Shut Down

And the rest of the nervous system from an autistic lens

How do we feel about the word ‘shutdown’? I’m mixed about it. And words, and labels, and what they mean - they are important. So let’s talk about it a bit.

I talked about shutdown in my Brain Melt post - although immediately I wondered whether I’m really talking about shutdown or more a sort of dipping my toes into burnout. So I thought I’d explore it all - shutdown, meltdown, burnout, and some of the trauma stuff I’m more well versed in.

Shutdown is usually described as a more acute state that happens because you’re overwhelmed. It’s like a ‘ok, I’m done’ switch off because you just…can’t. Can’t mask, can’t be, can’t exist, need to stop. It’s more of an internalized meltdown (an outburst)- both shutdown and meltdown ‘states’ mean high stress. It’s just that in shutdown you have an implosion, and in meltdown you have an explosion.