It affects your confidence and self-awareness, as well as how you interact and communicate with others. You may feel numb or disembodied at times - unable to connect to your bodily sensations, express your emotions or maintain feelings of intimacy.
Dissociation occurs when a person feels disconnected from themselves and the world around them. It can be a healthy response to boredom, stress, trauma, fear or emotional overload, allowing ourselves to avoid some of the strong physiological responses to a negative situation.
Stonewalling means shutting down emotionally and even refusing to speak to one's partner. It is a damaging and hurtful way to deal with conflict. Relationship expert Dr. John Gottman finds this trait so deadly to relationships that it is dubbed one of the “Four Horsemen” of marriage.
People experiencing a nervous breakdown may dissociate or have suicidal thoughts. Unable to perform the activities of everyday life, they usually require treatment from a mental health professional. A nervous breakdown may last for days, weeks, months—even years.
If someone has been through such a traumatic event that their body tips into shutdown response, any event that reminds the person of that life-threatening occurrence can trigger them into disconnection or dissociation again. People can even live in a state of disconnection or shutdown for days or months at a time.
It's normal to not want to talk to someone when you are angry or frustrated. In most cases, this happens occasionally and blows over. However, if a person regularly uses the silent treatment to influence or control your behavior, they are being emotionally abusive.
When a Trauma response is triggered, the more primitive part of the nervous system dominates. This is geared towards shutting down, protection and survival. Because it is a passive defensive response we may feel helpless or hopeless.
Stonewalling, one of the Four Horsemen, is Dr. John Gottman's term for one or both partners shutting down when feeling overwhelmed during conflict. Rather than confronting the issue, someone who is stonewalling will be unresponsive, making evasive maneuvers such as tuning out, turning away, or acting busy.
It is possible to recover from mental health problems, and many people do – especially after accessing support. Your symptoms may return from time to time, but when you've discovered which self-care techniques and treatments work best for you, you're more likely to feel confident in managing them.
How long a nervous breakdown will last depends on many factors. Some people may have a minor crisis that lasts for an afternoon, while someone else may experience a more severe breakdown that leaves them dysfunctional for weeks.
Psychosis is characterized as disruptions to a person's thoughts and perceptions that make it difficult for them to recognize what is real and what isn't. These disruptions are often experienced as seeing, hearing and believing things that aren't real or having strange, persistent thoughts, behaviors and emotions.
The prodromal phase was characterized by the onset of depressive symptoms, mainly anxiety, irritable mood, anhedonia and sleep disorders. At stage 2, subjects suffered a major depressive episode, then a residual phase (stage 3) may occur with no depressive symptoms or with dysthymia.
Stage Five: Acceptance
A new life is within your reach. A crisis can be the stimulus that breaks old habits and generates change. You must allow time to bring healing – above all, you must be willing to be a healed person. Identify your own emotional needs and set realistic goals for yourself.
The “stonewaller” personality is the behavior of an individual who tends to shut down during an argument and refuses to communicate or even cooperate. This person is emotionally closed off, and at times it could be extremely hard to reach them.
Understand that stonewalling is likely rooted in trauma, and you may need professional help to overcome this damaging habit. Consider a couples counselor if you are unable to resolve the issue on your own, as stonewalling will end the realationship for you sooner or later.