Is this an example of an autistic Shutdown?

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I intend on getting evaluated; I strongly suspect autism. In the meantime I've read about "shutdowns" but denied ever having any. Then it dawned on me: Several times in college I woke up not wanting to go to classes or do ANYTHING and just stay in bed most of the day. Several times in adult life on my own this also happened. I'd wake up and just not want to do anything and stay in bed or veg out on the sofa with the TV on and do only the bare minimum of what I had to do. These days probably included missing a scheduled gym workout. Next day, after these episodes, I was back in operation.

I used to think this was just a one-day depression, but wouldn't a depression span several days of this behavior instead of a one-day event?

Were these more likely autistic shutdowns in a person who thinks they're on the spectrum?

To me, I would say it's more of a burnout or meltdown, a minor one as the depression lasted a day.

My shutdowns is a sudden shock/reaction which is a huge application of adrenaline to the body. It is usually triggered by surprise. The reaction is fight, flight, or play dead/freeze/fawn. I'm aware of everything and think but when frozen, I don't move. It takes my body time to process the adrenaline so I'm a zombie afterwards if it was a larger shutdown.

It doesn't sound like it to me. Shutdowns can be pretty diverse, but the essential feature that separates them from things like depressive funks, etc, is that they happen in response to a specific kind of stimulus. A feeling of being overwhelmed immediately precedes them. What you're describing sounds like a mood disorder, if it's chronic, though it might not be depression specifically. It's also not uncommon for neurotypicals to experience what you described after or during a period of prolonged stress. Burnout affects everyone.

It's not how I experience shutdowns. Someone here has a useful link in their signature about shutdowns, I'll see if I can find it again.

Found it https://everything2.com/user/Zifendorf/ ... s/shutdown

I get this when I am emotionally involved with people:

"Expressive language shutdowns involve losing the ability to come up with or use speech and writing. This may involve increased difficulty with word-finding, syntax, grammar, or the ability to use words -- or at times any symbols -- in any way at all. It may result in telegraphic speech or writing: "Words gone. Need time think." These kinds of shutdowns can resemble the expressive aphasias."

Expressive aphasia is a...... is a..... is a.....

Right. Nobody knows what you are saying. Most people leave and can't be bothered finding out.

my brain won't process anything

Well, I guess my "shutdown for a day" experiences aren't driven by autism. I'm hoping that this doesn't mean I don't have ASD. I need the dx for validation. If I don't have ASD, I'm screwed and will be at a loss for why I am the way I am.

What you describe is common with those on the spectrum as I know two people who do that and I also do it but for a shorter period of time (Until the stressful situation goes... And then a little more time to recover and then I am back. Only happens for the day when my brother and his kids come up and it is too much for me to cope with so I will isolate myself in the room, and he tends to stay the whole day so I am stuck in my bedroom for the day.He has lots of children so the house is noisy which is hard to cope with... And my Mum gets stressed and then I get stressed so I isolate to prevent an overload of stress which is a definate shutdown trigger)...
Some say they are shutdowns as one can't cope so one isolates oneself. For me shutdowns hit in a more physical way but be aware that there are more then one type for different people...
For me what you describe I would describe as shutdown prevention. A technique to avoid the stress pushing one into a partial or worse still, a full out shutdown.

Also don't forget that while 60% of those on the spectrum experience shutdowns, that means 40% don't.
Also 60% experience meltdowns and also 20% who are on the spectrum do not experience shutdowns or meltdowns, so though experiencing one or the other or both would be an indicator, if one has neither it does not mean one is not on the spectrum, and like I said before, different people have different experiences and so there are more then one type. I have PM'd you something very similar to what I experience personally and also shared the shutdown link which someone has also posted above. This shows some of the many types of shutdown.

Thanks for that feedback. I HATE a room full of noisy loud kids. I always thought it was because I want to protect my hearing from noise induced hearing loss (so I don't get hearing impairment like people I know who've routinely exposed their ears to loud sounds). But I still hate the sound anyways. I wear tight ear plugs when around kids OR loud adults or any loud environment. I guess I'm not the shutdown/meltdown type. I'll holler at people or give them a fierce piece of my mind (and stare them down), so I'm more of a reactive tactical person than one who has a private meltdown--though I do slug walls when something doesn't go my way--just a single or double slug.

How do you slug walls? Leave slimy trails? Aren't snails easier to hold?

Too mny noisy kids. Didn't like school because of the many voices sounding at the same time. It was horrible! I would hide somewhere in the rain and get soked rather than go in the hall if it was raining at lunchtime as the noisy hall with hundreds of excited noisy voices was torture.

To "slug" someone, or something, is to punch them or it with your fist.

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Since I am into word origins...it probably came from the Nineteenth century when bullets were made of lead. Old fashioned lead bullets kinda look like garden slugs. So you can fire a slug. Then that got transferred "throwing a slug" (your fist), and then just "slugging" someone. A line of lead type used to print newspapers was also called "a slug" in the journalism trade.

Yeah, a slug is a bullet, and a thing that eats plants.