When Nothing Comes to mind: Riley Taylor

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When nothing comes to Mind

By Riley Taylor




Have you ever been talking to someone or just sitting alone when all of a sudden your mind just goes blank? People will repeat themselves louder and become frustrated that you "zoned out". Thats normally what it is called. This action is commonly criticicized and downplayed as something exclusively for the lazy and unmotivated. However, this is not the case. And I'm going to convince you by the end of this blog, that if you experience this daily, its actually not the worst thing for you. It might even let you pick up on some social cues later on in life. The next time you see someone zoning out, they might have a little bit more to say if you just ask.g

"A mental Proccess that causes a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memory, and sense of identity". This is the direct definition of the phrase zoning out, or spacing out. Experts in the field of psychology such as Stephen Porges, a proffessor of psychiatry at the university of North Carolina, have theorized that dissociation, or zoning out, is one step past our fight or flight response. When your mind feels overwhelmed, your body may completely bypass your natural fight or flight instincts and go straight to freeze. This is not the case with physical danger. However, this is a side effect of psychological stress. Even if the person this is effecting doesn't realize it, they have something on their mind that is obstructing their ability to function normally. To make it a bit more simple, picture your brain as a computer. When a computer is givin too many orders it must fulfill at once, no matter how much proccessing power it has, with enough commands it will freeze. This is the exact same for your brain. Except, you know, you don't have a computer in your head. I am almost certain that we have all experienced dissociation before, and probably just thought we were bored or tired. The truth is, deep down inside, you are really worried about something. Whether that is the pressure of becoming an adult, or the pressure of remaining one.

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