Skip to main content
This self-assessment Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D) , was originally developed by Schalinski I, Thomas Elbert, Maggie Schauer, and colleagues . TraitProfiler provides an interactive digital version for educational, informational, and self-exploration purposes only.

Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D)

Background

About the Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D)

The Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure shutdown dissociative responses that may occur during overwhelming stress, fear, trauma, or extreme emotional activation.
The SHUT-D was developed by Inga Schalinski, Thomas Elbert, Maggie Schauer, and colleagues as part of trauma and dissociation research focused on defensive survival responses and psychophysiological shutdown reactions.
The questionnaire evaluates dissociative shutdown experiences including fainting, motor inhibition, numbness, sensory shutdown, autonomic distress, depersonalization, paralysis-like experiences, and speech inhibition.
Research studies have demonstrated strong reliability and validity for the SHUT-D across trauma psychology, PTSD research, dissociation studies, psychophysiology, psychiatry, and stress-response research.

Psychological Domains Measured

Fainting and Collapse
Measures collapse responses, fainting episodes, passing out, and shutdown-related loss of physical stability.
Sensory Shutdown
Measures sensory disruptions including temporary blindness, hearing disturbances, sensory disconnection, and altered perception.
Physical Numbing
Measures numbness, loss of bodily sensation, reduced pain sensitivity, and altered physical awareness.
Motor Inhibition
Measures paralysis-like reactions, physical freezing, bodily heaviness, immobility, and shutdown-related motor inhibition.
Autonomic Distress
Measures nausea, sweating, dizziness, weakness, autonomic activation, and physiological stress reactions.
Depersonalization
Measures out-of-body experiences, altered self-awareness, and feelings of detachment from oneself or one’s body.
Speech Inhibition
Measures temporary inability to speak, whispering, speech shutdown, and difficulty producing speech under stress.
The SHUT-D is commonly used in trauma psychology, PTSD research, dissociation studies, psychiatry, psychophysiology, and stress-response research. The questionnaire is intended as a screening instrument and should not be used as a standalone diagnostic tool.

Procedure

This questionnaire is designed to evaluate shutdown dissociative experiences and defensive physiological reactions that may occur during overwhelming stress, fear, trauma, or emotional overload.

Participants select the response option that best reflects how often each physical, sensory, emotional, or dissociative experience occurs.

The assessment focuses on fainting, numbness, motor inhibition, depersonalization, sensory shutdown, autonomic distress, and shutdown-related physiological reactions.

Participation

This assessment is designed for adolescents and adults interested in understanding dissociative shutdown reactions, trauma-related physiological responses, and stress-related dissociative experiences.

The questionnaire is intended for educational, screening, and research purposes only.

Results should not be considered a clinical diagnosis or substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric, trauma-focused, neurological, or medical evaluation.

Scoring & Interpretation

Responses are scored according to the frequency of shutdown dissociative experiences, sensory disruptions, motor inhibition, autonomic distress, and depersonalization-related reactions.

Higher scores generally indicate stronger shutdown dissociation tendencies, physiological shutdown reactions, dissociative stress responses, and trauma-related autonomic dysregulation.

Dimensional scores are also calculated to evaluate specific shutdown-related psychological and physiological domains independently.

Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D) Questionnaire

Instructions & Terms

Below is the Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D), a digitally adapted 13- items self-assessment questionnaire. This assessment does not provide a clinical diagnosis, medical determination, or substitute for professional psychological evaluation.Please answer each question honestly based on your personal experiences.

Select the response option that best represents how often each experience occurs in your daily life or during periods of stress, fear, emotional overwhelm, or traumatic activation.

There are no right or wrong answers. Some shutdown-related physiological and dissociative experiences may occur naturally during overwhelming emotional or physical stress.

Question 1 of 13 Fainting and Collapse

Have you fainted? Have you been passing out?


Question 2 of 13 Sensory Shutdown

Have you felt dizzy and has your vision gone black? Felt dizzy and couldn’t see anymore, as though you were blind?


Question 3 of 13 Sensory Shutdown

Have you felt as though you couldn’t hear for a while, as though you were deaf? When people were talking to you, did they sound far away?


Question 4 of 13 Sensory Shutdown

Have you had an experience of not being able to properly see things around you (blurred vision for example)?


Question 5 of 13 Physical Numbing

Have you felt as though your body or a part of your body has gone numb?


Question 6 of 13 Motor Inhibition

Have you felt as though you couldn’t move for a while, as though you were paralyzed?


Question 7 of 13 Physical Numbing

Have you felt as though your body, or a part of it was insensitive to pain (analgesia)?


Question 8 of 13 Motor Inhibition

Have you been in a state in which your body suddenly felt heavy and tired?


Question 9 of 13 Motor Inhibition

Have you experienced your body becoming stiff for a while?


Question 10 of 13 Autonomic Distress

Have you felt nauseous? Have you felt as though you were about to throw up? Have you felt yourself break out in a cold sweat?


Question 11 of 13 Depersonalization

Have you had an “out-of-body” sensation? Have you felt as though you were outside of your body?


Question 12 of 13 Speech Inhibition

Have you had moments in which you have found yourself unable to speak? Have you been able to speak only with great effort? Have you had an experience in which you could only whisper for a period of time?


Question 13 of 13 Autonomic Distress

Have you felt suddenly weak and warm?




Psychometric Norms

1
Participants
56%
Community Mean
0%
Sample SD
56%
Highest Observed Score
56%
Lowest Observed Score
2026–2026
Collection Period

Current normative data for theCurrent normative data for the Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D) are derived from 1 anonymous participant responses collected through TraitProfiler between 2026 and 2026. All response data are collected anonymously and are intended exclusively for educational, psychometric, and non-commercial research purposes.

Sources
  1. Schalinski I, Schauer, M., & Elbert, T. The Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D) European journal of psychotraumatology vol. 6 25652. 13 May. 2015