Trances

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So I never really talked to anyone about this before but here goes , so I honestly didn't think much about this until recently but I went to the store with my two siblings (older siblings so both adults ) I was supposed to pick the bread I want while they go get something else in the store so long story short I ended up standing there is a trance kind of state and starting at nothing and standing in one spot sometimes moving and pacing , I wasn't thinking about anything or remembering what I was supposed to be doing and my sister got upset with me . I did something like that again more recently and I kept singing the same line of a song over and over in my mind and it felt like my inner voice was screaming the lyrics and it wasn't a good song to say the least to sing out loud . I also stare at the wall which isn't really per say new since I stared at the wall for like an hour when I was a teen. I was never officially told by a doctor that I have autism but I always knew I did and was told my mom that she believes I do (I did the hand flapping thing as a kid but moved on to "hand flapping" but with a string and shaking that instead) , so this experience made me wonder like what "level of functioning" I am I have sound , smell , touch and light sensitivities but this is mostly about the trance thing.

First off, welcome to Wrong Planet.

It sounds like a case of disassociation, similar to daydreaming. You can put your body on autopilot and follow a whole thought stream in your mind. It is in a way like you can split your mind into two separate individuals simultaneously. Each acting independently.

Oh really? That's weird since I never really remember what I was thinking of . Is that a pretty common thing among people with people on the spectrum ? (Since I've never met anyone personally who is besides myself ) also thank you

I have these episodes of dissociation, too, and I've spoken to quite a few other autistic people who have them. It's certainly not unique to autism; there are a variety of conditions in which they're common, and they can happen to anybody at times of extreme stress. I suspect that it is more common for autistic people, but maybe still only a minority of us.

I'd say that my episodes are not always the same; sometimes they are very much like jimmy m described, allowing my conscious mind to work on a problem, procrastinate, fantasise, etc. while one or more "auto-pilots" perform more menial tasks without conscious intervention. At other time, I can only describe it as my mind simply "going blank" for a little while, but with enough residual awareness that it is distinct from sleep - maybe a kind of catatonia? Even when I'm relatively alert, I experience spells of derealisation, where the world around me seems uncanny, as if I'm not quite really present in it.

Yes, it's very common. I think it has something to do with sensory processing. Autistic disorders of all sorts cause processing difficulties, not just with information but with sensory information most of all. This includes lights, sounds, music specifically, texture, etc.

Other people have indicated that I appear to enter trances, often during conversations, but I don't experience anything like you describe. I often become distracted by positive sensory input, like running water, which puts me into a very calm mood and makes me inclined to ignore everything else. Or sometimes I'll abandon efforts to be "present" in a situation, especially if no one appears to be paying attention, and sink into my thoughts in public. Someone usually rouses me out of it by asking, "Are you okay?" I work hard to maintain a pleasant or neutral expression, and I suppose it slips when I'm being absent-minded. I don't think I've ever been in public for longer than an hour without a stranger asking me that obnoxiously vague question. I'm usually baffled by how invisible my problems and quirk can be when I concentrate hard, but it's the pleasant trances that everyone notices and worries over.

I get similar episodes as well.

I've had similar trance experiences since I was a child. I also experience some forms of dissociation, but the trances are more like the needle getting stuck on a record, but going deeper, and deeper, and deeper, ... Before I went to kindergarten neighbors would find me staring at a tree for a very long period of time and would get concerned and tell my mom. I still remember it very clearly - I would look into the bark and get absorbed into the intricate patterns within patterns, within patterns moving into it and it all had intense meaning. It still happens sometimes if I let it. I'm an autistic pattern thinker and it's like these patterns feed something in my mind. My career included system architecture and design and real-time software development and the complex patterns of code and design often did the same thing - I'd just let myself get lost in the complexity and after time passed with me barely noticing, I'd see solutions. I couldn't come up with solutions analytically to be honest, the answers just materialized. If I couldn't fade into the patterns (due to stress or pressure or feeling overwhelmed or sick, etc.) I was in big trouble because I couldn't just solve the problems directly I had a great career because most other folks couldn't handle such complex systems. I go into similar trance states with certain music that has certain recursive geometric patterns, like Qawwali. When I listen to it I immediately begin seeing beautiful increasingly complex and elaborate geometries winding higher and higher and I absorb into it and a lot of time can go by and I'm just flying in it - it can be a totally ecstatic experience. An example is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io64xCp3Zzw I used to have the same reaction to certain industrial, techno and trance music back when those were popular.

I tend to go into a trace-like state when I am in a social situation that I do not have the skills to handle. My mind typically goes into on of my special interests and I lose my sense of surroundings. Loud noises that would bother me (like at a pub) disappear as I am lost to my mind during that process. I have been known to become so absorbed that I lose track of time, which is unusual for me to have happen. Personally, I prefer to be lost to my own thoughts than have to listen to what usually goes on in most NT social events.

Zoning out is quite common for me.

It can range from regular zoning out to a sensory shutdown to autistic catatonia.

how does this differ from being in a hypnotic state? i do space out now and then, but i have never been able to be induced into hypnosis, by professionals, at least not without drugs.

I do that sometimes when I'm by myself. I've zoned out & daydreamed alot my whole life I think due to my ADD but the trance like thing I only do in private. I think it's kind of like a way of stimming & relaxing while shutting my brain down.

I call it being in stand-by mode.