Zoning out

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I've noticed that I zone out alot especially when im in public or driving or even with family members i have my moments where i just look at something without really looking at it and thinking about nothing. I was wondering if this could be because of my AS and wondered if anyone else does this alot and what does it mean when you do it alot?

While eating, I tend to zone out. People always seem to feel a need to remark about it. I think it's just me trying to be hyperfocused on eating so as to not choke (I tend to have muscle spasms in my neck/throat region).

I do it constantly. I obsessively think about things from an analytic perspective. I'll be contemplating physics, anthropology, or some other interest and be so into it I don't hear what people say even. I've ran a few redlights because of it, but I'm realizing now why I don't like being in a car so much is because of my over-awareness of the dangers of it.

Sorry, did you say something?

I do it a lot. It's probably the main reason I have no intention of ever driving - car crashes are one of those life experiences that I would much rather do without.

I agree, when I zone out I'm thinking something that is more than likely nothing to do with what I'm currently doing however it is important to me. Usually it is science based... Biology or chemistry mostly. Or about serial killers
Or sometimes I'm just counting the lines on the ground.

Yes, in fact, when I was in college my "friends" used to make fun of me and say that I looked stoned all the time. Eventually they asked me to get stoned WITH them, so I agree'd and they determined that since I smoked with them on one occasion, that I must smoke all the time and that must mean that I actually AM stoned all the time. So from that day on they just called me all kinds of stoner names, which I didn't appreciate since I didn't smoke pot all that often, and I was much more productive in society than they were even though I have no attention span.

I'll ask somebody a question & then immediately zone-out.

I have no clue what their answer was.

This pisses people off. Oops!

I stressed about this for a while then figured if my mind is more interesting than your reality then hey sorry nothing I can do about that.

I know from my NT friends, and from nursing, that "zoning out" is to a certain extent normal. You expect it in people who have had trauma, no sleep, or socially exhausted introverts. I think the effect can get amplified with autism. It may also be a sign of the inattentive type of ADD? I take a medication for that and it does help me zone out a lot less, realize I'm doing it, and pull out of it more easily. But I find when I haven't had enough sleep or I've been under too much stress I still zone out, and ironically that effect was worse at a higher dose and that didn't make any sense to me. So I'm on a low dose and it helps.

Last year my therapist was talking to me about "red flag" warning signs that I was about to have trouble compensating, or have a meltdown/shutdown. It turned out that zoning out a lot was one of the more subtle warning signs that my brain was trying to put the brakes on some kind of stress (physical, emotional, environmental), and I should pay attention to that before it got out of hand.

I zone out if I have nothing to do, I also hyper focus on what ever task im doing.

I zone out quite a bit and its like going on autopilot sometimes.

I've discussed this driving zone out autopilot thing with a lot of people, it seems quite typical. It seems to happen most on familiar roads.

Jason

That is one of the most helpful things I've read here so far. I spent most of the weekend shut down curled into a ball on the couch, with my husband not understanding what was wrong with me and very angry that I'd left him to deal with our son by himself. I feel horribly guilty about doing this but I just feel so paralyzed when it happens. Maybe I can pay more attention and keep from having all-out shutdowns like this.

Once for my "intro to psych" class in college I had to sign up for this crappy research lab in their department. You had to participate in a certain number of these for some portion of a letter grade, yadda yadda...

This one happened to be a 5-minute test, where you had to hold this corded button and press it every time you "zoned out". So I thought to myself "Wow, this is really stupid. For one thing, if you really zone out, are you going to remember to press the button?" So I sat there for 5 minutes thinking about stuff and didn't press the button.

They seemed a bit angry or disappointed, but I didn't officially zone out!

Indeed I do do this! I'm not sure if it has to do with AS......I'm diagnosed with AS and ADHD inattentive type. If you do this a lot it could mean you're just a spacey girl like me....seems likely because of your screen name. I have been told in chronological order of when the comments were made that I: Am in my own little world (this was on my school records for ages) , I'm a daydreamer, a space-case, a space-girl, I have my head in the clouds, a butterfly.