To avoid being paralyzed when you're in VATS just pretend you have the Superior Defender perk from Point Lookout and stand still before you attack. Moving while entering VATS is what's causing the freezing. They said the latest patch was supposed to fix this issue but from what I've seen there's no detectable improvement, especially when using the Brush Gun, Ranger Sequoia, and Tri-Beam Laser Rifle.

My bug is even worse because sometimes my character will rapidly fire multiple shots and cause no damage.