Translate Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D)

Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D)

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<h3>About the Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D)</h3>

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The <strong>Shutdown Dissociation Scale (SHUT-D)</strong> is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure shutdown dissociative responses that may occur during overwhelming stress, fear, trauma, or extreme emotional activation.
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The SHUT-D was developed by <strong>Inga Schalinski</strong>, <strong>Thomas Elbert</strong>, <strong>Maggie Schauer</strong>, and colleagues as part of trauma and dissociation research focused on defensive survival responses and psychophysiological shutdown reactions.
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The questionnaire evaluates dissociative shutdown experiences including fainting, motor inhibition, numbness, sensory shutdown, autonomic distress, depersonalization, paralysis-like experiences, and speech inhibition.
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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.
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<h4>Psychological Domains Measured</h4>
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<strong>Fainting and Collapse</strong>
<span>Measures collapse responses, fainting episodes, passing out, and shutdown-related loss of physical stability.</span>
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<strong>Sensory Shutdown</strong>
<span>Measures sensory disruptions including temporary blindness, hearing disturbances, sensory disconnection, and altered perception.</span>
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<strong>Physical Numbing</strong>
<span>Measures numbness, loss of bodily sensation, reduced pain sensitivity, and altered physical awareness.</span>
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<strong>Motor Inhibition</strong>
<span>Measures paralysis-like reactions, physical freezing, bodily heaviness, immobility, and shutdown-related motor inhibition.</span>
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<strong>Autonomic Distress</strong>
<span>Measures nausea, sweating, dizziness, weakness, autonomic activation, and physiological stress reactions.</span>
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<strong>Depersonalization</strong>
<span>Measures out-of-body experiences, altered self-awareness, and feelings of detachment from oneself or one’s body.</span>
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<strong>Speech Inhibition</strong>
<span>Measures temporary inability to speak, whispering, speech shutdown, and difficulty producing speech under stress.</span>
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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.
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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.

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.

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.

Have you fainted? Have you been passing out?

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

Have you experienced your body becoming stiff for a while?

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?

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

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?

Have you felt suddenly weak and warm?