Do you often get told you are staring off into space?

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If so, do you know what is happening to you in those moments?
How does it make you feel?
Do you lose focus completely?
Does it make you feel better, or worse?

I'll answer myself while waiting for your answers:

1) If so, do you know what happens to you in those moments?
I don't.
2) How do you feel?
Not tuned in, maybe. Overwhelmed by the environment, but safe.
3) Do you lose your concentration completely?
Apparently, completely. Even with attention, I'm struggling.
4) Are you feeling better or worse?
Better. But I sometimes have a nervous breakdown a few hours later.

Do you often get told you are staring off into space?
In elementary school, yes.  As an adult, no.

If so, do you know what is happening to you in those moments?
Only after the chalkboard erasers would hit me in the head.

How does it make you feel?
Angry, embarrassed.

Do you lose focus completely?
Yes.  I was not aware of anything.  Some suspected epilepsy, but I was never tested.

Does it make you feel better, or worse?
It made me feel worse about myself than I already felt, which was not very good to begin with.

Yes I stare into space. In Primary, the kids called me "stunned" and "spacy". As a teenager I had a job in charge of some older teen girls. One day they burst out laughing, seemingly at me. I asked them what was wrong and they mimicked me staring at the wall, being "spaced out". Other teens at the same job said I looked drunk all the time because my eyes were downcast and I had the "autistic gait" which made me look off-balance. As an adult people will wave their hand in front of me and say "Earth to Issy!" as if I'm on another planet. Some other people said I look high.

Do I know what's happening? What do you mean? When I'm spaced out, or when people think it's weird? When it's happening I'm thinking. I'm always thinking and I'm always spaced out so they must go hand-in-hand. I don't always know what people think about it but nor do I gaf anymore.

Do I lose focus? I never have focus to begin with so it can't really be lost. I focus when I'm in a rabbit hole but that makes me look even more spaced out. Yes it's complete.

Does it make me feel better or worse? Again, what is "it"? Being spaced out, or being caught spacing out? I'm always spaced out so there's no better or worse.

If so, do you know what is happening to you in those moments?
To a less aware degree, I just kinda get lost in thoughts.

How does it make you feel?
It's mildly embarrassing at best. My coworkers know it's just a thing I do. At worst, it's literally dangerous as I have spaced out like that when driving.

Do you lose focus completely?
I suppose.

Does it make you feel better, or worse?
I dunno.

These two elements make me think of an epileptic seizure. Normally, this particular type of seizures is supposed to disappear in adulthood so it is very likely that it was this in your case. I hope that you will never have to be diagnosed (what triggers the diagnosis is the occurrence of two adult epileptic seizures).
I had seizures of epileptic absence as a child but I continue to experience this (well, a similar thing) at my adult age so it's probably something else in my case.



Fascinating. Thank you for answering my questions.



Thank you for your reply! Yes, people can be mean. I'm sorry you had to go through all this.


I was only referring to what is happening when you experience it. People clearly don’t exist when it is happening. But you answered great so nevermind.


Sorry, but I didn’t understand that part.


"It" is "being spaced out". I am interested in what you experience, not about what others think about you.

But I don’t get it. If you were "always spaced out", you couldn’t focus enough to write. When you spaced out, you can literally do nothing, you’re stopping everything since the crisis is gone with no or very few consciousness. But, yes, it can happen several times/day, during 30 seconds.
Sorry I should have been more specific about what I experienced. Thank you for your testimony.

When you write that you are lost in your thoughts, do you mean that your thoughts are coming to the fore or do you mean that you are no longer able to think consistently?
Yes, it is very, very dangerous to have this type of phenomenon when driving. I don't have a driving license but I know that it requires the utmost vigilance.

Thank you very much for your testimony.

The best way I know how to describe it is I get lost in thought and forget where I am. I think I am actively thinking when it happens, yeah.

Yes when I was on a bunch of meds as a teenager. I think I was having seizures but in my neck of the woods, you could only have a seizure if you were on the floor jerking around.

Yes! All the time. Usually it's because I'm lost in thought.

If so, do you know what is happening to you in those moments?
Yes, I'm almost always distracted by some inner thought.

How does it make you feel?

It used to make me feel ashamed. "Pay attention! Why didn't you say hi to me when I waved at you?". Now I've embraced it as part of my identity - I think it makes me more flavorful.

Do you lose focus completely?

Usually I'm intensely focused on something, it's just an inner thought or concept I'm wrestling with. But in terms of the outside world, yes, I often completely lose the ability to see, hear, and perceive the world around me. People will tell me things, I'll respond, and I will have no recollection of what they said or how I responded. This happens with my partner pretty frequently xD

Does it make you feel better, or worse?
Depends on the topic I end up thinking about. If it's something negative that happened that I'm endlessly ruminating on, then worse. If it's a concept I'm wrestling with, might make me a little anxious until I solve it, but most of the time it's neutral to positive.