Having An Autistic Burnout, help needed!

For the last six weeks or so, I've been experiencing a burnout with just about everything. I've lost my interests in reading and writing, my social activities face to face have all but vanished. There are moments where I can sleep for hours and still wake up exhausted or not get to sleep at all. I've been freaking out over the littlest of things such as money, public transport, the weather etc. I'm such a disappointment. I've looked into getting support but nothing is available in my area for people my age. HELP MEEEEEEEEEE!

  • Hi. This is the first time I have used this forum. I have worked as a Midday Supervisor at a school in Derbyshire for nearly 3 years. I was very confident with it in the beginning, until I got into trouble twice for shouting and screeching at one girl on 2 separate occasions. I have since learnt new techniques for behaviour management with children, but sometimes, the older kids in the Y5 and Y6 don't always listen to me when I give them instructions the first time.

    I had a near burnout experience in the school dinner hall today, when I tried to tell the Dinner Helpers - involving a small team of Y5 and Y6 pupils - to put away the tables and chairs before sweeping the floor.....After much persuasion, all the tables are put away, but the floor is still messy, so I take it upon myself to spend an extra 10 minutes sweeping the food bits into a bin nearby. Part of me blames myself for this burnout, but I also feel that I am not sleeping well because of worries about work AND Brexit. Please help!

  • Sadly not, no. It's only for kids under 16 and their families, mainly for boys as well. I've looked into other areas but I can't afford the travel costs of going to a group 40+ miles away from where I live. I'll stop by the blog!

  • I've definitely been sleeping a lot more often. I used to get up early with no issues, but now I end up sleeping through alarms and a family member has to wake me up! I'm currently using lots of Netflix, which so far is helping so I'll keep that in mind.

  • Are there any support groups in your area? They often only meet once a month but will usually have an email address or other way you can get in contact with the organisers who may be able to give you 'mentor' style support.

    Burnout is part of being ASD I'm afraid... like hypo's for diabetics or seizures for epileptics... you can try to avoid them but sometimes you won't be able to.

    Check out the posts here: https://www.theautisticadvocate.com/search/label/Burnout

    This guy writes about burnout plus there's one about using public transport - there are also links on his blog to support groups etc.

    Let the people around you know what's going on and hang in there...

  • Hi Ally,

    Firstly you aren’t a disappointment. This is something that can happen with autism. I think you only got a recent diagnosis? In which case this is all new to you and you will have been through s really stressful time, so it’s not that surprising. I was diagnosed about 6 months before you so can relate.

    I have quite often ended up in the state you describe and the only thing that works for me is to completely stop for a while. Sleep, or rest if you can’t actually sleep, watch crap telly etc. I found when I got to the point I couldn’t read as normal that going back to kids books worked. Also kids tv. Needs much less concentration (and the worst witch it turns out is ace!)

    You need to be nice to yourself, which is I know easier said than done. Things can get better.

    Sending virtual hugs x