Possibly a stupid question, but I'm not totally sure what dissociation involves, or if it's anything like what I'm going to try and describe.

Basically, I spend quite a lot of time "lost in thought". If I'm with a group of people and feel like I'm not being included, or just can't hear what's being said, I'll give up trying and retreat into my own thoughts. Near the end of last year I was walking back to halls in the dark by myself, and no matter how hard I told myself to pay attention to what was happening around me (it was a well-lit, busy street I was walking along, so I doubt anything was actually going to go wrong, but you can't be too careful, right?) I realised just how hard I was finding it to focus.

I've been told a few times by my friends that I "look like [I'm] miles away", and I'm beginning to wonder if this may have cost me friendships in the past. There have been times when I've been with a group of people and thought "nobody would notice if I wasn't here", but no wonder if I isolate myself by doing this! I didn't have many friends at school, especially during the later years, and I wonder if this is either the cause or something I started to help me feel less lonely.

Does anyone else here do something similar, or have any thoughts about what might be happening?