A look at “Cognitive disengagement syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: An examination of relationships with alexithymia and emotion regulation difficulties” by Yavuz Yılmaz and Erdi Bahadır (2026)
Some people’s attention bounces off the walls like a pinball. Others drift off on a cloud, gazing out of the window, lost in thought, mentally foggy and a beat behind the conversation. That second pattern has a name: cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS), formerly known by the rather unkind label “sluggish cognitive tempo”. It often overlaps with ADHD, but researchers increasingly think it’s a distinct thing. This Turkish study asks how both relate to emotions.
What they found
The researchers surveyed just over 1,000 adults from across Turkey, recruited via WhatsApp, excluding anyone with a known mental health condition. Everyone completed screening questionnaires for ADHD traits and CDS traits, plus measures of emotional regulation and alexithymia: difficulty identifying, describing and making sense of your own feelings.
The headlines:
- About 1 in 10 people showed elevated CDS traits, and a similar number showed a higher likelihood of ADHD.
- There was lots of overlap. Around 40% of those with likely ADHD also had elevated CDS traits, and 60% of those with elevated CDS traits also showed signs of ADHD.
- People with both had the greatest difficulties with emotional regulation and alexithymia.
- Surprisingly, CDS traits were more strongly linked to emotional difficulties than ADHD traits were. That suggests the dreamy, foggy, drifting-off pattern may be particularly bound up with struggling to understand and manage feelings.
A grain of glitter ✨
It’s an interesting study that shines a light on a lesser-known pattern, and the sample is reasonably large. But there are a few clouds over it.
Nobody was actually assessed for ADHD or CDS. These were screening questionnaires, so we’re talking about traits, not diagnoses. Participants were mostly university-educated and higher-income, recruited through WhatsApp networks, which isn’t a representative slice of anyone. The authors also note that not all the questionnaires had been properly validated in Turkish.
It’s a snapshot study, so despite the authors’ suggestion that CDS and ADHD may be involved in the “etiology” (causes) of emotional difficulties, we can’t actually tell what causes what. Importantly, depression, anxiety, sleep and autistic traits weren’t measured. All of these can cause mental fogginess and difficulty naming feelings, and they could explain part of the picture.
Why this matters
If you’ve always been the “daydreamer”, the one who zones out, loses the thread or feels perpetually foggy, and you also find it hard to put your feelings into words, this research suggests those experiences may be connected. They’re not a sign of laziness or not caring. Therapy that gently builds emotional vocabulary and body awareness, at your own pace, can be particularly helpful.
Some unicorns gallop; some float. Both are perfectly magical, though the floaty ones may need a little help reading the weather inside.