Published on 12, July, 2020
Shutdowns are part of life. There are multiple root causes for a shutdown, including the result of sensory overload, physical and mental exhaustion, unexpected news, anxiety about an upcoming event, and upheaval in our schedule. Sometimes it comes in combination; other times it comes down to simply being “on” for so long, that we have no choice but to turn “off.”
Are you always aware that you are about to go into "shutdown"?
What strategies to you use to help recover from them?
How do you "resurface"
How do you describe what they are to others and try to manage their occurrence?
I always liken a shutdown to someone with a garden that has got out of control. There comes a point where it gets more out of control no matter how much effort was put in, there are just not enough hours in the day to get it back in order. So what then happens is that nothing is done. The only real answer is to start everything again, clear every thing and go back to square one.
This to me is my shutdown. So many demands put on me, when I know I should finish a job off but then am told to do something else. So evenutally, the work has built up ... and no matter what it gets worse. So evenutally, I get to the point I do nothing. Shutdown and not only in the set task but in other parts of my life as well, even things I get enjoyment from. And to get it back into order is very difficult, not an easy process. Too many demands, and not feeling in control causes overload. Overload means anxiety. Anxiety causes meltdown and shutdown, not necessarily in that order. So for want of ever more being required means that the result in the end is nothing is done.
Managers at work tend to think this is something I am doing on purpose. Yet it is a problem that is caused by their ever increasing demands over things that I am not allowed my control over. Managers seem incapable of listening, usually they think there i some sort of training that can make everything better. They seem to think that counselling is the answer to anxiety, rather than removing the cause of the anxiety. Problems are created in the modern way of living by having too many conflicting demands, too many officials, not enough understanding and too much contol by others.
I have said before on the forums here that problems for autistic people are often caused by the demands of society. I can certainly work in my own way far more efficiently. Being Autistic I work by the 'division of labout' method, it is far more efficient. And unfortunately many managers, especially in the service industry do not understand this.
I totally agree with your statement regarding the demands of modern society......everything seems to needed to completed immediately...that societal urge for immediacy is potentially damaging and squeezes out opportunity for reflection.....and coercively demands that we perform to the same drum beat even though it totally negates the fact that we all engage and process the word in different ways.....it also demeans and disregards that other work strategies can be just as effective, if not more so.
we race from one demand and experience to another..,and then crumble like a human buckeroo.