes sometimes fix on a certain place and just stay there without blinking whilst my mind clears and heartbeat and breathing slows. its like a trance but im still aware(awareness varies), mostly, of whats going on around me but im far away from everything and mightn't sense the passing of time or people talking to me. don't think i've described this well. is this just me being weird or is it an AS thing? do any of you, wherever you are on the spectrum, do this?


One time i had such a severe shut down that I couldn't see, hear, smell or feel anything, I couldn't think or do anything, i couldn't speak or love, I was limp on the floor lacking any inner monologue

And I think that's what it's like to be dead methinks


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09 May 2011, 2:12 pm

I do it if I'm bored or dosen't have soemthing to do :)

And I even dream meantime... it's pretty weird
I dream something i have done before like a childhood memory

I also stop breathing for 10 seconds sometimes :/ but I always breath in again afterwards... luckily :)
But i've heard about people doing that also when they concentrate deeply so it's not dangerous.

And when i just begin to stare my senses stop.
But it only takes about 10 sec to 1 min


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Dinosaw
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09 May 2011, 3:55 pm

Phonic wrote:
One time i had such a severe shut down that I couldn't see, hear, smell or feel anything, I couldn't think or do anything, i couldn't speak or love, I was limp on the floor lacking any inner monologue

And I think that's what it's like to be dead methinks


I've heard from people that have taken ketamine (Vitamin K, etc.), that there is a type of dissociation that can occur at high doses, a state where there is total detachment from reality, an experience referred to as a 'K Hole' (as in "I fell into a K Hole while doing Special K at the club last night"). Maybe intense levels of dissociation encountered by those with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder should be called 'A Holes' (as in "I was overcome by an A Hole when my boss kept ranting about which switch I use to turn on the office lights").

Just kidding, I couldn't help myself.


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09 May 2011, 5:59 pm

Dinosaw wrote:
Phonic wrote:
One time i had such a severe shut down that I couldn't see, hear, smell or feel anything, I couldn't think or do anything, i couldn't speak or love, I was limp on the floor lacking any inner monologue

And I think that's what it's like to be dead methinks


I've heard from people that have taken ketamine (Vitamin K, etc.), that there is a type of dissociation that can occur at high doses, a state where there is total detachment from reality, an experience referred to as a 'K Hole' (as in "I fell into a K Hole while doing Special K at the club last night"). Maybe intense levels of dissociation encountered by those with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder should be called 'A Holes' (as in "I was overcome by an A Hole when my boss kept ranting about which switch I use to turn on the office lights").

Just kidding, I couldn't help myself.


And the disassociations encountered by those who experience blackouts during flying exercises (like Airforce training exercises in Jets) should be called "Black holes".



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11 May 2011, 10:50 am

LOL @ the above two posts. A Holes and Black Holes. Love it.

On the subject, I find myself doing this quite a bit. This happened more often when I was younger, I remember being gathered around for storytime a few times, and feeling confused as I sort of felt myself staring off into space, not really thinking about anything, hearing the words being spoken, but not understanding them. I was just taking everything in without my brain actually working to process it. It was relaxing, that was for sure. But confusing when I do it when I should be paying attention to something.
I've done it a very few times when people are talking to me, and I have to ask them to hold on, and repeat what they just said when I realised what I was doing. And then I get even more confused when they go on to EXPLAIN what they've just said or reasons behind it (even though I specifically ask them to repeat it. I end up having to repeat my request for repetition)... which makes me more confused because I just wanted to know what they said lol. I've never met anyone who does this too, or realises that they do, and I never really thought about it until this thread.