Do you "Zone" out?

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Thanks! I agree perhaps they wouldn't be called "shutdowns" just "Zoning" out fits and I've heard of the petitit mal seizures thing and Autism. One of the things I came across while reading about it. It's odd though not a thought in your head just gone and lost in thought yet thinking of nothing. My family sometimes think I'm thinking of the latest video game or homework for college but nope just spaced out and lost. It's sort of peaceful to tune people out. IMO I can't do it often.

With a video game or college work your brain is going on getting through a level or understanding a textbook. Even reading a novel I'm using my imagination to view in my head the battle or the story going on in the book. I usually zone out while sitting with family. Perhaps to block out arguing or something I'm not sure why I do it actually.

Yes I do space out a lot due to daydreaming and deep thinking in general - sometimes during a conversation, at which point the other person has to say my name to get me to come back to reality.

Yes, all my life. But most of the time I'm daydreaming or thinking about something or just staring at something.

Yes, all my life. but mostly I'm daydreaming or thinking about something or just staring at something.

Yes I tend to zone out and stare if something catches my attention and holds it

Yes, I always do. I do it so often sometimes I don't realize I'm doing it and it probably looks really weird to everyone else.

@pensieve: I considered the possibility of petit mal seizures.

Even if that's true, I don't think there's been any damage.

It happens to me frequently.
I accidentally "zoned out" once when watching my nephew during dinner when he and my brother were on a visit. I got chewed out by my brother for it, which made me stubbornly ignore him for the rest of the dinner.

It's not like I can manually contol it.

Yes I do this. I often don't realise it's happening until someone asks if I'm OK. My Mum has said that I just go 'blank' sometimes when she is talking to me.

Kind of, yes. When there's too much happening around me I tend to go mute and just stare at a certain point all the time, mostly the floor or something in the distance. Happend at family celebrations a few times, when there was too much talking going on around me.

I zone out a lot. I don't even know I am doing it unless I have to listen to a lecture and I have no idea what is going on all of a sudden.

I've always done it. When I was a child, my mother and my teachers used to call it being in a trance – I was forever getting into trouble for it. I don't really know what the triggers are, because when I try to think about it I can't recall my trances very well. It's such a natural part of life that it's like trying to remember breathing. I definitely do it when I'm with groups of people, in which case it might be said to be an escape, but I know I also do it when I'm just sitting watching TV, when I'm in the shower, and sometimes when I'm in the car and stopped at a traffic light (when the light goes green I'm rudely brought out of it by the honking of the driver behind me, which I hate).

It's definitely not petit mal with me, as I can control it to the extent of making sure I don't do it – for instance when I'm driving and the car's moving. If I'm listening to something I really need to hear and feel myself going, I silently repeat the last few words of each sentence the person's saying until the 'urge' has passed. Sometimes it's very hard to stop myself going off when someone's speaking – and actually, that is one of my triggers, I do it all the time when I'm listening to speech radio, watching plays and listening to presentations at conferences. It might be to do with not being able to take any more information in or just to do with listening to human voices for extended periods, I'm not sure.

Pretty frequently. Really gets to be a problem in school, especially when I'm taking notes, I can zone out for a whole ten minutes on occasion and miss half of what's being said or on the board. I suspect my ADHD compounds it.

This is my husband seizures and lost in his own thoughts at times it hard to tell one from the other. Until he doesnt answer me.

Yeah all the time!
Sometimes gets me in trouble

All the time! Well, not as bad as a child but..
I did once on a bicycle & ran into a parked car! This is not a joke, I really did. I have done it walking my dog & walked right past my house on several occasions. Its usually because I get lost in my thoughts..

Sincerely,
Matthew