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myself said:
my best friend says she can also tell my switches by my lack of words, then change of tone and vocabulary.

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Yes, this is exactly what happens to my friend. He seems to struggle for words almost, and there are long pauses if I ask a question or ask him if he's ok.

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Part of the reason this happens is because when I am floating hard for me to think of words to answer questions. Its kind of like filling out some formal paper wok. you know your phone number but suddenly for the life of you the numbers just arent there in your mind. or like the saying goes "it's on the tip of my tongue but I can't remember the actors name". I can hear the questions I just cant focus enough to say the answer and in some cases think of the answer. or there are too many answers coming at me at once so it comes out one worded or not at all. Ive also been known to try and string a bunch of one words together and hope they go together to get my point across, doesn't work.

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Thank you SO much for that very descriptive explanation. I know exactly what you mean and it will definitely help me when I am talking with my friend and wondering why he isn't responding quickly!

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For me the way through or out of the tunnel (drifting) is that I find something to focus on. for instance I learned how to pull out of the tunnel by focusing on my past therapist voice. the hard part was finding her voice in all the voices I was hearing. She helped alot. during therapy she would at times do or say something so off the wall from what was going on that you couldn't miss her in all the jumble. I also used her office voice mail by calling every night before I went to bed just to hear her voice before I went to bed as part of my relaxation routine before sleeping. Soon I was using her voicemail recording to help me to pull myself out of panics and my tunnel after a nightmare. When I started training myself to relax to the point of what I call level one - totally relaxed but not entering my la la land so I wasn't afraid to remember what happened to me (basically self hypnosis) I used my therapist voice as my focus point so that if and when we used it during therapy I could focus on her voice no matter what I was experiencing.

Another thing that helps me when I am in my tunnel is that I start feeling things. Rubbing my fingers over my various designs on my sneakers because they are different textures. pushing hard against the chair I am sitting on so that I can feel the wood, taking a drink of ice cold water and so on. anything that will get my five sense back to feeling and experiencing the present. so I guess to answer your question if at some point I was drifting here and was unable to pull myself out to stand up, walk around, to get that drink and so on it could be helpful to get ideas form here on what to do or focus points that will get me feeling again.

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Well, I know my friend walks and paces a lot, perhaps that is his way of focusing and becoming present.

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Thank you for caring and asking that means alot to me that you did this.

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You are welcome, and thank you for caring to answer my question. Your posts have really helped me a lot in understanding what my friend is going through!!!