Is There A Name For This?

[Noxyoursox]

Pretty regularly (like multiple times per conversation) I will sort of "check out" and go on this sort of autopilot where I see someone talking, I hear the noises that are coming out of their mouth, but the sounds don't register as having any meaning (I'm listening but I can't decipher any words or even tell that the sounds are words) or significance (I understand the words enough to respond in an appropriate manner but have no memory of them afterward). This sometimes happens when reading too, though not as often--I can read an entire paragraph or chapter and when I'm finished realize that I have zero memory or comprehension of what I just read, and sometimes words seem like random marks on the page. I don't actually have problems with language stuff otherwise and in fact I am extremely good with both my native English and foreign languages. It feels more like I'm kind of seperate or distant? Like my thoughts and my physical experience are running on seperate tracks that don't always meet. My family gets really frustrated with this because they do things like tell me dinner is done numerous times over the course of an hour, but then I get upset because "no one told me" and now it's cold. Or we talk for a couple hours about something and I suddenly have no clue what they're talking about so they just assume I'm not interested.

 

[sedna]

Yes!!!!

I dont know why, I think its part of having a bad disassociation problem. I feel like most of what people say is in a foreign language.
I gave up trying to fix it or explain it. Now I tell them my hearing impairment, which I actually have but its not that bad, is major hearing loss.
It helps keep people from getting really mad or being offended that you dont pay attention to their talking.

I got so sick of people treating me like I'm completely stupid because of that :mad: I'm one of the few people around here that doesnt smoke pot and people are always asking if I'm high. :meh:

 

[pixel]

@Noxyoursox hello and welcome!

There is a name for what you're experiencing: dissociation.
It's common among people with PTSD.

You may relate to many others on this site.

Read some of the threads here, particularly in the Flashbacks & Dissociation section.

 

[Noxyoursox]

@Noxyoursox hello and welcome!

There is a name for what you're experiencing: d...

Thanks! The Flashbacks and Dissociation section was one of the first areas I hit up, but I wasn't sure because a lot of people were talking about alters and some other stuff that doesn't seem to be the case for me.

 

[hodge]

Welcome Nox, I go through what you go through. I also don't seem to have alters, thank God. I am just learning what to do when I get overwhelmed and dizzy. My new therapist, who is a trauma specialist, on Monday taught me a helpful grounding technique. It's alternate nostril breathing. You start by putting your finger against one nostril to close it and breath in from the other nostril. Then put your finger on the other nostril and breathe out from the nostril you previously had closed. Then breathe in again from that same nostril and take a step forward. Then close that nostril and breathe out from the other nostril, then breathe in from that same nostril. Then take another step forward. And just continue with that pattern. It's kinda hard, I know. But it really helps to ground me. I can feel stuff going on in my brain when I do it. And it feels like probably good stuff. My therapist said there's really no way to do this wrong. Just keep to the basic idea. Good luck, hon!

 

[Friday]

Dissociation section was one of the first areas I hit up, but I wasn't sure because a lot of people were talking about alters and some other stuff that doesn't seem to be the case for me.

Disassociation is a spectrum... Ranging from DID/alters/etc on the extreme one end, and zoning out while driving a familiar road -something everyone does- on the other end.

 

[Ronin]

^ And a lot of people 'with alters' experience multiple other dissociative things of the spectrum, on top of them being D.I.D., too.

Not mutually exclusive, those.

 

[BuckarooBanzai]

Yup, it's called dissociation.

You probably do it when you feel overwhelmed.

When you read something but everything looks like a chicken scratch, or you hear someone talking but literally cannot understand them, that frequently means the material is something you find frightening - something you just cannot deal with - and so you shut it out.

Ben

 

[Abstract]

As the others said - dissociation. Think of it this way: some types of dissociation are about changes in levels of consciousness. Some are more about personality. You might want to look up depersonalisation and derealisation to see if they fit too.