That blank stare into nothing mid-task — ADHD thing, dissociation, or something else?
There's a specific experience I'm trying to name before my assessment: several times a day I "surface" from staring at a wall or my screen with zero idea how long I was gone. Not thinking about anything — that's what unsettles me. Not daydreaming, no narrative, just… absent. Colleagues find it funny. It's costing me actual hours.
Is this an attention thing? Dissociation? Both, neither? Does the distinction matter clinically — as in, should I describe it separately at my assessment rather than filing it under "focus issues"? 23F, BC, collecting vocabulary before Thursday.
2026-07-18 13:11682 views
2 Comments
keys_are_in_the_freezer
Same experience down to the surfacing-with-no-timestamp feeling. For the interim practical problem (the lost hours): a mealtimes-anchored phone alarm cut my longest episodes just by adding surfacing points to the day. Doesn't answer what it IS — flagging it as manageable while you get assessed.
2026-07-20 23:20 576 views
new_tab_syndrome
The 'no narrative, just absent' distinction matters and you're right to notice it — my assessor asked specifically whether my zone-outs had content (daydreaming/mind-wandering) or were blank gaps. Different follow-up questions came after each answer. Do describe it separately, exactly as precisely as you did here; 'focus issues' as a bucket would've flattened the most diagnostic detail in your post.
2026-07-21 01:53 575 views
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