*Autistic Shutdowns collection* - Do you experience these ?

Greetings, Anyone. I keep seeing this Thread appearing but held off saying anything, since, like the OP, I am uncertain of having "shutdowns". And My own reason is, in short, that I have certain illnesses which kick in before that happens, which kind of totally cause a 'shut down' anyway. I would also agree with a lot of Posters here, the first being RaindropsOnRoses there. Except I also do not think that I "stim". I just go blank, say nothing, do nothing, mostly as people are looking for an excuse at Me, to get angry, laugh, bully, point out "weirdness"... that sort of thing.

If I can run, then I do that; but if not, then My 'Illnesses' kick in (e.g. pain, asthma), and there is nothing else to be thinking about apart from self-preservation... or "shutting down" while thinking "Why is My life ending now after *such a Waste Of Time*...?!"

( Sorry if this is not helpful --- it is why I did not reply before. (!) )

I was initially not sure I had shut-downs, because I thought i was just being "me" and I'm newly diagnosed.  However, my husband is 1000% sure that I have shut-downs because he can't comprehend how i can shut him out or just go incommunicado, or walk out of the room and an hour can go by in that state.  I cope sometimes by going off for long walks on my own, which i always considered a lovely privilege and healthy pastime. My husband sees it as a freakish need to be alone and out of the house for a long time.

During the process of me realising i needed an assessment for Asperger's and then going for it and waiting for the diagnosis, he has gone on and on about my shut-downs, saying [facepalm]  "Of course ! how could I not have realised this before!", and so on.    I don't have any health problems apart from occasional migraines which aren't related to anything I experience.

So, in conclusion, a lot of bla bla (sorry) but :  if there are other people in your life, they might notice your shut-downs as shut-downs more than you do.

I was initially not sure I had shut-downs, because I thought i was just being "me" and I'm newly diagnosed.  However, my husband is 1000% sure that I have shut-downs because he can't comprehend how i can shut him out or just go incommunicado, or walk out of the room and an hour can go by in that state.  I cope sometimes by going off for long walks on my own, which i always considered a lovely privilege and healthy pastime. My husband sees it as a freakish need to be alone and out of the house for a long time.

During the process of me realising i needed an assessment for Asperger's and then going for it and waiting for the diagnosis, he has gone on and on about my shut-downs, saying [facepalm]  "Of course ! how could I not have realised this before!", and so on.    I don't have any health problems apart from occasional migraines which aren't related to anything I experience.

So, in conclusion, a lot of bla bla (sorry) but :  if there are other people in your life, they might notice your shut-downs as shut-downs more than you do.

yea its odd how we miss things --  I truly believe shutdowns are way more common than first realised.  Maybe we can send this thread somewhere or edit it down to a document to leave places for others to find.

Now I read the link!  (There are some things i find too annoying to read on a phone, and now I'm at a computer).  It's really good.

I wonder if in adults, we are able to take ourselves off for a pre-emptive shutdown to avoid an inevitable involuntary one. Either because in adulthood we develop the ability to know what's coming or, especially if we've not obtained the diagnosis as children, we've learned to cope that way.

Reading this I now remember having a couple of all-day and in one case, a week long shut-down at school that I never realised before.  I had to go and sit in Matron's office and in one case i sat and cried all day and couldn't say why.   My GP even signed me off with just "debility" , and he was quite a strict doctor, not diagnosing things just to please people.    He must have sussed me all along. 

yep same with me " Of course ! how could I not have realised this before! " . read this

LINK

from Trogluddite  just above 

The last line is a very good tip indeed. Sometimes we forget the people around us and see us in all our glory

thanks Darkshines, another valuable additon to this very collection