I have read about shutdowns and meltdowns. But I don’t actually get what that looks like in real time.
What I understand is that meltdowns is when someone loses control of their emotions.
Shutdowns are when someone loses the ability to perform certain functions, e.g. the ability to speak.
I was wondering if someone could give a more explicit example, of what that actually looks like?
I can’t give you how they look in general terms but I can give you my experiences. I have had shutdowns in overwhelming situations many times and generally it results in a few behaviours. I become mostly silent, certainly not able to articulate complex thoughts, and my remaining speech is often limited to a few phrases, most commonly “I don’t know”. I would have more trouble looking at a person than usual, sometimes staring off into the void and occasionally I would start to fall asleep or actually pass out. I have been in the middle of an argument with my parents and when they started yelling I just passed out in my chair lent over the kitchen table.
In other situations where it more sensory I have had different experience. On a loud train I found myself having trouble moving and missed my stop trying to get up. On a loud coach (long distance bus) I slept the entire trip and woke up desperate to urinate.
I can relate to the struggle to process speech, and use it when also experiencing a shut down. However, I haven’t passed out from it. I imagine that would be stressful in certain situations.
It would be if conscious… I mean, ultimately it has only happened in the fairly significant past for me. None of this gas been as much of an issue since getting started on Ritalin.