hi everyone,

i have been having a big problem lately in that i am "tuning out" more than usual. I wouldn't even call it tuning out, because that implies that i purposely stopped listening. I will be looking directly at someone and all the sudden they might as well be speaking jibberish or Japanese because I will just stop understanding a single word. Then I try hard to focus back in on what they are saying, and I'll catch some words, but it makes no sense, and then it's back to sounding like jibberish.

This has been happening in important situations, like when I'm being told to do something for a patient, and also in my relationship. I don't want my boyfriend to think I don't care, and I certainly don't want to misunderstand a doctor's orders for a patient.

Help!

hi everyone,

i have been having a big problem lately in that i am "tuning out" more than usual. I wouldn't even call it tuning out, because that implies that i purposely stopped listening. I will be looking directly at someone and all the sudden they might as well be speaking jibberish or Japanese because I will just stop understanding a single word. Then I try hard to focus back in on what they are saying, and I'll catch some words, but it makes no sense, and then it's back to sounding like jibberish.

This has been happening in important situations, like when I'm being told to do something for a patient, and also in my relationship. I don't want my boyfriend to think I don't care, and I certainly don't want to misunderstand a doctor's orders for a patient.

Help!I am like that..I find meds the only help. It's like listening to someone who talks two different languages, and they move from one to another, and we can only pick out the odd word..it's frustrating, and embarassing.. and i hope someone has some advice :eek:

Dear Spaced,

A couple of things you can try is to first look the people you are talking to right in the eye. I mean even make note of the color of their iris. And then after every few sentances validate what you think they had told you by asking them to confirm your understanding. And that way you are forced stay connected to them. Which is a good thing...

Good Luck,

SteveM

P.S. So you have patients? I hope you're not doing brain surgery or something . (:eek: if you are, :) if you are not.)

This is one of my biggies. I still find it amazing that someone can speak straight to me and I miss the second half of it. I also look straight at people when talking to them. In fact, I don't even like having sunnies on. It has to be direct.

What's worse still is when I'm on the phone. I have serious problems staying on track when on the phone. I tend to walk around a lot while on the phone to try and stay focused. I therapist once told me of a work mate of his who he suspected had adhd. He was always drifting in and out of conversations. He found taking him for a walk to discuss matters worked better, and while he was walking he was focusing on the conversation.

Thanks for the advice guys, I'm trying. I think I need to adjust my medication, and maybe saying more than 'uh-huh' and 'yeah' when I'm listening to someone will help keep me engaged.

Thanks again:)

Any more advice?

I know just how you feel spacedout. I tune out all the time too, & also feel like i've gotten worse about it lately. it doesn't seem to matter what i'm doing, could be at work, talking to a friend, watching a movie. then, i'll snap back, & realize i've missed something. I do the uh-huh & yeah thing too. sorry, I guess I don't have much advice since i;m in the same situation, but you are definitely not alone :)!

tracyhaddb-you said your meds help w/it, just curious what you're taking if you don't mind? so far, i've tried focalin, provigil, & just recently started adderall xr (but only been on that for about 3 or 4 days), & so far nothing's really helped w/my ADD symptoms.

I do the same thing! I noticed it the most when I stopped taking my straterra after 3 months. That was the first ADD med I was ever on but I didn't like the side effects so when the semester ended I thought I could learn to live without it. Big mistake! Its seems like my ADD got worse but I think I was just used to the meds helping so it seemed worse when I stopped them. I began again to zone out a lot more than on meds. I sometimes even tried so hard to pay attention in a simple conversation and sometimes it was just impossible. When I realized I was zoning out and i tried not to it would just get worse. i really thought something had to be wrong with me, something severe.

At that time I didn't know ADD can cause so many severe problems. Needless to say i got back on meds 2 weeks later when I saw my doc. I have now been on adderall xr for about 3 months and I take 60mgs. It helps with the zoning out but I seem to forget a lot more then before meds.....

tracyhaddb-you said your meds help w/it, just curious what you're taking if you don't mind? so far, i've tried focalin, provigil, & just recently started adderall xr (but only been on that for about 3 or 4 days), & so far nothing's really helped w/my ADD symptoms.I take dex and ritalin combo ;-0

I take dex and ritalin combo ;-0thanks tracy! what does the dex do/what symptoms does it treat? i'm still trying to learn what all the different meds do. I keep waiting to feel like something is going to work, but so far, it hasn't seemed to. although, i'm not really sure how a stimulant is supposed to feel if it is working. w/the adderall xr, it makes me feel a little calmer I guess (is that how stimulant should make you feel, or should it feel like a stimulant & speed things up?), but i'm still zoning out a bunch. I just started it last week though, so maybe i need to give it more time. if not, maybe if the dose was increased it would help? i'm not sure.

Hey Guys,

Just as an update, and this is IMPORTANT in case any of you are possibly experiencing the same thing. I figured out, with the help of my psychiatrist, that I have not been tuning out, but actually having dissociative episodes. If you can't even listen to your own voice, which is what was happening to me, you may want to look into dissociation. It really freaked me out to learn about it and realize that I've dissociated on purpose many times. I no longer do it on purpose and now when it happens I try really hard to bring myself back. I guess I'm even crazier than I thought, oh well.

Thanks for all the support and advice!

Wow. Thanks for the update, Spacedout. That's what's great about these forums.
I'm curious. Does this happen because of overload - too much going on?

Hi Imnapl,

It happens when I am completely stressed out. I was emotionally/verbally abused growing up, and I learned how to dissociate (actually it was quite easy to do, even the first time) at will to block out the rage, twisted logic, name-calling, criticism, etc. that was coming my way. Now unfortunately since I did it so much on purpose, I think my brain has been primed somehow to do that whenever I'm really stressed out, so now I can still do it at will, but it also happens when I don't want it to. I feel like someone who's been smoking for 20 years to calm her nerves who is just finding out that cigarettes are bad for you. Or something like that.

I have always had the uncanny ability to tune people out in a split second. When I was a child my guardians called it my black look. It was as if a black curtain closed over my eyes and they knew I had completely tuned them out. If I got overwhelmed by external stimuli I'd just go on break in my mind. This ability has been detrimental from time-to-time and I actually went to counseling for it. I had become consciously aware what was triggering me and actively self talk to stay present. Hmmmmmmm, now that I am finding out that I relate to those with ADD/ADHD... maybe I will get some medical intervention or maybe this is just a survival mechanism that I need to come to terms with and let go. I can relate to spaced out. There is just plain information overload and people expect us to be present and mentally cognizant of what they are saying throughout the whole conversation. What was their initial point to begin with? I don't know, I tuned out at hello... :cool:

My introduction covered this whole thing about disassociation. Thanks for your words, I am not alone.