Burnout & Physiological symptoms

I suffer from depression and PTSD (live in abusive environment), so I am use to this problem.

In general, when we experience any type of burnout (autistic or not), it is due to excess amounts of cortisol (stress hormone) which builds up in the brain (hippocampus) causing cell death and downregulation. Humans, with our 'fight or flight' protection mechanism (adrenaline, cortisol, hightened senses and peripheral vision) were evolved to only deal with stressful events in short bursts - to get out of danger, and were also never meant to live in fixed locations, but were a migrating peoples. Therefore, prolonged exposure to traumatic stressors will cause an overload of information, that the brain cannot readily process.

Autistics tend to exhbit greater sensitivity towards environmental stressors, be it visual and/or auditory, therefore all this information becomes taxing on the brain. This is made worse if the individual is also prone to neuroticism and overthinking, so that rather than finding strategies to deal with the situation, they focus on the problem, and not the solution.

So when we say 'burnout', what that really represents is: Information overload, producing elevated cortisol, that shutsdown the brains executive function.

Here are some tips on how to manage burnout, that has helped me.

• Check your vitamin levels with a blood test. I was given a suppliment of 20,000 units of Vitamin D (colecalciferol) for 7 weeks (2 tablets per week) and felt increasingly better - typically when I have burnout I experience 'foggy brain' and think and speak very slowly.
• Realise that the way you feel (mood) is corrolated with your behaviour. Are you working yourself up over an issue? Or finding a solution to deal with it?
• Find hobbies and interests to shift attention away from traumatic triggers. I immediately put on earphones and draw to block out triggers.
• If you can go for a walk or run. This has scientifically shown to stimulate and repair neuron damage and increases dopamine (runners high). If like me you have fatigue problems and weak muscles then take it slow, all that matters is that you are doing something rather than nothing.
• Avoid eating big meals, or foods high in sugar. These all lead to inflammation, which puts stress on the gut, and thusly the brain. I would recommend looking into FODMAP, it's not a diet, but a model for making bettter choices when selecting what to eat for optimal digestion.

It's a bad idea to come off SSRIs suddenly otherwise you get bad side effects. I started taking them 6 weeks ago. I was reluctant to start taking them but in the end I felt I had no choice. They've helped me because they have stopped the feelings snowballing. So now I can concentrate on getting better. I don't know if I've had aspie  burnout,  I'm self diagnosed, but it's sure felt like some sort of burnout. Which has come from not understanding my own feelings and body and just carrying on.

Our brains are not equipped to deal with modern life. We still have cavemen brains. One of the best pieces of advice I've had is to concentrate within your own four walls. Self, house, family.  Everything else comes after this. So I think you have the right mind set.

I was reluctant to take SSRIs but as society has evolved faster than humans can keep up with,  I think some of us need a helping hand in order to function in this day and age.

Ok, following my IAPT session i understood what's wrong with me.... I've burnt out again....because I haven't recovered from the last one(3 years ago). Well, that's ffffffffffed. My symptoms would be...unable to concentrate on my work , weird thoughts, my mind makes up vivid images about me graduating happily instead of letting me work...and tbh I'm starting hibernating, finding myself daydreaming while sitting at the computer rather than actively working on my goal,and my phone seems to tell me I've been walking 10 miles around the sofa daily...when i work on my arch projects I normally enter in a hyperfocus mode where nothing around me exists or makes sense in any way besides my work...this time my brain  refuses to comply with my wish to hyperfocus and get in my work mode trance.....which is not really ideal when I have a hand-in in 2 weeks....I'll ask help from the GP...i'm drained, need a break and need to defer my studies. At the last burnout, I started dissociating, felt absolutely ethereal and the world around me or myself didn't seem to feel real anymore...the world from my brain started taking over the real one. I need a mental and physical break, be4 i breakdown and start to feel again unreal in an unreal world. Mental health, kids, and my DH are in the 1st place, I need to give architecture the second place in my life for my own health. I've been recommended Exposure therapy and SSRI as my burnout shows characteristics of PTSD, I am really reluctant to SSRI especially I've seen yesterday somebody in major panic attacks after their Gp suggested they should come off them, and she did, all of a sudden, not gradually, she thought she's basically dying yesterday. Had anybody experienced any good results with such therapies? I need also to say I have not been officially diagnosed, I am on the 3 years list for it, so IAPT won't consider me aspie unless I'm diagnosed. Is there any fast way of being diagnosed, no matter how pricey? I need to get the right treatment for myself and avoid wrong treatments such as SSRI which I'm not convinced would help me.

Ok, following my IAPT session i understood what's wrong with me.... I've burnt out again....because I haven't recovered from the last one(3 years ago). Well, that's ffffffffffed. My symptoms would be...unable to concentrate on my work , weird thoughts, my mind make up vivid images about me graduating happily instead of let me work for it...and tbh I'm starting hibernating, finding myself daydreaming while sitting at the computer rather than actively working on my goal,and my phone seems to tell me i've been walking 10 miles around the sofa daily...when i work on my arch projects I normally enter in a hyperfocus mode where nothing around me exists or makes sense in any way besides my work...this time my brain  refuses to comply with my wish to hyperfocus and get in my work mode trance.....which is not really ideal when i have a hand-in in 2 weeks....I'll ask help from the GP...i'm drained, need a break and need to defer my studies. At the last severe burnout,i achieved my goal and afterwards i started dissociating, felt absolutely ethereal and the world around me or myself didn't seem to feel real anymore...the world from my head started taking over the real one. I need a mental and physical break, be4 i breakdown and start to feel again unreal in an unreal world. Mental health, kids, and my DH are on the 1st place, i need to give architecture the second place in my life for my own health. I've been recommended Exposure therapy and SSRI as my burnout shows characteristics of PTSD, i am really reluctant to SSRI especially i've seen yesterday somebody in major panick attacks after their Gp suggested they should come off them, and she did, all of a sudden, not gradually,she thought she's basically dying yesterday. Had anybody experienced any results with such therapies?Are there any demonstrated benefits of SSRI on aspie brains?  I need also to say I have not been officially diagnosed, I am on the 3 years list for it, so IAPT won't consider me aspie unless i'm diagnosed, and i don't feel high functioning anymore,but somehow i still mask it as it comes natural to me to do so.Though i feel like having a meltdown in front of my tutor, i'm crawling through trenches of inner war...and smile lovely to everybody.

After reading that (thank you so much for sharing) I’ve realised I’m probably in a burn out stage right now, and I’ve been completely stressing over the fact that all of my heightened autistic symptoms are showing more because I’m waiting for an assessment, so I’ve been beating myself up “is it psychosomatic” etc because every time I read something that describes it it’s literally me and I’m happy I’ve discovered it and then I’m worried I’m not going to get any help because I mask so well so might not get a diagnosis. I’ve heard horror stories where a kid went into their assessment, looked at the assessor because they made a noise when they walked in, then were immediately judged not autistic because they “made eye contact” even if they didn’t for the rest of the time! All my traits are getting worse and reading that article makes me think I’m actually in burnout as this has happened before to varying degrees, but I didn’t recognise it then as what it was, I thought I was just physically ill 

Does anyone else find that they need a lot of sugar during burnouts, as if the brain needs a lot of glucose to cope 

I'm waiting to be diagnosed but my physical burn outs come out as not being able to move my arms and legs and the only way I can explain it is that my head feels like it is completely empty like everything has suddenly been pushed out

Thanks and good luck embracing yourself. 

Ah yes, fair enough. I am sure you are more experienced at knowing the details of burn out I am still new to the idea of ASD traits and trying to figure them out. But in general it is always true that psychological distress of any kind can really kick you physical health as well, and the other way around. But times of extreme stress will often make you more prone to any physical problem. So even just from that side without adding any additional possible ASD factors it would make sense that burn out would take a big toll on your physical health too. Sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick

• Glad it helped, it really helped me too. Can't express it now very well but thid group and this understncing has helped me a lot too and I am glad I can help

Thank you Munchkin so very much for linking to the article . I didn’t think I knew what a burnout felt like as I assumed it to be about extremes! Well it is but it can be a build up of many little triggers of everyday life, 

Specifically masking and keeping things going regardless was quite pertinent to myself.

I read every single word written and it all seemed so much like life as I had lived it,,,

I flick switches when I start to feel low or find things getting difficult to handle, as I get older I have less ability to cope, my ability to hyper focus and grit my teeth to just keep going is lacking. Noises are more than ever causing me issues, I seem to have hypercusis ,every day noises that not only cause me to jump out of my skin but at times I clutch my head and cringe as though I have received an electric shock.

Anyone who has read my posts will know how much they vary not only in length but ability to formulate specifics, some days I write apologies for having a foggy brain day,,,nothing quite seems to come easy, when I am recharged I can write endlessly about any subject, quite often with a level of intellect that amazes me!

So I do now understand more about but burnouts, a lot of things the writer speaks of I never thought were relevant to burnouts, things I have had to over come all my life, Surely I was just experiencing things just like everyone else! Apparently not,, things only we struggle with, sensitivity to lots of things, in my case not one thing was a major contributor, but many single things all adding to a complete lack of energy and a desire to just hide, retreat to a world of silence where I was not expected to fit in or be what was expected.

 Just reading his words has lead me to write all this down, I have hardly contributed to this site in quite some time, months since having the energy or ability as I am currently struggling.

I am masking at present, I am like a lot of autistics not a quitter, I will battle on doing my best, pushing myself to comply, flicking more switches, ,,,,,,,,,How long I can keep up I do not know?

reading about all this has given me ideas on how I might change things to help me.

A massive thank you for posting the link, this community and my tribe are so very important, only we can help ourselves by sharing and passing on our knowledge.

 X()x

Thanks for your help and pace yourself, it’s the key. I’ve been through burnout several times and know to pace myself to prevent. In this case though, as I’ve got s burnout at the same time as being physically ill and I’m wondering whether the two are linked. I can’t find any information on lime thst shows a connection but sometimes the collective wisdom here knows different.

Thanks 

Andrew

Hi,

 Still struggling to understand myself, burnout is something I have struggled with, or at least I think it's that. Happened for me really badly when there was a lot of family drama heavy social stuff going on for me. For me I just ceased to function properly, I didn't know what it was then, or that it was Autism related, I just ceased to function, I couldn't explain to people. I said a lot of things like "I'm just not firing on all cylinders at the moment" or "my batteries have just run out" I would often shake, my hands would frequently go numb, I had chest pains. Though I kept masking this, unsure why, long bad habits probably. Mentally I just couldn't, I could function logically, but not really feel much of anything except exhaustion and the desperate need for a break, I think I probably looked very blank, I kept trying to retreat to get space for myself. My then partner I think decided I didn't care, I told him I was struggling but I don't think he could hear me because I couldn't show it. Just couldn't. I kept moving it was literally life or death for people I cared about so I kept forcing myself on, kept making me worse, I got less and less able to even think of logically I was just exhausted, desperately needed everything to stop for a while. I still can't explain it well but I have found an article that describes things better than I am able:

http://www.theautisticadvocate.com/2018/05/an-autistic-burnout.html?m=1

That really helped me with it, to understand. It didn't stop for me even past that point carried on for several months but I did get through. And I am trying to leanr to try to make sure to take the time when needed and what that means for me. I am sure you can get through too, I am sorry your struggling, I hope things get easier for you in whatever your journey is