A Complete Guide to Autistic Shutdown: Understanding, Preventing, and Managing
- - - - - - This article is also made into a video, soon to be published here
Autistic shutdowns can feel overwhelming, but they’re also manageable with the right strategies. As a late-diagnosed autistic ADHDer, I’ve experienced my fair share of shutdowns—and over time, I’ve developed practical ways to understand, prevent, and manage them effectively.
In this guide, I’ll break down:
What autistic shutdowns are
Why and how they happen
How to prevent and manage them
Let’s dive in.
What Is an Autistic Shutdown?
An autistic shutdown is a response to overwhelming sensory, emotional, or physical stress. It’s your brain’s way of saying, “This is too much; I need to reset.”
Common Symptoms:
Withdrawal from the environment
Non-responsiveness
Extreme fatigue
Diminished motor coordination
Difficulty communicating
During a shutdown, you may feel dissociated, numb, or hopeless. It’s a survival mechanism to cope with overstimulation and stress.
The Science Behind Shutdowns
To understand shutdowns, we need to look at polyvagal theory, which explains how our nervous system responds to stress. Here are the three states of the nervous system according to the theory:
Rest and Digest (Ventral Vagal State):
You feel safe, relaxed, and curious.
This is your nervous system’s “neutral” mode.
Fight or Flight (Sympathetic State):
Your body activates in response to stress.
Bodily sensations like faster heart rate, shallow breathing or perspiration are common.
Mild activation can feel energising and exciting; severe activation can cause anxiety, anger, panic, or even meltdowns.
Freeze (Dorsal Vagal State):
When stress becomes too overwhelming, the body shuts down.
This is the state of an autistic shutdown: withdrawal, dissociation, and numbness.
💡 Remember: Healthy humans would fluctuate between the states 1 and 2 throughout the day - this is completely normal. The goal isn’t to always be absolutely calm.
For highly sensitive, autistic, ADHDers, and other neurodivergent individuals, the threshold between the 3 states is often smaller, making it easier to enter intense fight/flight or freeze responses. Healing from burnout and regulating your nervous system can help increase these thresholds over time.
How to Prevent Shutdowns
Prevention starts with awareness of your triggers and planning ahead. Here’s how:
1. Learn Your Triggers
Reflect on past shutdowns to identify patterns. Common triggers include:
Physical Needs: Lack of sleep, hydration, or food.
Sensory Overload: Loud noises, bright lights, uncomfortable clothing, or crowded spaces.
Emotional Stress: Unresolved emotions or accumulated stress.
2. Plan Ahead
Schedule Breaks: Build padding into your day for rest and decompression.
Anticipate Triggers: If you know a situation may be overwhelming, plan how to manage it (e.g., bringing noise-canceling headphones or taking regular breaks).
Reflect and Adjust: Keep a journal to identify what works and what doesn’t.
Remember, planning isn’t about knowing all the details and following it perfectly; it is about having clarity of your capacity so you don’t take up extra load and add non-negotiable self-care.
💡 Tool: I’ve created a Neurodivergent Wellness Guide to help you create a wellness plan. Check it out to stay ahead of shutdowns.
Managing an Autistic Shutdown
When a shutdown happens, it’s essential to have a plan. Let’s create it together:
Create a note on your phone
Write a note on your phone with your exact rendition of the below steps to follow during a shutdown. Share it with trusted friends or family so they can support you if needed. Otherwise you can follow it yourself when you’re shutdown and your executive function is offline.
Step 1: Rest and Reset
Remove yourself from triggers (e.g., find a quiet, dimly lit space).
Choose no stimuli OR soothing sensory inputs if needed, like soft music, a weighted blanket, or essential oils - note what feels good to you.
Hydrate and eat something light if you’re hungry or dehydrated.
Step 2: Gentle Movement
Once you’ve rested, ease back into activity with small movements:
Make a cup of tea. Wash your face. Pet an animal. Or something else?
Movement helps your nervous system shift out of the freeze response.
💡 Pro Tip: Avoid scrolling on your phone during a shutdown—it can keep you in freeze state and make it harder to recover.
❗ IMPORTANT ❗ When you recover it is common to start feeling emotions, even intense ones like sadness or rage. It’s a good sign, meaning you’re coming back “online”. This is your system finally processing the stressors it wasn’t able to process previously and had to shut off. If you’d like some tools to learn emotional regulation - get in touch.
Let’s Share and Learn
Preventing and managing shutdowns takes practice, and preparation. I’ve created a Neurodivergent Wellness Guide to help you create a wellness plan and prevent shutdown. Check it out to stay ahead of shutdowns.
Shutdowns aren’t your fault—but managing them is within your power. With preparation, self-awareness, and support, you can navigate them with greater ease.
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My name is Paula Liub and I am a burnout expert for ADHD and autistic folks.
I combine my background in psychology, 20 years in mindfulness, and lived AuDHD burnout experience to help you have more energy and live life to the full.
If you’d like to learn how to escape the burnout and stress cycle, book a free consultation to learn more.