When Your Mind Hits Pause: Why So Many of Us Feel Disconnected
You’re not broken, your brain is just tired of surviving.
I’ve been tuning out a lot lately.
People around me notice it, which is what put it on my radar; they’ll say, “Zac, you just disappeared for a second,”, “You look like you’re somewhere else.”, or if it’s my buddy Ross from work, “Zac, you’re spacing out again…”
And they’re right, I am somewhere else.
Not on purpose, not because I’m distracted or rude, but it’s like my mind checks out for a few seconds.
When I shared that on Facebook, I expected one or two “same here” comments…
Instead, quite a few people jumped in saying they experienced the same, drifting off mid-conversation, zoning out at work, scrolling without remembering what they saw, and just tuning out from everything.
That’s when it hit me: This isn’t just me, it’s us.
We’re All Overwhelmed, But Pretending We’re Fine
We live in a time where everyone’s brain is under siege.
It’s constant noise from notifications, ads, conversations, expectations, bills, updates, messages, and endless to-dos.
We go from one task to another without a breath in between, and when we finally get a second to rest, we reach for our phones, scroll through chaos, and call it “relaxing.”
The truth?
Most of us aren’t resting; we’re numbing.
Our minds are overloaded, overstimulated, and overworked, so they do the only thing they can to protect us: they (our brains) disconnect.
That’s what “spacing out” really is; it’s not laziness or lack of focus, it’s our nervous system saying, “Enough. I cannot take in one more thing right now.”
The Hidden Causes of Modern Dissociation
It’s not just stress, it’s the compound effect of a lifestyle that’s always “on.”
Too much input, not enough silence.
We used to have quiet built into our lives, driving, walking, sitting outside, and now every space is filled with noise.
Emotional exhaustion.
From news cycles to personal struggles, everyone carries something heavy and pretends they’re fine, and that act we put on daily burns energy.
Broken rhythms.
Poor sleep, caffeine highs, sugar crashes, processed everything, and skipping real meals has turned survival mode into a routine.
Disconnection from the body.
We live in our heads: plans, worries, memories, screens… The body follows orders until it can’t, and while we all know “The body keeps the score” we’re getting our asses kicked on the scoreboard.
Unprocessed pain.
For many, dissociation is also the brain’s way of protecting us from unresolved trauma or emotions. It’s a safety valve, but life starts to blur when it’s always open; I have lived through immense traumas, and while I have healed from them, I wonder if there are remnants of the consequences of what I faced.
My ACE Score is 8; What’s yours?
TAKE THE TEST HERE TO SEE HOW MESSED UP YOUR CHILDHOOD WAS
This is where your mind starts to slip away, and where you can begin to take it back.
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