Freezing

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When I get upset I now seem to freeze in place. I will just stand in one place, not moving. If someone gets my attention they have it for only a split second and I go back to spacing out like I'm lost. I hate sitting. I will stand in one place for a long time and sometimes instead I lay on the floor flat and do not move either.

Why do I freeze?

Hmm, maybe this is like what I call a 'glitch'. Sometimes when I get upset or someone does something weird, I can't think of any reasonable way to respond, so I just sort of run the thing endlessly through my mind, until something intervenes. It's exactly like giving a non sequitur to a robot.

It happens Mostly major stressors - the time I fell on an icy hill and had to sit for an hour before I could move on. Or the time I [with inadequate social perception] proposed marriage - she was very kind and sat theere until I could move again.

But give me the right stimuulus - something TOTALLY surprising, especially, something I did REALLY wrong - and I will have a minute to a quarter hour of unable to think or talk ofr move [though sometimes I can pace and / or rock]

sad to say that this happens to me too sometimes. I have learned to just relax and "be" in those times.

Deleted, read the OP wrong.

Last edited by League_Girl on 31 Dec 2010, 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response

Explains it all.

I get it too, sometimes. In a situation I am caught by surprise and then I go 'blank'. At that time I can't react anymore, probably with a strange expression on my face. Very awkward...

No idea why, but I do that too. It usually happens when I'm overloaded and already have a high cognitive load, and then I'm trying to figure out what to do; but it's like I can't really gather my thoughts well enough to really even conceive of the idea of doing anything, so I just stand there (or sit there or whatever) until I find the trailing edge of my thoughts again. It lasts, on average, thirty seconds, and has never lasted more than five minutes.

A note: This kind of thing should be checked to make sure it is not epilepsy. Seizures are common for autistics, and while what we're describing doesn't match exactly, there's still the possibility. If these things happen without warning (or with little warning), if they are frequent, if you have problems remembering afterward, if there are involuntary movements, etc., ask the doctor. It's probably just some kind of mental blue-screen, but just in case it's epilepsy, it's probably a good idea to ask, because there are meds for that and you don't want to have one while you're driving or crossing the street or holding a baby or something.

Sometimes a painful memory will shoot into my consciousness and I'll end up stopping whatever I'm doing and standing like a statue for a bit (usually it's about 10 seconds, at most 10 minutes). I am able to push through it, but doing that feels stressful/anxiety-provoking/discombobulating, so I let it take its natural course when I can.

Increasingly, it also seems to happen at other times with no clear reason, though. The basic thing seems that it's too "discombobulating" (to put it in scientific terms) to move my body for a little while. I think it may be a cumulative overload thing.

I don't seem to "lose time," though I am "spaced out" when that happens.

I do this, but it's usually when I'm going about my day and am hit with a sudden sadness.

I know I freeze but I didn't pay enough attention to such things to be able to describe what causes it. When it happens again, that will probably trigger associations in my memory.

Someone linked something about movement disorders in autistics and it mentioned catatonia and described it as thus:

Which seems to describe it pretty well. Since so many people relate to freezing here is catatonic-like symptoms just part of Asperger's? I doubt I'm having seizures but I suppose it is possible.

Yeah, there are catatonic-type movement disorders associated with autism; they're supposed to be rare, though... I've never mentioned the freezing thing to my doctor because it's just not frequent enough to be an issue.

Maybe it's just not severe enough in most people for it to warrant attention, thus considered rare. Today I did not freeze but I found myself rocking on the floor and was in a bit of a stupor as in lost and didn't realize it, like what happens when I freeze. I didn't think catatonic people were capable of moving so I didn't really think of it before I seen that list. Who knows.

Getting upset can release adrenaline and cortisol hormones; the fight or flight response linked in Wallourdes post. The effects of the hormones can result in disorientation, difficulty in communication, and low blood sugar, changes in blood pressure and heart rate. The same process is related to anxiety, panic attacks, and post traumatic stress disorder.

It may be that your body is letting you know that it is not coping well with stress and you need some rest from stress.

Since it is something new for you, I also suggest seeing a Doctor for it, because there could many other causes, as mentioned in the other posts, some of which could require treatment, like issues with epilepsy or blood sugar.