Meltdown Shutdown or just Depression

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Hi

I cannot figure out if I have been having meltdowns shutdowns or just periods of depression over the years. What I have always called depression may actually be shutdowns. I often stop taking in input and become extremely unresponsive and have to go to bed and won't let anyone near me. It usually lasts a while and during this time I cannot make any decisions or even think properly. Thoughts are there but I don't feel connected to them. I can sleep a hell of a lot during these episodes.

I have always assumed they were bouts of depression but I am wondering if they are shutdowns.

Does anyone else have shutdowns and do you think I am having them?

I have no idea what a shutdown is so can't answer I'm afraid. But whatever you are having, I'm having it too and have always been told it's depression even though I never really felt depressed, just unable to deal with anything and so, so tired.

When I hear the term shut down I think of it as sensory overload that leads to withdrawal rather than an outburst which is how I think of the term meltdown. I think of them as having the same cause - that is overstimulation, but the reaction is different. I need to be alone when I get overwhelmed with no lights or sound. Often I have to cover my ears and keep my eyes shut. It is a literal withdrawal from the stimuli but there doesn't need to be any sadness or depression or even anger.

Depression for me lingered, no matter what my activities included. Overstimulation doesn't last as long as my periods of depression did. I can withdraw for half an hour or so and be ok, but depression has a nagging quality to it.

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Last edited by Willard on 01 Sep 2010, 11:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I tend to think of the relationship between my "shutdowns" and my depression as if I were on a seesaw alone and always crawling up to the middle only to end up sliding back down to the other end where the depression then again comes rolling over me.

Episodes of depression last weeks or months. Shutdowns don't tend to last longer than a day, though they can last up to a week. But of course you could have both at once--and it makes sense to me that if you were depressed, you'd have less energy and be more prone to shutdowns.

If you're really bothered (overloaded) by certain sounds, like fire alarms or vacuum cleaners, and the reaction is the same, I'd vote for shutdown. For me, sensory stuff like that can set that off, but so can stressful/overwhelming situations/circumstances/requirements/etc.

And like someone else said, you could also be depressed at the same time (over a longer term), making shutdowns longer and/or more frequent.

Those are related to depression.