• Replies 138 replies
  • Subscribers 106 subscribers
  • Views 48691 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

*Autistic Shutdowns collection* - Do you experience these ?

aidie

Hi

I have been trying to work out if I am experiencing Shutdowns, I am still not sure 

I have been trying to find information online but its pretty unspecific. Very few videos about it either.

If you experience shutdowns, please

  1. list the symptoms
  2. describe the process you experience
  3. describe how you feel afterwards please
  4. what triggers it / is there always a trigger ?

I want to determine if I am indeed experiencing shutdowns.  

Get your experiences added to this collection  Thumbsup.

Thanks for any responses,advice,ideas

Parents
  • Former Member
    Former Member

    I have experienced shutdowns all my life. Sometimes they last days, sometimes months. I didn’t know they were shutdowns until I was diagnosed last year. I have now learnt some new words, stimming, shutdowns, alexithymia, burnout etc. I prefer the word burnout, as this is more descriptive of how I feel.

    I managed to teach myself an old country craft. This meant I was able to work on my own in woodland for days, only seeing girlfriend and family. Unfortunately, there was a payback for this long period of being mostly unsociable. My condition worsened and I ended up in a mental health hospital. Initially I thought it was depression that had dogged my life, but at my first consultation with a psychiatrist, he said I was pretty obviously autistic. I was subsequently diagnosed at a number of further meetings before they would release me.

    I don’t know the best way to emerge from a period of shutdown. I have found a period of self-help and low level SSRIs gradually pulls me out.

    A number of autistic people have said my job sounds great, as it involves little contact with others, but I feel that a better mixture of socialising and not socialising would be healthier.

    I don’t know if that was any help.

  • in reply to Former Member

    yea it helps the fact they last months for you is pretty extreme. mine last hours. just shows you the massive variation in these traits. Thanks for your account it adds to the collection which is awesome.

  • in reply to aidie

    I had this conversation with my partner today about shutdowns. He is NT and says he can totally identify with some of the shutdowns i.e. When you drive home and then sit motionless and without thinking or doing anything for a period of time. Generally happens when he has been busy thinking and organising his work. So I guess there are elements of shutdown that perhaps all humans experience. We then went on to talk about how sometimes he can feel alone even when we are together.... And I guess this is when I have shutdown the outside world and I am very much just existing within my own head and body even when others are present and trying to interact and I am completely oblivious. He sees this as been part of my autism but not necessarily the other daily type of shutdowns which he thinks everyone experiences to some degree. Interesting to have this perspective and has made me reconsider my post... not that I would change it just perhaps acknowledge that to some extent some types of shutdown happen for most people. Perhaps the frequency and intensity of the daily shutdowns are just higher in the autistic population? 

  • in reply to Beefree

    I am getting some positive feedback which is encouraging.

    thanks 

  • in reply to aidie

    I think it would be a great idea to do that... I have found it helpful for a number of reasons...

    • To reflect on my own experience and where there are parallels with other people's experience (to know I am not alone) 
    • To understand potential triggers
    • To appreciate that our reactions to them will largely be dependent on the impact that they have on our ability to function in everyday life
    • To accept that they are part of who I am and not try and fight against them so much but to reflect on ways to reduce the impact of them. 

    You have done our community a great service already by starting this thread. Thank you 

  • in reply to Beefree

    yes I would agree I guess, I am still studying the subject.

    I am thinking of using this thread somehow eg  turning it into a document so others can download and read it. Maybe, I'll talk to NAS and see what they say. 

Reply Children
  • in reply to Beefree

    I am getting some positive feedback which is encouraging.

    thanks 

  • in reply to aidie

    I think it would be a great idea to do that... I have found it helpful for a number of reasons...

    • To reflect on my own experience and where there are parallels with other people's experience (to know I am not alone) 
    • To understand potential triggers
    • To appreciate that our reactions to them will largely be dependent on the impact that they have on our ability to function in everyday life
    • To accept that they are part of who I am and not try and fight against them so much but to reflect on ways to reduce the impact of them. 

    You have done our community a great service already by starting this thread. Thank you