Zones out under pressure
In a tense meeting their eyes go glassy, and afterwards they can't recall what was decided.
Rule out first
Lack of sleep. Medication. Boredom in a meeting that doesn't concern them.
What could explain it
ADHD in adults: It happens all the time, worst when bored, not mainly under pressure.
Fight, flight, freeze: Freeze under threat: they go still and blank when voices rise and come back once the room calms.
Dissociation (including depersonalisation and derealisation): They feel detached or unreal, lose stretches of time, and it follows reminders of past harm.
Schizoid fantasy (withdrawal into fantasy): A habitual retreat into an inner world when people demand too much; they're content there.
Major depression: Slowed thinking and poor concentration everywhere, with low mood and fatigue.
A next move
Ask afterwards what it was like inside. Bored means ADHD; frozen means threat; unreal means dissociation; daydreaming means fantasy; heavy and slow means depression.
If it’s you
Where do I go when I go blank?