giselle,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I am sorry to hear about your friend.

There is no way to prognose how long his recovery will take. You did not say how long ago he suffered the concussion. Most heal to their maximum level within 45 days. Those that don't fit the prolonged Post concussion Syndrome category. Then the time line can vary greatly.

His zoning out or locking up is not uncommon. You may notice it is more prevalent when there are other stimuli to process. His brain struggles to sort through background sights and sounds to focus on and process the relevant sights and sounds.

If this condition persists, there are skills many of us learn to help us ignore those external distractions so we can focus better.

It will help him if friends make a focused effort to not talk over each other. His brain can only process one voice at a time. It will also help if he is in a quieter environment.

You may notice his eyes darting around. This is his visual processing getting distracted by the various visual stimuli.

He has a while to go before hanging out with multiples of friends. Some of us never regain that ability, especially those of us who have had multiple concussions.

He will likely be less tolerant of alcohol and should be careful with it.

There are lots of other things he should consider based on his symptoms. You may not notice many symptoms he is struggling with internally. We are know as the invisible wounded.

There is a great video series on You Tube called "You Look Great" that discusses the recovery of a man who walked into his office and they responded, "You look great." he knew than he was still struggling. It can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Xso...ature=youtu.be It is 6 segments that take about an hour total. The first segment should explain a lot.

He is fortunate to have friends like you who are willing to consider and help him with his struggles. Anything you can do to spread the word to his other friends will help.

My best to you.