In the Arms of Morpheus

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.