Do you have shutdowns/crashes?

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Hello all

I am a non diagnosed, but after doing that RDOS test and getting 166/200 I am incredibly sure I do have some form of autism. It explains everything. I am 37 so was just described as the most disruptive pupil in the history of the school and constantly got suspended and also told to leave one school or be expelled. But was also told I was one of the most cleverest at biology, my obsession as a kid.

I am currently on my second day of only getting out of bed to do work when I get a text ( I am on emergency call out and fix people's electrics) and to eat (binging till my stomach hurts). My whole body feels fuzzy and I feel like I'm hungover but with out the sickness. This feeling happens to me every few months or so, but happens in such a massive way, I normally have 3-4 days off work. I get so annoyed because this eats up my spare time and I could be focusing on my art.

Do you have shutdowns? If so how do they affect you? My arms ache from typing this on an iPad, hardly any effort required. This gets me down so much. Anyway once again I'm off on a tangent, look forward to hearing your experiences.

Christian Smith

I have shutdowns, though not quite as viscerally physical as what you describe.
Mine usually come on after a long day of having to be seriously "on" socially, e.g. at a family gathering
or event of that nature. Other things trigger them, too, though.
It's rather hard to describe, but I enter "the zone". I feel emotionally and mentally numb, tend to have
a fixed gaze. I stop making the effort to make eye-contact. Sometimes I feel rigid; sounds are amplified
and I just need to be alone and listen to music or play some video games or something for a while.
If I don't have an outlet like that, then--more so in the past than at present--a shutdown can turn into
a meltdown. In fact, my "shutdowns" are probably a coping mechanism I developed to deal with the same
stimuli that used to make me meltdown...a sort of slightly more socially appropriate way of dealing with
it...make myself numb to the intensity rather than explode from it.

Thank you for the reply, I thought for a second I was on my own once again. I used to have a vicious temper and threw desks, chairs and everything else at school. I very rarely have a meltdown now, just these numb shutdowns.

Shutdowns are common in autism. The way people shutdown varies from person to person. But they are always due to overload. I feel pretty much the same as you after. Body numb, head fuzzy etc. I go to a school that has a lot of kids with autism, and meltdowns where someone goes ballistic is common too. That's usually from sensory overload and or frustration.

I am much ore of a shutdown Autistic then a meltdown Autistic. Shutdown for me means I am just unable to react in any meaningful way if overwhelmed.

Thank you for all your replies, it really helps to know Im not the only 1 out there. Going to the docotrs tonight to start nudging him into getting me referred. Id like to know for sure, it would explain so much to me to finally know why the way I am.

The doctor is going to let me know who he is referring me to, he didn't really know much and kept his cards close to his chest, but yes, he did agree to refer me. Which is great. He did mention adhd but I'm not so sure, I get obsessed to the point all I talk about is that certain subject, spend every spare moment thinking and doing that hobby. I push away everyone and get annoyed when I can't pursue that hobby.

I don't have shutdowns quite in the way you do, but I do have them. It is more that it feels like my reality is crumbling and I sit there and my mind goes into a frenzy.

I was the most disruptive student in my school too. They had to build a safe room in my elementary school because of my rage.