Occasionally I have these days where I don’t feel like doing work or chores. So I’m thinking, why not just enjoy myself, do something that interests me?
But then I don’t find any motivation to do anything really. Not even the things I normally enjoy very much.
Typically I would then waste time browsing or watching videos, but that seems to make it worse. How to snap out of this?
Just have to make it until after work and I can have a break
Just have to make it until the end of the week and I can rest for a couple of days
Just have to make it until the next holiday
Just have to make it
I have those periods. I think of them as autistic shutdowns. For me, they happen when I’ve been overwhelmed by too much stress, interruptions, demands, or sensory overload.
I think that’s the best way to describe it.
Have you found anything that works for you to rebound quickly?
I think it’s best to avoid them as much as possible. What I have done is keep a log of what sends me into them so that I can be aware and limit my exposure to these triggers. For me, it’s sensory overload, socializing, and stress. Basically, my brain has a certain amount of mental energy it can dedicate to processing, and when that runs out, I hit shutdown.
Given that, what seems to help with recovery is:
- Quiet time
- A dark, cool setting
- Repetitive mindless tasks. For example, mining in Minecraft or looking at memes
- Listening to or watching something I’ve seen/heard many times before
- Sleep
- Time with calm and quiet people
- If the shutdown is triggered by social issues, then time with someone validating that could help develop a plan.
How do you find a cool spot and quiet time when at work?
I find this very difficult to achieve in an office environment. Although I definitely need it.
Just the though of somebody asking me why I’m sitting somewhere separately makes me uncomfortable. So I tend to avoid taking these kind of breaks. I know, sounds stupid. But I feel so uncomfortable if I’m thinking about how other people will interpret it.
I used to go to the bathroom. We had single stalls. You could also go somewhere quiet for lunch, or hang out in your car if that’s an option.
What do you do then though?
I find myself getting even more tired if i spend that time on my phone for example.
At that point, maybe start considering talking to your supervisor, applying for disability accommodations, or changing jobs. You gotta take care of you. If that’s not working, everything else goes bad too.
Hi! Late to the party sorry.
I have gone through this, and similarly to what others say, I was able to pin point it to autism burnout. It’s a very steep climb out of the hole, and I wish you the best of luck.
Some things that have helped me in my journey:
- Whenever I am having a moment, using this site to figure out why and what I need: https://youfeellikeshit.com/index.html
- Therapy, specifically someone who is knowledgeable about autism and autism burnout
- Reading as much as I can about autism burnout and how it manifests (it can take months to years to dig yourself out)
- A good book, specifically around keeping house and chores, that has helped me a lot: How to Keep House While Drowning
- If you have the financial means, hiring help to take care of the things taking up space in your brain such as cleaning, food prep, and maybe even taking a leave for a while
Yeah, I think I’m in the digging out stage now. It seems to be very difficult for me to take care of myself while I have to work for income.
Thanks for the suggestions! I will look into the book, and the website is great (I made something like this myself in my linked notes)
Therapy seems to be a bit harder for me. I didn’t have anyone with specific experience, and found that the typical talk therapy does not really benefit me (I already spent years researching this myself, so it does not really help to have somebody else repeat it to me). I’ll try to find somebody, but seems like it’s quite difficult.
