Extended Shut Down mode?

Post Reply New Topic

Ususally i only shut down during a Stressful or Overstimulating moment, but i havent done anything today and i just shut down, and its lasting a long time.

heres what i describe as a shut down:

Spacing out
cant really process anything thats going on,
Sensory sensitivity increase,
slow reflexes
cant read or understand what a person is saying very well or as fast as usual
cant think clearly, things are more repetitive
easily lost in a rut (ends up walking in circles without realizing it)
eyesight is worse.


once i was like this when i was low on iron but i dont think its whats causing it,

has anyone else just randomly shut down?

Huh, to some extent that sounds familiar.
Not necessarily the increase of sensory sensitivity (I only seem to get that when clearly overloaded) but sometimes I have such days that cover the rest of what you say. I never bothered to read up on shutdowns all that much, what I imagined under those was just having a "moment" of being apathetic which I never identified in.

happens to me all the time. but also i have a terrible/almost non-existent diet, would eating better help it at all i wonder.

I do that sometimes. It's usually when I am dealing with something stressful. And stress came come in many forms. The reason I say this is that I might be under a lot of stress without realizing that I am under stress. I don't always recognize it when I am stressed out. So I could sometimes think that I am zoning out randomly when it is in fact being caused by stress that I might not be recognizing or not realizing how deeply the stress is really affecting me.

I call it "Safe Mode".

I can totally relate, especially when I became frustrated with my deficiencies at my new internship coupled with my school responsibilities; in a sense I would become harder working and lazier at the same time. I've heard being generally overwhelmed is comparable to sensory overload, too much information to process having a similar effect to too many lights and noises at once; so in that sense there are times at work where I want to take a break and "shut down my senses" when there's too much information to process.

I tended to shut down off and on all day. I work two jobs and the environments I work in seem to overload me. When I'm not doing something repetitive with my hands I can't focus. I start to shut down when looking at the computer screen. I've been know to just sit and stare at it for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. I try and make sure my screen is on my E-mails so that others think I'm just reading E-Mails. At my other job I shut down when the noise level and multiple task requirements increase. I can barely count change and I forget how to do the simplest task on the register. It takes me a few minutes in order to refocus which seems to freak my boss and the customers out. I have on several occasion had to call a manager over to help me. On my days off I can shut down for several hours at a time.

The "HALT" self-reflection (from 12 step groups) is sometimes a good place to start addressing shutdowns. If you aren't familiar with that, HALT reminds you to monitor inner feelings that may be triggering changes in behaviour, motivation etc. when you get sudden mood or motivation shutdowns:

HALT = Are you:

Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired

Often dealing with those - whichever one feels the most pressing - frees up energy.

Not a total solution, though it has its uses.

I totally relate to a lot of the items in your list, ZombieBride...they usually happen to me when I'm under a lot of stress or anxiety. I don't do things or respond to my environment as fast or as much as I normally do, and I just wander around aimlessly and lose the "spring" that's normally in my step.

I have to be careful when I am driving. I noticed how bad my reflexes are when I am under stress or socially exhausted. Sometimes I can't tell which way the road is turning so I have to just follow the painted line.

I mostly only shut down when I've been "over-socialised", that is, I've been spending all day out and about with people and I can't deal with it anymore. I suppose to outsiders my anxiety reactions can look similar to my shutdowns: I get quiet and stop talking/paying attention to what's around me, and depending on my level of internal exhaustion, I might stim, or I might just remain very still, sitting in a corner. The difference between my internal states when comparing anxiety to shutdown is that when I'm anxious, every nerve ending is on high alert; my whole body is ready to do whatever it has to to get out of the situation; there's a lot of rocking, finger fluttering and self-squeezing, and my body is much tenser than when I'm in shutdown. In shutdown I'm equally still, quiet and relatively nonresponsive, but I'm limp and floppy and look like a puppet with its strings cut; I just want to crawl away to someplace dark and quiet and close my eyes or sleep until the social stimulus has wound down.

I don't know if my reflexes are worse when I have it, or if I just don't want to catch up. It's not necessarily from socializing for me, but either from some content of the socializing, or from having too much on my plate, or frustrations. It's probably the biggest problem for me.

It sounds familiar to me, too. It happens when I feel under a lot of pressure. I feel like if I was inside a bubble and I can't really connect to the world.

This happens to me a lot too. It seems like it happens when I am stressed, the weather is weird, impending change in routine, etc. But sometimes it just happens without any trigger.

I kind of like the name "extended shutdown mode" for it. In fact sometimes I go into this mode starting with an actual shutdown, except that it lasts for hours at a time.

I call that experience, "ADD-mode", not a shutdown yet...and still salvageable. (For me, of course, everyone is different).

But, I can certainly relate to feeling like my body went a little overboard on it's reaction sometimes. Usually, I can figure it out in hindsight.