Zoning out is considered a type of dissociation, which is a feeling of being disconnected from the world around you. Some people experience severe dissociation, but "zoning out" is considered a much milder form. Daydreaming is the most common kind of zoning or spacing out.
Derealization is the experience of feeling detached or separate from your surroundings and experiences. It's normal to occasionally feel 'spaced out' or detached, but people who struggle with derealization have these episodes more frequently, and find it hard to stop or control them.
Is zoning out the same as dissociation? No - the two are very different. ADHD-related zoning is simply a trait when the brain no longer focuses on the task at hand. Dissociation, on the other hand, can be due to Dissociative Disorders, which pertains to problems in emotions, memory, perception, behavior, and identity.
Many times, people who are dissociating are not even aware that it is happening, other people notice it.
Some of the symptoms of dissociation include the following. You may forget about certain time periods, events and personal information. Feeling disconnected from your own body. Feeling disconnected from the world around you.
People often "describe feeling as if they and the world are unreal or as if they are outside of their body," says Halpern. "They may say that they feel like they are watching themselves in a movie." Similarly, you might also feel "emotionally numb or detached as well as little or no pain," adds McInnis.
Symptoms of mild dissociation include daydreaming or becoming fully engrossed in something, such as a book or film. Severe dissociation takes these feelings further. It can cause a disconnect in identity and perception, and people may become emotionally numb.
Spacing Out With ADHD
It's an involuntary process that happens even when you are actively trying to pay attention. If you've ever started reading a book, only to find yourself lost in thought or staring at the page without really seeing or comprehending the words, that was spacing out.
Differences in emotions in people with ADHD can lead to 'shutdowns', where someone is so overwhelmed with emotions that they space out, may find it hard to speak or move and may struggle to articulate what they are feeling until they can process their emotions.
This is a normal process that everyone has experienced. Examples of mild, common dissociation include daydreaming, highway hypnosis or “getting lost” in a book or movie, all of which involve “losing touch” with awareness of one's immediate surroundings.
Dissociation seems to fall on a continuum of severity. Mild dissociation would be like daydreaming, getting “lost” in a book, or when you are driving down a familiar stretch of road and realize that you do not remember the last several miles.
Some signs your therapist can sense if you're dissociating:
They start to pull away. They feel disconnected. They feel confused.
Four stages of the formation of depersonalization were identified: vital, allopsychic, somatopsychis and autopsychic.
Zoning out is one of the more common warning signs of ADHD in both children and adults. Zoning out in conversations with family, or meetings at work are a reflection of attention issues, which is a leading sign in the diagnosis of ADHD.
Some signs that you might be understimulated include: Lack of motivation. Physical hyperactivity. A sense of unease, making you feel "flat" or irritable.
Brain fog can be a symptom of a nutrient deficiency, sleep disorder, bacterial overgrowth from overconsumption of sugar, depression, or even a thyroid condition. Other common brain fog causes include eating too much and too often, inactivity, not getting enough sleep, chronic stress, and a poor diet.
Dissociation occurs when a person feels disconnected from themselves and the world around them. It can be a healthy response to boredom, stress, trauma, fear or emotional overload, allowing ourselves to avoid some of the strong physiological responses to a negative situation.
Depersonalization disorder.
Symptoms can last just a matter of moments or return at times over the years. The average onset age is 16, although depersonalization episodes can start anywhere from early to mid childhood. Less than 20% of people with this disorder start experiencing episodes after the age of 20.