Brain ever "turn off"?

[mellowriot]

I'm having an episode, at this very moment, which I can only describe as my brain "turning off".. I hear / feel a hum inside my skull.. and I just cannot make out any thoughts. It just came out of no where.

A couple moments ago I was at a phone store, I bought a new phone, and the wonderful lady at the counter tried to explain the discount she was gave me. After 3 tries, she just jokingly asked if it was too early in the morning for me. I can still type, but it feels like any moment now I'm going to forget my name. This happens to me fairly often, its embarrassing and people think I'm stupid or something. But I don't know how to stop it. it happens more frequently now too.

I don't know if it has anything to do with stress, because it feels random.

question: does this have anything to do with autism ?

 

[watersprite]

I consider it part of being on the spectrum. That's my subjective opinion. It happens to me too. Stress of various sorts and / or over-stimulation are the triggers for me. Since I don't process the spoken word as quickly or accurately as NT's, certain interactions also trigger it. Thankfully, my brain comes back - reboots? - after a while, in between these stress-defense times.

 

[isthisreallife]

Yep, I think it's like disassociating. It happens to me when too much is happening at once.

 

[Beguiling Orbit]

I know what you mean, @mellowriot. It happens to me sometimes. In my job, I have to (get to?) interview people, sometimes at crowded events. I was interviewing a celebrity (I won't reveal who it was), who had been surrounded by fawning well-wishers all evening and who all wanted to get selfies with him. When it was finally my turn to talk with him, I was a bit intimidated and so nervous that I was in a state of anxiety. I somehow got all my questions out and he answered them all, but then I forgot that I had to wrap up the interview and thank him for his time. I just stood there like a deer caught in headlights for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a few seconds. I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do next. My mind was blank. After that period of awkward silence, the celebrity smiled and asked me, "is that it?" I replied "uh, huh" and then turned and walked away. Humiliating. Soon afterward, though, I started smiling and thought, "I'm such an Aspie!" Oh, well. That's who I am. People are just going to have to deal with me as I am.

 

[Gracey]

Yes.

I personally think it's a self preservation thing.
A bit of a defence mechanism.


I also think that personally it can be linked to stress.
(Don't need to retain information about a phone if stress level has reached fight or flight)
If the environment you were in, over a period of time was starting to push you toward the decision to 'get out' of that environment.
?

 

[Judge]

I don't know if it has anything to do with stress, because it feels random.

question: does this have anything to do with autism ?

That's very interesting. Though in my own case I could only relate to this as a prelude to a shutdown, and always the result of stress or a sensory overload of some kind. Even a social interaction "gone wrong". Never just a random occurrence.

Such a thing happening for no particular reason would worry me personally. Though it's possible as well that the OP just hasn't been able to determine a pattern to it all that may exist. That in fact it may not be random at all.

After all, I didn't even begin to suspect my own autism until I was in my 50s!

 

[Ragnahawk]

Its really annoying when you know the answer but can't find it on google. Brain naturally resets or something like that at regular intervals. Like hypnosis or internal clock. Hate that feeling.

 

[Ragnahawk]

It's not what you guys think it is.

 

[Judge]

Its really annoying when you know the answer but can't find it on google.

When that happens I usually rephrase the question.

 

[Chance]

I'm having an episode, at this very moment, which I can only describe as my brain "turning off".. I hear / feel a hum inside my skull.. and I just cannot make out any thoughts. It just came out of no where.

A couple moments ago I was at a phone store, I bought a new phone, and the wonderful lady at the counter tried to explain the discount she was gave me. After 3 tries, she just jokingly asked if it was too early in the morning for me. I can still type, but it feels like any moment now I'm going to forget my name. This happens to me fairly often, its embarrassing and people think I'm stupid or something. But I don't know how to stop it. it happens more frequently now too.

I don't know if it has anything to do with stress, because it feels random.

question: does this have anything to do with autism ?

I'm like this in a bad shutdown... Maybe you were holidng if off the best you could in the phone store.
Of course I have no idea of your whole situation, but I think its pretty typical. : )

 

[SchrodingersMeerkat]

Yes, but I think I was actually having some kind of seizure.

 

[fairy_girl]

Seizures (rarely happen thank god, scary stuff when you aren't expecting it) and going into a deep sleep. I do sometimes get it when things don't go my way in talking to people, no clue why but it happens. I mostly just get annoyed when a conversation doesn't go how I expected it to go when I chat with random people and then I zone out.

 

[mellowriot]

Hey guys, sorry for being so vague. My post is reminiscent of the times I've tried to write things down while I was high, then reading my material & realizing it was all junk. Either way, I'm glad I wrote it even though it wasn't so insightful.

I've tried my best to track this thing down, and find a pattern; but, I find no rhyme or rhythm.

This is the best I've been able to muster:

1. When painful memories creep up, my brain blocks them; but perhaps the blocking mech. needs the effort of the machine as a whole. Sorta the way it takes for your entire body to heat up enough to cause a fever in order to kill what ever it is the body wanted to kill. Like, if the brain was using a shotgun.

2. I used to meditate A LOT, I reached the "level" where my teeth would vibrate, body would lose "desire" to move, and feel tingly, and I'd see colors / black bubbles bursting within line of sight. I eventually stopped when the "symptoms" of meditation would trigger themselves. That is, my mouth would start to vibrate on its own, and I started getting ocular migraines. Well perhaps, my brain wants to meditate on its own?

3. Its something which already has an answer, but I'm to much of a damn coward to find out what it is.

the blankness doesn't usually get as strong as it did today. usually my memory lapse is super clean, and I could kinda give cause to it. that is, if I'm doing something of little interest to me, and I'm stuck in my mind, I'd miss super obvious things.

Today's episode stemmed from stress. The strange thing is, I'm not saying it is so because I felt as though it did, but because if I explained the days events, you would think, 'oh duh, you were stressed out'. That is, it isn't a internal realization. It is more of an external realization, (me wondering what id say if I were hearing this from someone else)

Which brought up the next question: do I know when I'm stressed?

because,

I know when I'm annoyed. It's when my brain act like a little kid and tries to steer my body away from the thing I'm trying to do. To which then I think I MUST do, because I have learned NOT to trust my first instincts.

an example of me forcing my body to act when its "annoyed" would be like when I read. Before my audible subscription I'd finish books like 'Wealth of Nations' with no problem, but now I have to retrain myself.

And an example of instincts I should avoid is: I AM NOT FUNNY. I don't get comedy, and when I make a joke it is just a cringe fest. (in a group chat I seriously thought it was funny to write 'you girls sound like you're about to start a circle jerk' when they were congratulating each other, I know :/)

I also know when I am mad, the rise in blood pressure gives it off.

but now, it looks like I'm going to have to learn to identify what ever goes in between anger and annoyance,; what ever it is thats making me go into these blank states.

Only problem is, even when I identify something, will I have the power to stop myself? for example, even though I know I'm not funny, I sometimes think, 'well maybe this person will laugh' make the joke, alienate myself, and then I beat myself up emotionally a little harder than I should.

 

[Reedstorm17]

I feel like with fight and flight response, there's a third part to it called "freeze," where the head kind of shuts down and you're just frozen there in silence. I shut down a lot these days when I just feel like I don't have the energy to do anything. In some way it's like retreating into my own head and trying to shut out everything else.

 

[Streetwise]

Hey guys, sorry for being so vague. My post is reminiscent of the times I've tried to write things down while I was high, then reading my material & realizing it was all junk. Either way, I'm glad I wrote it even though it wasn't so insightful.

I've tried my best to track this thing down, and find a pattern; but, I find no rhyme or rhythm.

This is the best I've been able to muster:

1. When painful memories creep up, my brain blocks them; but perhaps the blocking mech. needs the effort of the machine as a whole. Sorta the way it takes for your entire body to heat up enough to cause a fever in order to kill what ever it is the body wanted to kill. Like, if the brain was using a shotgun.

2. I used to meditate A LOT, I reached the "level" where my teeth would vibrate, body would lose "desire" to move, and feel tingly, and I'd see colors / black bubbles bursting within line of sight. I eventually stopped when the "symptoms" of meditation would trigger themselves. That is, my mouth would start to vibrate on its own, and I started getting ocular migraines. Well perhaps, my brain wants to meditate on its own?

3. Its something which already has an answer, but I'm to much of a damn coward to find out what it is.

the blankness doesn't usually get as strong as it did today. usually my memory lapse is super clean, and I could kinda give cause to it. that is, if I'm doing something of little interest to me, and I'm stuck in my mind, I'd miss super obvious things.

Today's episode stemmed from stress. The strange thing is, I'm not saying it is so because I felt as though it did, but because if I explained the days events, you would think, 'oh duh, you were stressed out'. That is, it isn't a internal realization. It is more of an external realization, (me wondering what id say if I were hearing this from someone else)

Which brought up the next question: do I know when I'm stressed?

because,

I know when I'm annoyed. It's when my brain act like a little kid and tries to steer my body away from the thing I'm trying to do. To which then I think I MUST do, because I have learned NOT to trust my first instincts.

an example of me forcing my body to act when its "annoyed" would be like when I read. Before my audible subscription I'd finish books like 'Wealth of Nations' with no problem, but now I have to retrain myself.

And an example of instincts I should avoid is: I AM NOT FUNNY. I don't get comedy, and when I make a joke it is just a cringe fest. (in a group chat I seriously thought it was funny to write 'you girls sound like you're about to start a circle jerk' when they were congratulating each other, I know :/)

I also know when I am mad, the rise in blood pressure gives it off.

but now, it looks like I'm going to have to learn to identify what ever goes in between anger and annoyance,; what ever it is thats making me go into these blank states.

Only problem is, even when I identify something, will I have the power to stop myself? for example, even though I know I'm not funny, I sometimes think, 'well maybe this person will laugh' make the joke, alienate myself, and then I beat myself up emotionally a little harder than I should.

No you shouldn't just get somewhere safe your body is trying to protect you
I think most introverted people on the autism spectrum suffer this stress reaction !like Suzanne a member of the forum who is now starting to accommodate autism it happens to me but it's because I had a nervous breakdown and wasn't offered any therapy
It's very hard to live with it without sedatives what it does do is stop me feeling guilty about things .

 

[Flinty]

I feel like with fight and flight response, there's a third part to it called "freeze," where the head kind of shuts down and you're just frozen there in silence. I shut down a lot these days when I just feel like I don't have the energy to do anything. In some way it's like retreating into my own head and trying to shut out everything else.

Yes, this is recognized by a lot of professionals.

(Welcome back!)

 

[Sid Delicious]

"Though in my own case I could only relate to this as a prelude to a shutdown, and always the result of stress or a sensory overload of some kind."

Exactly this. I occasionally get it if I'm trying to multi-task on too many things at once. Normally the linguistic part of my brain is the first to go and I'm aware people are talking, but I can't understand the words and can't form a coherent sentence in my own brain. After that, I stop even registering that people are around me. Then, if I push it any further, I get the same sort of brain freeze like others have described above. I also get semi-regular episodes of brain freeze if I stay awake for more than a couple of days. I assume it's the brain's method of prioritising where to focus limited resources.

mellowriot - If you are experiencing this on a regular basis, then I would a) suggest you try to avoid whatever situation is causing this freeze and b) reassess your lifestyle (sleep patterns, diet, routine, etc) to see if you can improve your ability to concentrate in any way. Certain foods (dairy, gluten) can affect cognitive processing in some people, for example.