Zoning out in ADHD

A common question that people ask themselves when they start to explore and learn more about neurodivergence is whether zoning out is a sign of ADHD. That’s both a valid experience and a valid question. After all, one of the most common stereotypical archetypes of a person with ADHD is this typical experience of zoning out, tuning out, daydreaming, and struggling to focus.

You may be telling yourself that everybody zones out sometimes, even neurotypicals! That is undoubtedly true; zoning out is not unique to ADHD. However, it could be argued that ADHDers experience this much more frequently and much more intensely, and the impact of it is more significant.

Difference between zoning out and daydreaming

Without getting into the semantics of what these terms mean and how they differ, let’s focus on the experiences themselves. Generally both daydreaming and zoning out is a quality of the human experience. Without daydreaming, where would our greatest historical works of literature, poetry, music, art, technology, and innovation be? Many of these great ideas could have realistically been born out of a creative and inspired daydreaming session.

Here’s how I imagine the neurotypical daydreaming or zoning out experience goes. A person is on a stroll in the park or letting their mind wander in the shower, when they start to think about an idea, fantasy, memory, or some other thought, and they spend time expanding upon it. Their imaginations go wild, and they’ve inspired a whole great imaginative picture. Something in their environment snaps them back into awareness and they realize that they zoned out in deep thought. When someone asks what they were daydreaming about, I’m assuming they can articulate what they were thinking about in a decent amount of detail. They can acknowledge that their minds subconsciously wandered off, but I’m willing to guess that for the most part, they can recall and recite each step of their thought process. I’m also guessing that this happens occasionally and does not present a problem for them, and is considered a whimsical escape from conscious thought and maybe even heralded as a creative opportunity.

Maybe zoning out also happens when a neurotypical person is in a meeting at work and thinking about their plans for the weekend. Zoning out or daydreaming may even be a purposeful and intentional thought experiment that a neurotypical person can choose to allow their brains to do. All of this is a pretty standard and typical occurrence, right?

Zoning out in ADHD

From personal experience, I can say that while I have inspired some of my best ideas and creative sparks in a daydreaming or zoning out episode, zoning out is overall a less-than-glamorous experience for me. In fact, it’s mostly problematic for me. When it turns from an occasional, cute, floaty episode of thought, to a consistent and life-disrupting trait, that’s when it makes sense to consider if zoning out is a sign of ADHD. Afterall, neurodivergence is just a manifestation of the vast neurological diversity of humankind, and a diagnosis (or self-identification) isn’t on a person’s radar unless the experience is significant, atypical to the general majority, and has a notable impact on their life.

Zoning out and daydreaming are not explicitly included in the DSM-5-TR criteria for ADHD. Still, there’s little room for debate that this experience is interrelated (or falls under the umbrella of) inattentiveness, forgetfulness, getting “side-tracked,” distractibility, etc. Frequent zoning out could influence or cause all of the above experiences.

For example, if I present with the challenge of “not following through with instructions” at school or work, this could be because I zoned out when the instructions were given.

If I meet the criteria of frequently losing things (which I definitely do), this could be because I was zoning out while I had the item in my hand and distractedly placed it somewhere while in this state. That’s why it’s lost, and no, I actually can’t retrace my steps because I cannot recall what I was doing or where I went while I was zoned out! I believe this might be a uniquely ADHD quality, in which a person cannot recall where their mind went while zoned out. This could potentially be a sign of zoning out as an ADHD experience.

How to know if your experience of zoning out is a sign of ADHD

Frequency
How often do you zone out?

Sitting here thinking about it, I cannot estimate how frequently this happens! If I had to guess, I would say multiple times per hour. It happens all the time. For as long as I can remember. Since I was a kid, teachers would always give this feedback in parent meetings and report cards that I was always staring out the window, never paying attention, never answering when they called on me to participate.

Still to this day, I receive the same feedback from my loved ones who are used to me zoning out. They actually get frustrated by how often they say things that seem to go “into one ear and out of the other.” I don’t like this specific feedback. It makes me feel like they are implying that I am willfully ignoring them or I don’t care, but the truth is, I had no control in that moment over what my brain was doing, I zoned out. I was not present in that moment and I do not have the skill of redirecting my brain to the present moment to focus my attention on what people are saying or doing at all times. If I could learn or acquire that skill, I would do it in a heartbeat, but my brain doesn’t operate like that.

Intensity/Duration
How intensely do you zone out, and for how long?

This is an interesting phenomenon. We know that ADHDers can go into periods of intense hyperfocus (and so can autistic people). However, it is possible that we can hyperfocus intensely on the daydream itself, meaning our brains use a significant amount of its energy and resources into thinking, processing, and analyzing something in a zoned out state, and it is extremely difficult to redirect or refocus that energy once we start. By the time we are done zoning out or “snap out of it,” it’s possible that our brains have worked so hard that now our brains are actually tired and have limited resources to devote to the present moment!

From personal experience, I would say my brain devotes almost ALL of its energy while in this zoned out state, and this could last for several hours.

Setting/Situation
When and where are you zoning out?

This might be one of the most striking differences between ADHDers and neurotypical people. ADHDers can zone out in the least-convenient situations possible. I can zone out mid-conversation. A neurotypical person may zone out when they are bored with a person or conversation, but even when I am deeply invested and actually care about the person, I may stop listening in the middle of their sentence. It could be 5 minutes later until I realize that I have absolutely no idea what they said.

Zoning out also happens while driving. We’ve heard of highway hypnosis where a person goes into mental auto-pilot while driving and can’t remember that they made a bunch of turns, merges, and driving decisions for a period of time. This, of course, can have serious consequences. I’d wager that this is even more common with ADHDers.

Consequences/Impact
Does zoning out present a significant problem and impact your functioning?

We’ve discussed zoning out as a typical experience for most people at least on occasion, but the difference between that and the experience of ADHDers is that zoning out has consequences for us.

I have walked down the street and almost been hit by a car because I was hyperfocused on a thought (I have no idea what I was thinking about) and was too zoned out to be aware of my surroundings. Zoning out to the point where my situational awareness is impacted and possibly even poses a serious risk, I fully blame on my ADHD.

This has affected my former school and work performance. This is self-explanatory, but it is problematic when someone gives you directions, but you were zoned out when they were speaking, and now cannot complete the required task.

Zoning out also severely impacts my functioning in relationships. I zone out in the middle of a conversation multiple times in almost every social interaction I have, and people notice. They may perceive this as me not caring, or me not being there for them, and it affects our relationship. This has caused people to feel hurt, rejected, and frustrated with me, which has led to inevitable interpersonal conflict and has probably been a factor in losing some friendships.

NeuroSpark Health can help you find answers about your experience

If you’re wondering whether your experience of zoning out is a sign of ADHD, we can help you explore that. If you are interested in pursuing an ADHD assessment, please contact us here or schedule a free 15-minute consultation where we can identify your needs, familiarize you with our process, and determine fit. Please feel free to share how this resonates with your experience!