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Burnout

NAS76602

Hi all,

I’ve a late diagnosis of ASD in my 50’s. I’m experiencing incredible stress atm (brought on by myself, business expansion and moving home etc etc). This has started to trigger weird meltdowns I’ve not had for decades and even then only major rows with loved ones would trigger meltdowns (at the time I didn’t know what they were) and took weeks to feel back to normal. 


I’ve not been returning to normal for months now which means I’m getting more meltdowns and intense feelings of being overwhelmed. I’ve been reading about autism burnout, is it like executive burnout; by this I mean I can keep slogging through and spend time at a later date recovering……or am I risking long term non recoverable burnout?  

it’s unpleasant for me atm but I imagine my loved ones think I’m losing the plot. Tia  

Parents

  • I would say the first step is find a way that can help you feel calm and give you a sense of comfort.

    Then I would backtrack and try and find what started this, find the root of the stress. I think the pandemic has effected everyone’s behaviour, our world has evolved into a state people are not use to and we’re all now in the process of adapting to what state the pandemic has turned the world into. It’s possibly the changes that have occurred during lockdown that might be causing you stress.

  • in reply to Daniel

    Thank you. It’s more a case of being overwhelmed by the amount of stressful stuff I’ve got going on and hopefully I’ll be back on the straight and narrow. I don’t mind a bit of stress it keeps me on my toes so to speak. 
    I’m more worried about not making it through tbh. Since getting my diagnosis fairly recently, I’ve been reading about why I feel the way I feel atm and how autistic burnout can be life changing for some. 
    Don’t get me wrong I’ve been stressed before and occasionally it’s been a case of a raging row with misses has led to me feeling ill for weeks. I never knew why but now I doGrinning  

    What I’m experiencing atm is new to me, I feel like I do after a raging row but I’m not coming out of it due to the overwhelming stress I’m under. I’m not winging about the workload, but I am concerned about how I might be headed for what research papers call ‘autistic burnout’. The research papers mention severe long term damage and even mutism affects of autistic burnout of autistics. Is this something that happens a lot? Is it a well known phenomenon of our ‘issues’ or ‘wiring’? Am I being ott?

    Autism is new to me and I’ve not been immersed in a world where I’d meet (knowingly) other autistics; like a lot of us, I didn’t find out until late on in life that there’s an explanation for my weirdness and social skill struggles etc. 

    at the moment I’m being a complete *** to people I love and care for and they’re worried I’m losing my mind. I’ve been an *** to people I don’t even care about too but I’m not bothered about their feelings, that’s business.

    I’m not sure I’m explaining it properly tbh, sorry. 

Reply
  • in reply to Daniel

    Thank you. It’s more a case of being overwhelmed by the amount of stressful stuff I’ve got going on and hopefully I’ll be back on the straight and narrow. I don’t mind a bit of stress it keeps me on my toes so to speak. 
    I’m more worried about not making it through tbh. Since getting my diagnosis fairly recently, I’ve been reading about why I feel the way I feel atm and how autistic burnout can be life changing for some. 
    Don’t get me wrong I’ve been stressed before and occasionally it’s been a case of a raging row with misses has led to me feeling ill for weeks. I never knew why but now I doGrinning  

    What I’m experiencing atm is new to me, I feel like I do after a raging row but I’m not coming out of it due to the overwhelming stress I’m under. I’m not winging about the workload, but I am concerned about how I might be headed for what research papers call ‘autistic burnout’. The research papers mention severe long term damage and even mutism affects of autistic burnout of autistics. Is this something that happens a lot? Is it a well known phenomenon of our ‘issues’ or ‘wiring’? Am I being ott?

    Autism is new to me and I’ve not been immersed in a world where I’d meet (knowingly) other autistics; like a lot of us, I didn’t find out until late on in life that there’s an explanation for my weirdness and social skill struggles etc. 

    at the moment I’m being a complete *** to people I love and care for and they’re worried I’m losing my mind. I’ve been an *** to people I don’t even care about too but I’m not bothered about their feelings, that’s business.

    I’m not sure I’m explaining it properly tbh, sorry. 

Children
  • in reply to NAS76602

    I think the best way forward in your situation is to stop reading papers about negative effects of burnout and other unhelpful things that add to your anxiety. Anxiety is like a snowball rolling down a hill which turns into an avalanche - worries tend to stick on top of existing worries, and in the end we are so overwhelmed that the anxiety consumes us completely. Meltdowns are normal for autistic people. I see meltdowns this way - it's like an emotional vomit. When we eat something bad, our body makes us throw up. I see meltdowns as a mechanism that helps us to get rid of all negative emotions that get stuck in our bodies. I see them as cleansing tool. Yes meltdowns can be unpleasant for people around us, and there is also shame and guilt we feel after a meltdown, but I think people should accept that we cannot control a meltdown. What helps me when I feel I am going in a burnout soon, is to try my best to reduce stress by taking care of myself first and foremost, and filtering my thoughts. When a negative thought enters my mind, I stop it on it's track by reminding myself that it's unhelpful thought that will cause more unwelcome thoughts coming in. I hope you feel better soon and people close to you will support you during this difficult time.