Shut down vs Melt down

[silverlinings1069]

What is the difference? Or is there one? Physical examples welcome (it is too abstract right now for me to be able to picture). Can I learn to identify the the two in my own life or will they just...happen? I am very new to this and I am still learning so much (vocabulary, etc.). Any help is very much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Movingforward10]

I think there are degrees to this such as hospitalisation on the one hand and interrupting usual activity on the other?

For me there are similarities in terms of outcomes.
Meltdowns and shutdown both result in my not being able to function the way I want to, but they might feel different.

Meltdown: very heightened, fixated, racing heart, anxiety, panic, unable to concentrate, not able to communicate, unable to have a still mind , not wanting to move

Shut down: the above but also numbness, withdrawing, really not moving, disconnected with mind and body in some ways.

At least that how I see it with those definitions. There could be other definitions. Hyperaorusal and hypoarousal. Etc.

 

[No More]

Are we talking in terms of neuro divergent shutdowns/meltdowns in something like autism or ptsd?

From a ptsd only POV

Meltdown = absolute shit show. Stress cup has overflowed and we have a flood. Triggered to all hell. There will be yelling, I will have no idea if it’s now or then, I might smash some stuff up, if you get in my way I’ll probably hurt you as well, and then I’ll set about doing as much damage to myself as I can. I look like the dictionary definition of batshit crazy.

Shutdown = much rarer for me. Not sure if I am dead or alive, brain like cold soup, movement is like traipsing through wet cement. Probably won’t talk to you, you’d get more conversation out of a brick wall.

 

[arfie]

in my personal analogies, a shutdown is mini-me in one of her hidey holes.

my meltdowns are closer to three-mile island. local authorities notice my meltdowns far more easily than they notice mini-me in her hidey hole.

 

[silverlinings1069]

Are we talking in terms of neuro divergent shutdowns/meltdowns in something like autism or ptsd?

Excellent question. All of the above. Any combination as I have so many diagnoses at this point. I'm just looking for examples that I might be able to relate to. Thank you for this question. I did not even think about that.

Meltdown: very heightened, fixated, racing heart, anxiety, panic, unable to concentrate, not able to communicate, unable to have a still mind , not wanting to move

Shut down: the above but also numbness, withdrawing, really not moving, disconnected with mind and body in some ways.

Thank you. I appreciate your candidness. I relate very much to this.

 

[No More]

Excellent question. All of the above. Any combination as I have so many diagnoses at this point. I'm just looking for examples that I might be able to relate to. Thank you for this question. I did not even think about that.

My understanding is that autism meltdowns are more to do with overstimulation than triggers & stress cup. I think the same with autistic shutdowns & becoming non verbal and needing the time to re regulate.

Maybe this is something worth untangling for you - what is attributable to each disorder separately and how they play off against each other?

 

[silverlinings1069]

@No More You nailed it on the head. I'm a mess at the moment. lol I have not even begun to try to identified my shut downs yet but I'm close. I just cannot picture what a shut down looks like. This post has helped me identify my meltdowns. Now the trick - which is PTSD and which is Autism. Oh the fun of learning ourselves. But I'm getting there. Woo hoo progress! And this is thanks to you all. Mille grazie!!!

 

[Weemie]

When I melt down it is external (anger, violence, loss of composure). When I shut down I go internal (catatonia, avolition, immobility). For me, my meltdowns are related to PTSD, while my shutdowns are more related to SZPD. I do have the occasional dissociative episode where I zone out or lose track of where I am, but those instances are rarer and normally in response to a specific trigger, whereas the SZPD symptoms tend to occur spontaneously. I also have ADHD, so the inertia that comes from failing to switch from one task to another may also play a role.

 

[Sideways]

I don’t use either term, because they’re very differently interpreted from one person to the next. But if someone were to tell me that’s what they’re experiencing, the picture I’d have in my mind would be, roughly:

Shut Down: everything has stopped. Not really taking in anything anymore, like a freeze response.
Melt Down: looks way more dramatic, emotional dysregulation in spades, with lots of acting act to try and express those emotions in some way.

But again, if I wanted to understand what the person actions meant, they’re the kind of phrases where that’s going to vary so widely that I’d have to ask. They aren’t phrases that someone like my T would ever use, because they’re lay terms, rather than medical terms.

 

[Friday]

I think I had my last ADHD meltdown as a teenager. They’re pretty easy to recognize/walk away from. Everything starts getting too loud? Walk away. I enlisted at 17, though, which undoubtedly helped. All the stuff designed to drive other people to the edge? Were… soothing. Oh! This HELPS! Damn straight let’s go to the beach (a sand pit you were exercised until you collapsed). No thinking required. Awesome. And sooooo much better, after. Shrug. I’ve always been the kind of person who gets calm when other people start losing their shit, though. Mostly? Enlisting gave me tools I’d never had, before. Also a few bad habits. (f*ck it. Fight it. Make it go faaaaaster!).

PTSD meltdowns, on the other hand? Low whistle. Talk about disregard & outta control. FFS.

Shutdowns? With ADHD that means I’ve shut off my emotions. With PTSD that means I wake up 3 days later, on a beach (or staring at a wall), not having eaten/drunk/used the loo… and biology is demanding I do at least 1 of those things… if not all of them. Now.

TBH? What @Sideways said, most of all. I know my own, but when other People use them? I ask.

 

[silverlinings1069]

I want to thank you for your replies. I received some unexpected, scary health news today. I recognized that I was in shock, melted down, and then shut down. I have been asleep most of the day. Pretty sure that’s my shutdown tell. Wasn’t exactly trying to figure it out this quickly but…life happens. Thank you so much for your input. And support. It means more than you will ever know.

 

[Friday]

I recognized that I was in shock, melted down, and then shut down. I have been asleep most of the day.

That’s actually pretty damn healthy, and about the best possible series of events to happen in response.

Whatever the actual event was today? Is unlikely to haunt. Even if it has profound effect on your life, and you think about it often/ scream about it/ are infuriated/devastated by it? You’ll prolly never relive this moment.

Only 1 better would have been to add some sugar & caffeine for the shock. Like a too sweet to drink but knock it back anyway cuppa tea. Or soda. Or even orange juice (no caffeine but still buffers the blood).

What you’re describing? Is processing something terrible. In the moment. KaBOOM, and collapse. Obnoxious, but? Healthy/Normal/Good News (amongst the bad f*cked uppedness).