Is this an autistic thing?

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I am 23 years old and last year I was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, PDD-NOS. It is all still really new to me and I am trying to figure it out. One thing I am having trouble with, and I am not sure if it is caused by my ASD or if it is unrelated, is feeling disconnected. Sometimes I will be fine, but then something happens and everything stops feeling real. I don't know how to really describe it, except just feeling disconnected. I hear people laughing and talking around me, but I feel like I am not really there, I am somewhere else and I don't know how to get back. Usually when it happens I also stop talking. I go inside myself and can't seem to get back out. I don't want to do this, I don't like the feeling of being disconnected from everyone and everything, but I don't know how to stop it or what to do when I feel that way. Usually I just wait for it to go away, but sometimes it can take a long time, days or even week. Is this something to do with autism, does anyone else feel this way, or should I be looking for other explanations? And if other people do feel this way what do you do about it?

This is called shutdown.

I take it this usually happens in busy or stimulating environments - bars, gatherings, dining halls....? Or when you are extra stressed over something?

If this is the case then you are probably experiencing sensory overload.
People on the spectrum have different sensory wiring from other people and process their senses differently.
Because people on the spectrum tend not to filter information but process every little bit of it it can become overwhelming and your system gets a sort of feedback or crash which causes distress.

When this happens many people on the spectrum either go into meltdown, where they find it difficult to control their reactions to the stimuli, or shutdown, where they shut themselves off from the stimuli. This is not voluntary, it is a reaction to the overload.

The best thing to do is to take a break when you begin to feel yourself becoming overloaded or too stressed.
Many people avoid the sort of environments and events that trigger these reactions entirely but if things aren't too bad or you can catch it early enough breaks can help you get through if you have to.

I get that when theres a lot going on at once, sometimes for me, this causes an anxiety attack, its very uncomfterble, i never understood it

Sounds like depersonalization or dissociation or derealization - I believe all three terms are used interchangeably.

I experienced it to the extreme when I was graduating from high school 13+ years ago & didn't know what was going on until a year or two ago when a friend described going through it himself and provided the name & definition as depersonalization. I didn't even have to look it up to confirm I knew all about it, as I could finish his sentences on describing the whole thing. I did look it up and had a quick read about it. Apparently it's the 3rd most common mental health affliction after depression & anxiety, and can be triggered by stress. It's very real and can be very frightening, but it's not permanent nor something super serious to worry about as as soon as your stress levels drop from whatever's triggered it you'll be able to go back to normal and carry on.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

I get this but I don't feel that the world around me is unreal, just that I'm not connected to it, like being behind glass or watching tv.

For me, I feel like I am in a dream, and it's not really happening. I am getting this a lot lately, and often think that I don't really care about my life. I might be driving, and see a bend in the road and a tree, and think that if I don't bother to turn I will crash, and almost want to, just to see what happens. Like I don't feel there will be pain or trouble, and I don't care if there will be. The only thing stopping me is a sort of begrudging realization that my kids will suffer but I don't actually feel that either. I just know it rationally, that I will regret it if I do, and I can always drive into the tree later if I change my mind. Right?
Like a boring predictable TV show, that fails to capture my attention.
Whatever.

Sounds like derealization.

It can be due to shutdown, or due to a dissociative disorder, or in rare cases a complex partial seizure.

Last year during summer, I was riding my bike to school. At one point, I sort of didn't see where I was going anymore, as if I disconnected from what I was doing. I only snapped back when I noticed I was going to collide with the nearest wall but it was a bit too late to avoid it. I ended up bending my bike's wheel and luckily enough, I was ok. Only a few scratches here and there.

Could it be dissociation? Or something else?

It sounds like derealization to me. I looked it up and read the things posted on here about it, and it was kind of weird because I felt like I was having the exact words I had used to describe it to people in my life quoted back at me. I have shutdowns, too, and I didn't know what they were called, but I had figured out they were linked to too much sensory stimulation and if I got away to a safe, quiet place I could calm down. When I disconnect from everything it can last weeks. Is there anything you guys do to pull yourself out of it, or do you just wait until it goes away? Sometimes it helps having my roommate, who is also my best friend, hold me for a while, but she is not always there, and when she is she cannot always sit with me until I start feeling better.

I find sometimes I can use music to manipulate my moods. A song that inspires me can energize me, or a suitable movie. Sometimes I can start doing something I had been wanting to do, but hadn't found the right opportunity/mood/time. Then my focus starts to kick in and I become engrossed in whatever it is.

But sometimes none of that works because I cannot muster up the resolve or interest to even try to do anything about it. I wind up wallowing in apathy/disinterest/deadness, with this small voice at the back of my head telling me to snap out of it, do something, ANYTHING, your life if dripping away.

I get depressed at time, but this is not depression, I don't think. With depression, I get negative thoughts and the urge to cry. With this, I don't care enough to bother to have a negative thought. It's like this is not really my life anyway, so why should I be concerned?


So then, where is my life?

I deal with this kind of stuff on a daily basis, lol.