Shutting Down?

[dbacs]

I've noticed the past few months that when I am doing something for a long time, and get into a conversation, or situation where I have to make choices I end up just shutting down. It's really weird.

I was out doing errands with someone, walking from one store to the other. That person said she was going into a different store.

She asked me if I wanted her to pick me up after she's done, or if I wanted to walk to the store she was in after I was done, or if I could text her when I was ready to be picked up, or if I just wanted to go with her into that store.

It was like overload. I couldn't choose at all. She asked me 4 times, until finally she just decided on one.

Does this seem related to PTSD?

 

[Tinyflame]

Yes. Or perhaps dissociation?

Frequently I can't decide what to do, at times. I'm literally left standing.
It seems, for whatever reason, as you said an inability to process data/ think clearly (for myself).

 

[dbacs]

Unrelated to this, but why the heck do I get a grammar warning conversation email with every post?

 

[cherryblossom]

Please post questions regarding notifications at the [DLMURL="https://www.ptsdforum.org/c/forums/help-desk.28/"]help desk[/DLMURL], and staff will do their best to help and answer any queries.

 

[Taven Carlsen]

This is a constant problem for me, dbacs. I don't want to be like that since I, like the rest of the world, hates people who "can't deal with this right now" when there's nothing going on. That "can't take anymore" attitude when they first meet you.

But that's how it goes so I just pretend to be ready for everyday life every day.

 

[timetorecover]

I feel the vague expression falling on my face. I zone out! I try to chase my concentration but it's long gone. It's a protective copingechanism that I have taught myself. It is not helpful and I am learning to try and stay grounded. It is typical PTSD apparently??

 

[dbacs]

What is grounding? I've read it a few times now in other posts.

 

[timetorecover]

Grounding means to bring yourself back to the here and now. It's a word used in yoga and mindfulnes meditation.

I interpret it as imagining roots to a plant coming through my feet and work on the breath.

With trauma it Is easy to drift of and ruminate. Staying present is the key to not playing over in your brain the crap that has brought you here.

 

[Jen93]

I do the exact same thing. It's the idea of being wrong and being yelled at for my mistakes that make me zone out. I don't like it when people ask me questions and it feels like I should know the answer-that's when I shut down. So yeah, I think it's common.

 

[dbacs]

Jen93, that's exactly how i feel. Either being yelled at, or made fun of. Then if I stick up for myself I just get told to "relax, what's wrong with you?" or don't be like that. When i was a kid it was much worse, especially with relatives, to the point of physical "picking on".

I'm starting to see how all these things built up over time. No wonder people have avoidance, or dissociate.

 

[nimkekaa]

When I get that way with my kids I tell them my brain is full and I can't process any more information. I ask them to come back and ask me later. I wonder if they think I am really smart and my brain is really full or if they think I have a really small brain. :roflmao: At least they take it as a good reason and don't think it's just that I don't want to listen to them.

 

[Lina]

When something becomes too much for me, I go numb. It may not even be that bad, but my emotions will go numb after about 30 seconds of becoming upset. There are a few (very few) exceptions to this rule that I will be able to feel extraordinary pain over, but again, few. For me, that's what "shutting down" is. I go numb, but I'm totally grounded (As other poster's point out, it's from yoga and meditation practices). There are times when sadness will convert to anger, but I find it far more effective to work or function when angry, than when in pain. I suppose that's why my brain does that. I think it's definitely related to PTSD, and I have found yoga and progressive meditation to work wonders in terms of being able to work effectively under stress, pressure and "shutting down."

As a side note, reading the posts on this forum have made realize just how "not alone" I am in this s.o.b. that is PTSD. Read through some of the ones whose titles reach out to you, it will make you feel less...self-stigmatized and more "normal."