Do You Know What ‘Highway Hypnosis’ Is? We All Experience It!

Wait, what happened during the last 20 miles while you were driving?

Whether you're driving on familiar highways and roads or not, we've all been there. All of a sudden, we're home or stopping at a stoplight and don't remember a thing.

Where did those miles go and that time go?

You're fine, so clearly, you weren't running stop lights—at least, you don't think you were. Did you use your blinker and stay around the speed limit? Who knows?

According to the Healthline website, it's called "Highway Hypnosis." It occurs when our brains slow down and are less alert because the routine and monotony of the drive put them into autopilot.

When you think about it, it's super scary after the fact. Truly, it's a bizarre feeling.

It tends to happen more often on longer drives, especially on highways where the scenery doesn't change much. You're not doing the stop-and-go thing, and the speed limit is consistent.

According to the Learn About Hypnosis website, highway hypnosis doesn't even have to be a familiar drive. It's a natural, trance-like occurrence for everyone, and there's nothing we can do about it.

That said, clearly, reduced and even relaxed brain function can be dangerous because, eventually, drowsiness creeps in. So, according to Learn About Hypnosis, here's what you should do.

• Pull over at the next rest stop or gas station and take a break. Stretch and walk around. Grab some caffeine, too,
• Make planned stops every few hours, even if you don't think you need to, and map out your overnight stay if necessary ahead of time so you're only driving around eight hours.
• Blast loud music or talk to someone on the phone.
• Turn off cruise control.

While all of this seems obvious, the whole point of highway hypnosis is we don't even realize it happened until after the fact to prepare ahead of time.