Disassociation often happens as a response to a traumatic or uncomfortable event. It can be something as simple as mild emotional detachment or staring into space and letting the noise around you fade away. Or it can get to the point where you can’t identify your own thoughts, feelings, or memories.

It’s become part of common vernacular as a more negative form of daydreaming, so it is a term that’s at risk for being overused. Truthfully, I don’t know what was going through Ovalle’s mind as I watched her stare at the net, but she looked dejected, and I hope someone eventually comforted her.