Anyone experience long blank stares for no reason?

[manny]

I have noticed lately that I have moments where I go into a long trance of some kind where others are noticing it. I JUST start to think and all else blanks out and i don't really know how long i was out. Anyone have any advice? I just got my paxil increased to 20mg today, wonder if that will help.

Thanks

[Loon-A-TiK]

i get that too, and i take tons more meds than you do. i never got that specifically from paxil, and there have been times even in my bipolar life where i've taken only paxil (and gone into manias, but that is a different story). so i don't think it is the paxil, i think it may be something that everyone, MI and not, experiences.

or it could be something we MI people experience.

i always figured that it was either normal, or that i have ADD inattentive. sometimes i just stare at the computer screen and then am brouight back to reality, like duh, i was just somewhere else and am now back!

i wouldn't get freaked out about it. if it happens to me too then it must be common. i always figured it was. sometimes our brains just do that i guess. you've probably done it before and not realized it.

loon

[LunaRufina]

I actually tend to stare a lot, much more so I think when I get depressed. I just sort of space out. I don't know that it is a trance, but I sort of zone out. I don't know if it is an attention thing or what but it is almost like when you see in the movies an old projector slowing down and stopping and then starting up again. I sort of feeling like my brain does that.

Slows down and stops.

And then starts at some point. Like, I know I was spacing out a good deal of the time.

I know that a lot of people have a hard time focusing when they get depressed and that it isn't necessarily typical ADD type focusing. It's more slowing down type stuff like that I think.

Anyway. I would mention it- it's a symptom so it's something you don't want happening. Whether it's a depression symptom or something else it's good to mention so your doctor would know and at least have a note of it whether you think it is a big deal or not. Is it correlating with your mood or sleep at all?

[sdjeff]

I do this alot. I think there is a medical term but I can't remember it.

[manny]

I do this alot. I think there is a medical term but I can't remember it.

+++ If you think of the term, could you let me know.

Thanks

[Dee]

I've noticed people stare at me alot in public lately and I'm not quite sure what I am doing to warrant this. I've been depersonalizing alot when I am out. Maybe I get some weird look on my face or stagger because I feel so wasted on my meds all the time?

Maybe I've deteriorated to the point that I have joined the ranks of the crazy people that wander the streets talking to themselves and twitching.

I don't know. I don't really care.

[LikeMinded]

What y'all are having is somewhat similar to, but not quite, an absence seizure:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absence_seizure

Probably not as bad, though... if you're getting these staring bouts for real long amounts of time, or really frequently, better check with your doc, your ion channels may be wonky.

We Aspies tend to have these bouts all the time (incidentally, mine got better on Lamictal, though I haven't been diagnosed with any kind of epilepsy... yet).

[sdjeff]

The idea of abscence seizures is an interesting one. I wonder ehat the after effects are. At times, I can't properly remember what I was doing. I wind up in the garage when I meant to go in the kitchen, for instance. Other times, I just "zone out" for a few seconds and pick up exactly where I left off.

I've also noticed doing this less since being put on Depakote.

Still looking for that word, though. I have a psych dictionary and still can't find it.

[Velvet Elvis]

That's not an absence seizure or anything like that I don't think. I do it, or something a lot like it, as well. In my case it's ADD. Daydreaming. In elementary school people would organize and sneak up behind me and start singing Daydream Believer. I just get lost in thought and don't pay attention to what's going on around me.

There are also types of dissociative fugue which can be similar but are quite different in that that are blackouts or changes in consciousness.

[december_brigette]

Hi,

yes, i have experienced long blank stares my whole life. and it usually takes something to "shake" me from it - like a noise or touch. it was at its worst when i was working in the corporate world. I'd just go....and then someone would usually say "Hey DB what are you thinking about?"

ha ha...at least they thought i was being productive.

december

[dan]

:sympathy:

staring spells tend to be like the sneeze of the MI world... a sign that you're on your way to something but you won't know what for ages, it goes with almost everything MI and neuro... could be related to your dep, or something else?

You said others have noticed it and that's important, make sure you ask for details... do you respond to stimulus, do you change colour (go whiite, blue or green) do you blink too much or too little, any little thing that seems off.

Good luck, wishing you the virtue of patience

[mrsloony]

it could be a form of dissociation- where you do just space out. However, I would definately suggest seeing your regular doc- i had an old boyfriend who would go into these "stares" and they were in fact seizures. Can you speak while in one? Ask an observer- he could only speak gibberish (sp?) during on of these. He'd also get very tired when it was over. Do you notice anything before it happens- like an aura? ( something like seeing stars or smelling something burning?)

it maybe you are just escaping the world by spacing out, or you could have some kind of seizures. Best to talk to your docs and have it all checked out.

[chimpmaster]

I get this too; in my case its a schizophrenic symptom (catatonic). Usually I am about to do something then I go blank for a while and forget what it is I was going to do.

[LikeMinded]

I think we'd had earlier discussions on this where people asked if it was, in fact, an absence seizure.

Somewhere, there might be a link between petit mal epilepsy, bipolar disorders, Sz, and Asperger...

*chews on thoughts*

</end speculation>

[Cetkat]

I have noticed lately that I have moments where I go into a long trance of some kind where others are noticing it. I JUST start to think and all else blanks out and i don't really know how long i was out.

I used to do this all the time.. not so much anymore. My gaze would drift to any random thing, I'd start thinking, and everything would just drop away. I'd be like that for a couple of minutes, then I would come back. I wasn't on any medication then so it wasn't that, and I know they weren't any type of seizure - just something I did. I think I either just grew out of it or it stopped when my anxiety started.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think that as long as you can snap out of it, and you're not actually having a seizure, you're ok.

[saliferous]

all the time! just read a couiple of your replies, mrsloony said about escaping, nail on the head for me. not sure about yourself? they dont always feel the same depending on my mood. sometimes they feel good and wish i could stay that way but can carry on with my day afterwards, and others end with increased grumpiness as brought back to my day and unable to continue with my day rrelaxed.. not sure if this helps..

possible day dreaming of a sort just with with head case twist

!! if it is detremental to your day or stopping you from functioning, seek some advice from pdoc, may reassure you or clarify for you. good luck

[FireBird]

Sometimes I freeze and stare off into space. There are times where I would be walking and then suddenly stop and freeze in one position and not think during it. I've had testing for seizures for the staring but it has been ruled out as a cause. I used to stare and be in weird positions for 30 to 40 minutes at a time. Now, its not as bad with it lasting just a few seconds to a few minutes. I believe that my case is due to dissociation and not a seizure. Some other people think I am experiencing catatonia but I believe its not lasting long enough for it to be that. I used to walk in slow motion and barely move. I also used to freeze 60 times a day! Now I just occasionally freeze and stare off into space.

[cinnpop]

I find myself trying to think and then space out. I think its because Im avoiding thinking about my marriage. I want to leave, dont love him anymore. Found an apt but got overwhelmed so Im still with him. So thats why I space out. Not because of the meds. see my list below. I was spacing before I started taking meds. I think spacing to me is my brains way of avoiding negative thinking. Not a really good coping skill. sigh

[Guest HLS]

Could it be mild ADD. My first day at school. Suddenly everybody started writing I had missed what T said so I did the only logical thing, copy of the kid next to me. Half way thru I realised I was writing his name on my book. Throughout my life I have made numerous mistakes due to lapses of inattentiveness. Since I also seem to have symptoms of OCD I get very frustrated because I want MY name written perfectly neatly on my book not some other kids half name scribbled out and mine hurriedly written so I could catch up!

[SandDune]

Anyone experience long blank stares for no reason?

I get quite a lot of those.

Usually when I'm little manic and have just said something way unrelated that just totally derails everybodies train of thought.

Dang! I've just done it again.

[whatfcknvoices]

Welcome to the world of the sullen, disconnected trademark "1000 Yard Stare". A lot of us vets have it, either from being drugged to the gills or from PTSD or from being manic, either either or .......

[Maceo]

Happens to me all the time. They say "difficulty concentrating" is a symptom of depression so that's probably why.

[eviltwin]

Anyone experience long blank stares for no reason?

I get quite a lot of those.

Usually when I'm little manic and have just said something way unrelated that just totally derails everybodies train of thought.

Dang! I've just done it again.

Staring spells can be ADD or can be absence seizures...or lots of things. I had a major seizure 5 months ago...so I hate to tell people to ignore stuff like this...cuz small seizures can lead to bigger ones. Always mention things like this to your docs! My docs think now I had a seizure because of seratonin syndrome from my meds, and if someone had picked up on my earlier symptoms and/or sent me for an EEG something may have been caught before my brain had a huge seizure where I fell and hurt my head badly. 20 20 hindsite.

[Antiks]

I get this too; in my case its a schizophrenic symptom (catatonic). Usually I am about to do something then I go blank for a while and forget what it is I was going to do.

This happens on a short-term basis for me. I'll be in the kitchen and go to the cupboard for something, only to forget what I went there for. Instead, I'll just space out and rack my brain trying to figure out what I was doing.

[cashew1ofMxdNutz]

I wonder if those blanks stares aren't away from our brain to recoup? You know sort of like when your cpu hangs a bit before it frees up some RAM to run a program? I know I space when not on Concerta, so that is ADD related. I know I space when I am really tired or stressed or coming down from high anxiety. I also know I do it to "block" out so I can give myself a mental breather;I think they are mini meditations cause when I do come back from them I feel a bit more energized.

It is the "Spacies" that happen when something critical is or can happen; like checking out at store and the 3yo taking off outside. I didn't react until after the groceries were all packed, but considering the time of day it may also have been because the Concerta wore off.. oh well.. I am interested in hear what others have to say.