Going Into Hibernation/Shutdown

[Moksha]

Do you find that after an extended period of time (a few months, let's say) without much social contact you go into a kind of shut down? I find that after a while my libido drops, my interest in people declines and I stop craving company. It's like a kind of hibernation or shutdown.

[gregarious_introvert]

I think for me, the answer to that question is yes and no; I'm fairly introverted anyway, so I've never really craved company (unlike extroverts I've met, for whom it's essential) but I have found during my agoraphobic periods that I have no desire for company until I reach a tipping point and it becomes a need. When I was younger, my libido would increase when I was isolated but I've now reached a point in life where it does drop when I have nobody in my life, but increases when I'm in a relationship.

I think the only time I experience a complete shutdown is when the depression takes hold; these days, those spells tend not to last longer than a week or so (or at least, the part where it is sufficiently severe that I'm aware of it) but I have experienced "shutdown mode" in the past.

[chook23]

Yes I feel like I'm in hibernation mode at the minute. The less I talk to people the less I want to talk or feel able to talk

[Beth M]

Yes, I've been through that cycle many, many times. But not for maybe 5 years now. I don't know if it's SA or depression that causes it. It's hard to disentangle the two.