How Long Does Shutdown last? Real People Answer (SNB 227)

[@johnCjr4671]

I’m still in Anxiety freeze , 4 months because of the uncertainty of my financial situation and somehow need to find a new place to live , the continuous uncertainty is killing me ! 😢

[@sherrieh2062]

I can relate to all the comments the viewers said about shutdown. It IS or does feel like a temporary death. I think it’s one of the worst emotional setbacks people deal with who’ve been in that state for any length of time. It isn’t an easy fix.

[@valsptsd814]

I have been in a deep shut down for six months. I have also been renovating my kitchen. It’s a large space and the old has been removed professionally. I have refurbished a builtin decorative shelf system to be integrated into the new kitchen cabinets, that are also being professionally built. Sanding, painting, adornments. A nod to the old, a respectful new. I put my tools away for the first time in months. Did some reorganization, used my label maker (❤️). Cleaned my bedroom. Bathroom (which has doubled as the cleaning zone, repeatedly). I can feel myself coming out of the “funk,” as this space comes together.

[@johmi22]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It helps me feeling a little less like an alien right now. To me listening to audiobooks can be helpful sometimes.

[@ScalesOfLife]

8 years now it sucks. I’m tired

[@chifreak6]

Don't quit...healing takes time. ✊🙏🫂

[@DNAbler]

I’m dealing with an acute onset after some recent trauma that truly has me frozen. I don’t want to interact with anyone or anything. I suspect I’ve had a low level of feeling this way for years and the trauma just made me “pop”. I can’t imagine dealing with it for 8 years. How does it affect you and how do you function (or not) with it on a daily basis?

[@ScalesOfLife]

@@DNAbler I try not to focus on it. It’s hard, but I try my best to focus on the people I love, the ones who matter most to me. And to be honest, God. It’s God who has me, holds me - even when I don’t “feel” Him. I know it’s because of Him I’m able to “function”…whatever that functioning might look like or might be. I guess I’ve learned in life - mainly from the the trials I’ve faced, that when I focus on me and whatever trial I might be going through, life becomes unbearable. Its when I start looking outward instead of inward. When I start to interact with people, even when I don’t want to (and I usually do not want to, nor do I usually have the energy to). I’ve learned not to isolate myself - even when all I want to do is be alone. And when I see someone suffering, going through trials, I try to help them. It’s by doing these things the unbearable become bearable. There’s a saying - sometimes you can be so deep in the woods, you can’t see the trees. It’s unreal how much truth this saying holds

[@HeideGroves]

@@ScalesOfLife 🕊️💚

[@Theweatherlady90]

Just starting to come out of my shutdown after almost 10 years from a lot of mixed Truma events. It definitely sucks

[@dhananjay-singh]

Brilliant discussion and also many many thanks to all who have shared their shut down experiences. Good work Justin, God bless my friend.

[@KerstinStrecke]

Super discription, it helps a lot to understand. Understanding helps me not to judge myself anymore which leads to even more understanding, thank you!!!

[@JustinLMFT]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cassiestevens8382]

Thanks to all❣️

[@davidwhitcher1972]

How do you get a safty state?

[@user-zy1co9hy9m]

I have been in shut down for over 5 years. it’s so hard because people think you’re lazy or useless and dont understand the agony of shut down

[@Spenserifically]

Thanks a lot for this video and to everyone who shared their experiences

[@sukule7640]

Dear Justin, thanks alot for these experiences. I wonder whether my worst CFS exhausion periods could be trauma based. I want to socialise, work, go for a walk, but I just cant move because of total heavyness and the feeling of a heard thats totally standing still. In these episodes my chronic pain is gone and I am all floppy. Is this a state of shut down? Love from Germany, Susanne

[@DNAbler]

I just came back to work after a 6 week break due to what I thought was overwhelming depression after my father died. After 6 weeks of anti-depressants and unhelpful therapy to address my depression I stumbled upon this concept of dorsal vagal shutdown and it’s absolutely clear to me that this is what I’m suffering from l. My therapist has made zero mention of this and has basically told me repeatedly to “get back in there” - which causes me to freeze even more. I’m now back at work and feel more frozen and more broken than before. Is this concept considered “fringe” by mainstream therapists or is there just a lack of knowledge around it? Any suggestions for finding in-person real world help? I am having a very hard time coping.

[@JustinLMFT]

Fringe? Yeah, possibly. The Polyvagal Theory is spreading rapidly, but I believe it's a threat to our current mental health medical model. So, while there is lots of progress, there's a long way to go.

[@maryorr3257]

I feel I may have been in shut down when I spent 5 weeks in psychiatric hospital unable to eat or talk or interact in anyway totally at sea The doctor told me he could help and it would get better Through medication trial and error I regained myself It took 3 months for meds to kick in But then it was like a light got switched back on I could eat I could speak the world was once again in colour 4 years on I am on 50 mg sertraline only and life is real and worthwhile I know medication is not for everyone But it’s worth trying I can’t imagine being back in that state Think about help and ask for it or take it if it is offered

[@philipholding]

To me, what you are describing is severe clinical depression. Reinventing the wheel springs to mind. Oh, I'm a retired NHS high intensity therapist.

[@gooiehoop20]

This is NOT reinventing the wheel. I am a chemist and I know that the serotonin hypothesis makes no sense. This is too complex to go into here. Depression as a description is OK, but as a psychiatric diagnosis it is obviously wrong as it doesn't reduce depression. Statistics prove this. Antidepressants destroyed my health and worsened my "depression." This (Polyvagal Theory) is an ALTERNATIVE working hypothesis. As a person who has suffered under the physicians for decades and read numerous peer reviewed articles, this is finally the lifeline I need. This is not easy, and it will take time, but I see the end of the tunnel. This method, enables me to take control of my life, unlike all the current consensus methods. I've been there, done that, and they DON'T work..

[@kellycollinsoncollinson6703]

My shut down is never eneding!

[@punkyM637]

Isn’t the suicide hotline 988 the national number?

[@JustinLMFT]

I believe so, yes.

[@philipholding]

It could be movement stuff. It could be yoga stuff. Have you ever listened to yourself.

[@r.t.c.2550]

9 years shutdown .

[@georgeanngash9896]

Shut down over and over

[@joannenascimento9213]

These videos just make us much worse.

[@JustinLMFT]

Luckily there's a pause button. And a back button. And a way to close out your browser. (Not sure what you mean by "us," there's lots of positivity in the comments, too.)

[@Tba999]

What the heck is “shutdown”??? Are you just referring to depression with a new term?

[@JustinLMFT]

Shutdown refers to the dorsal vagal state of immobilization. It's the biology underlying depression. I recommend starting here - www.justinlmft.com/polyvagalintro