Zoning Out

[Anonymous]

When I have to look at someone talking and talking and talking I get hypnotised.

It’s easier to not look at someone when they are talking and fiddle around in order to stay focused on what they are saying.

The fiddling helps me concentrate, rather than distracting me from them.

I’m from an ADHD family and all we ever heard (and said) around the house was ‘go ahead..I’m listening..’ while the listener was doing something else. No one just sat and talked and listened at my house, so that concept is really uncomfortable and weird to me!

I feel trapped when I have to do it, especially when sitting down. It’s easier to talk and listen when standing up!

Even better if the other person is a smoker..you get to go outside, stand up, talk, go back inside..moving around..not being stuck in one spot for who knows how long!

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[Anonymous]

What were we talking about?

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[billd]

Does anyone else sing the Meow Mix song while they drive to stay awake?

I was rewiring a network closet one day at a prior job – something technical, but boring, you must pay attention or suddenly things stop working…… hundreds of pairs of colored wires.

So I started singing that song. Next thing I know, a couple of the other guys a few feet are singing along, then a few days later I walked past an area one of the other guys was working in doing some wiring, and HE was singing the Meow Mix song.

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[Anonymous]

Ha! This is a good thread to explain my handle “XFiles”. I’m a zoner, and once on a business trip to Paris about 14yrs ago, I was sitting in our office hotel room zoning out at the TV–actually, it was more to the side of the TV. It was evening, and all the hipsters were talking about hitting the local dance clubs… not my scene.

Suddenly I heard “Yoo hoo! (snap) Helloooo… Over here!” (I’m sure you all recognize this, heh). I snapped out of my zone and was like “Whuh?”

“You were spaced out over there, in some sort of mystery like the X-Files. Hey! That’s your new nicname! X-FIles!”

So I was known as X-Files for the remainder of the trip. I actually kind of liked it. Nicknames between work-friends is fun.

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[Anonymous]

Yes I’ve zoned out during sex quite a bit myself. I thought to myself am I gay or something but just don’t know it. I found out that wasn’t the case later on when the lady i was with kept me in the game so to speak by screaming like a banshee and wanting to do all these crazy S&M things all at once while we were doing it. Talk about novelty!!! Rick himself said on the special that ADDers need novelty and she certainly provided it. WOW!!! TMI I know but I felt that I had to provide that example. Extreme though it may be. Sorry. I’ve zoned out of conversations myself. Did that over the holidays except with the really loud people because they were so loud that I couldn’t zone out. I wish I could have because they were the most annoying. Anyway the best conversation I had was when I was playing call of duty with a friend over the holidays. The bang bang bang of the machine guns was welcome stimulus and since our conversation revolved around movies which I love I was able to stay in the game.

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[Anonymous]

Miguel, what’s really bad is when you zone out of conversations and YOU’RE the one talking! haha!

I mentally lapse out of the topic and I’m like “Wait… what?” after meandering. I’m good at recognizing it when it happens now, so I’m quicker to get back on target, especially when I’m speaking professionally.

But when I was much younger… WHEW! I had a lot of social anxiety because conversations are way too topic-to-topic jumping–topics, of course, set by the group flow, not me. So I hated youthful, rapidly morphing conversations in social settings–everyone being cool and trendy. I couldn’t keep up. Ugh.

If you can imagine the comedy cliche of a well-oiled dance-troupe where one person is not practiced. When the entire troupe goes left, the one ding-dong goes right. When the troupe twirls, then skips and shifts backwards, the ding-a-ling twirls and spins and runs to get back in line… which has already moved the other way. HAHA

That was me, because of the zoning.

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[trashman]

hi lets just say I zoning out during sex ,that I don’t understand because Iam enjoying myself.It does not take long for me to start watching the time. I realy don’t get that because if the wife isin’t happy then it seems to have bin a huge waste of time. I bought a new motorcycle last spring after getinng layed off, this was very impulsivly fora grand total of $15000 . I was in the dog house in a hurry.when I started t ride i was stoped at a light beside a semi when the light changed and took off. I was in the second highest gear , there I was flling through the air thinking my poor bike very embarassing for someone that rides a harley. lucky for me the bike only cost $500 to fix and Iam still healing, but I got up off the road and lifted my bike up and road it home. ok now back to the zoning out part i can still remember stoped at the light with the truck the light changing to green , then the next thing i can remember is flying through the air. I think while i was zoned out I think I hit the curb. the good news is after that i stay very focused because my brain is trying to make sure I don’t crash again. I am ok with that lol. and yes I still love to ride.

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[dspicelady]

This thread has gotten me thinking. For the last many years, I too have felt “distracted” during sex. After many years of marriage (not all great), undiagnosed ADD, kids, etc. I assumed that was just what usually happened with two people who’ve been together so long. Or maybe I just didn’t love him anymore. We’ve had issues, most likely related to ADD, all along, but when I think back to the early years, some of the best times (read sex) was when there was a hint of danger involved. Maybe this too, was another ADD issue? They say you learn something new everyday. Hmmmmm, maybe time for some experimenting?

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[Anonymous]

Hey Tym, you didn’t happen later to find the camra in the fridge? i hate when that happens. lol

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[Anonymous]

I have no idea why, but during sex, I often find myself imagining driving down streets in my neighborhood. Even though I do this, my body still enjoying the sex, just that my mind is elsewhere.

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[Anonymous]

Meetings at work are the worst for me. There might as well be a big chunk of ‘Kryptonite’ sitting on the table in the meeting room. LOL!

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[laddybug3]

Zoning out did help with one of my finals. I was taking a final and was focused on number two. Asking myself how much does my professor wants to know. The next thing I was doing was thinking about my reading assignment and what I learned. Somehow my when I came out of my zone out I had finished the test in 15 minutes. The panic soon sunk in when I realized I zoned out on my final for 15 minutes knowing full well that I had extended time, but still. I went back to the second question and it seemed good. I found out a few weeks later, I got an 99.5. The professor did tell that I forgot to write an answer for number 10. It was one of the name so many.

My social life it becomes a problem with some friends. Only two know I have ADD, even though I never told them. I had those fun sit downs by them stating that they think I have a problem. One of my friends at the time was taking a psychology class and was sure I had ADD. I then had to tell them, because they were going to call my parents or take me to the consoling office.

Now they make me aware that I am zoning out and will tell me so.

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[Anonymous]

I totally zone out when people are talking to me! I can focus fine until something catches me eye and its all downhill from there. I walk away and ask myself “What was he talking about?”, and will have absolutely no recollection of what the conversation was about! Then I feel bad because maybe they noticed that I wasn’t paying attention…

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[Anonymous]

I zone out, sometimes when I focus on doing something, my attention seems to shut off. It’s like running on automatic.

When it became increasingly difficult to work in any sort of office system, I did a stint as Court Reporter, the tapes recorded the

examinations and if I zoned out it was rarely noticed. But it was so boring, unchallenging that I couldn’t stay at it for long.

There is a need for constant stimulation to somehow feel “comfortable”. But I have dozens of things started and often forget

where I left them or why or even what I was doing … notes are great, but I don’t always see them. Oddly, I was lucky in university

and was so completely engrossed in studies that I did well … only to graduate and find there was no demand for specialists in literary criticlal analysis. I lose track of what people are saying when they talk to me, sometimes my impulsiveness has me responding way too

frankly to what was meant to be “social chat” .. really can’t do small talk, I don’t understand how it is meant to work at all.

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[Scattybird]

Do you guys have days when clarity rules. OK, maybe a bit of zoning out goes on, but generally feeling clear headed and being very organised? I had one of those days today and it was great (no meds). It doesn’t happen often….I’m still getting my head around what’s normal of ADD and what’s not as I am new to it (but it isn’t to me)….although I know everyone is different.

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[Author]

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