Published on 12, July, 2020
I've heard of meltdowns and I've heard of shutdowns, but I've never heard anyone describe what happens to me. I call them sleepouts. I'm just emerging from one today. My sleepouts can go on for a day or (as is the case for this one) several days. What happens? Well, I stop functioning and have to sleep for between an hour to twenty-four hours. I then wake up, go to the bathroom, and/or make food and drink, try to attend to anything that urgently needs doing, but after an hour or so, I become suddenly sleepy again and go back to sleep. It's a bit like a lockdown. My brain issues a stay-in-bed order and closes down all non-essential activity.
Wash, rinse, repeat for a day, a few days or over a week.
I can sleep anywhere too. At a friend's, in a cafe, at work. I prefer to be at home on the sofa or in bed, but when the sleepiness comes, it comes. And it's not normally an unhappy experience (well not initially but it can be mildly frustrating if it goes on for longer than a day or two). I enjoy my sleep time. I'm usually cosy and relaxed. I've learned that these sleepouts come after any prolonged physical, emotional or psychological pressure in everyday life, or having to navigate a tricky social situation. Each sleepy period begins with the descent of a ‘brain fog’ and then an intense urge to stop whatever I'm doing and go to sleep. It's only when I try to fight against it that it becomes a problem. I did read something about ‘Autistic fatigue’ or ‘autistic burnout’ so maybe it falls under that category and is simply a response to sensory overload. Autistic people have described various ways that autistic fatigue and burnout have affected them.
I'd be interested to hear your experiences and see if there are any similarities. My normal sleeping routine us very different to most people. I function much better late at night or very early in the morning when the world is quieter.
I'm the exact opposite - I've had chronic insomnia for 20 years and struggle to sleep more than 5 hours in every 24 even with prescription pills (and following all sleep hygiene rules). It's not that I don't need it; I feel tired and have sleep-deprivation headaches most days. Last night, for example, I went to sleep at 11:30 pm, woke five times and could not return to sleep after 4:15 am, so today will probably be a write-off for doing anything productive or enjoyable.
Even though I now have the opportunity to catch up with a nap during the day, I rarely manage it and the slightest noise from outside or another part of the house wakes me, despite severe hearing loss and using a white noise-generator in my bedroom.
Although our sleep patterns are polar opposites, I suspect both are caused by autism and the overall effect - ironically - has several similarities ("brain fog", exhaustion, ceasing to function, etc.)
Hello OblomovGood to hear from you. I am sorry to hear about your insomnia; it's no fun at all. I have had chronic insomnia too. From what my parents told me, it started as an infant. I can rarely sleep at night and am often up and active until very early morning (4am). The sleepouts I described in my post are almost always during the daytime when I'm overstimulated. Occasionally, very occasionally, do I sleep through the entire night. My bedtime routine involves earplugs and an eye mask just to get even a few hours sleep during the nighttime.