<nav class="top-menu"> <a href="/orchidmantis/publish/pages/Home">Home</a> <a href="/orchidmantis/publish/pages/Case Note Menu">Case Notes</a> <a href="/orchidmantis/publish/pages/Letters to a loved one">Letters</a> <a href="/orchidmantis/publish/pages/Mood Garden">Mood Garden</a> <a href="/orchidmantis/publish/pages/Slideshow">Slideshow</a> <a href="/orchidmantis/Disassociation/Disassociation Station">Disassociation Station</a> <a href="/orchidmantis/True Crime/Reddit True Crime">True Crime</a> </nav> --- cssclasses: case-note Subject: Buitron, Ana Date: May 14, 2025 Entry Type: Observational Narrative Filed Under: #case-notes #shutdown-response #love-in-practice tag: shutdown --- ## Case Note: When She Shuts Down **Presenting Behavior:** Client entered a nonverbal state. Shoulders drawn. Eyes distant. Voice: minimal, monosyllabic. She folded into herself like origami—tight lines, sharp corners, no instructions visible from the outside. **Environmental Triggers (Suspected):** • Too much noise • Too many expectations • Too little kindness from others, and possibly herself **Initial Intervention:** - Silence. - Proximity. - Reassuring Touch. **Secondary Intervention:** - Sour Candy - Ice Pack on Chest - "[[5-4-3-2-1 Grounding technique]]" **Clinician Notes:** **Plan:** 1. Continue practicing non-invasive grounding: hand-holding, soft fabrics, eye-level presence. 2. Reaffirm that she does not owe the world her voice when it costs her safety. 3. Remind her: shutting down is a form of survival, and survival is sacred. Signed, 📎 Field Clinician — [REDACTED] Filed in: **Case Notes of the Heart**