I have been struggling lately with Aspergers, I feel I have regressed in many fields of operation and I am seeking information that adults can regress. I have read on the net, that regression can be the caused by stress and mistaken for depression in people with autism.
I know regression forms part of the autism model in childhood, but can it also in adulthood ? or is it just stress and lack of coping mechanisms. I feel like everything I knew or trusted is gone ?
Yes, you are correct. I can't offer research about it, but this is what has happened/is happening to me and I have read about it on another AS forum.
There is also something colloquially called "Aspie burnout" which has been referred to by at least one clinician possibly a researcher, so you could search on that.
If you think about it, in diagnostic guidelines for children, it says that (or words to this effect) features/traits of ASC may not become apparent until capacity to cope becomes outstripped by the demands of the environment. In other words, the passive subtype can use masking and coping skills, perhaps social mimicking etc. so they wouldn't appear autistic, but when the strain becomes too much because of the pressures of the situation they are in, the autistic traits become more obvious and they can't hide it any more.
I have found, that having had a period of prolonged stress having to deal with multiple problematic issues, it is much harder for me to maintain my facade and I am much more prone to rocking, under a situation of very high anxiety I found myself hand-flapping (which I don't think I had done before, or if I had it was rarely and I hadn't realised), all my sensory issues have got noticeably worse and I have headed towards a nervous breakdown.
My executive function has got a lot worse, I zone out more easily after even small social encounters and I can cope with a lot, lot less than I could before and I have even had total thought blankouts in the last few days which has been scary.
I think we just literally build up with existential stress which is never truly released (perhaps unless you have mega regular meltdowns and maybe not even then - I only have mini meltdowns with the occasional bigger one) and then when you get pushed to breaking point by a period of higher stress, your body and mind just seem to make everything harder and more obvious perhaps to make you shut yourself away to recuperate.
I do think social and life demands build up on us over time, it's a zillion times harder for us to exist in this world than it is the neurotypical person, and they would probably say it's hard enough for them.
I have also noticed that my desire for special interests is more intense since this has happened to me too. Perhaps that is another way the mind/body tries to make you focus on one thing to shut out everything else.
You are not alone. It is so hard to deal with, and the support for us adults is virtually non-existent.
My local mental health services say that they don't have any autism expertise and cannot gear interventions or therapies towards someone's autism, and any support there is available locally is from charities. So many GPs don't have a clue about adult autism and will just give you medication. I feel that the NAS is also failing hugely in supporting adults, more so high-functioning ones.
In fact, just the term "high-functioning" annoys the hell out of me. It's an utter misnomer. Just because you are not intellectually impaired and are verbal does not mean the entire rest of your life is not low-functioning and in fact the higher intellect you have the more you analyse and are aware of your difficulties so it's like being trapped inside a shell that doesn't function properly and aware of every last tiny aspect of it, which is like an endless torture.
Yes, you are correct. I can't offer research about it, but this is what has happened/is happening to me and I have read about it on another AS forum.
There is also something colloquially called "Aspie burnout" which has been referred to by at least one clinician possibly a researcher, so you could search on that.
If you think about it, in diagnostic guidelines for children, it says that (or words to this effect) features/traits of ASC may not become apparent until capacity to cope becomes outstripped by the demands of the environment. In other words, the passive subtype can use masking and coping skills, perhaps social mimicking etc. so they wouldn't appear autistic, but when the strain becomes too much because of the pressures of the situation they are in, the autistic traits become more obvious and they can't hide it any more.
I have found, that having had a period of prolonged stress having to deal with multiple problematic issues, it is much harder for me to maintain my facade and I am much more prone to rocking, under a situation of very high anxiety I found myself hand-flapping (which I don't think I had done before, or if I had it was rarely and I hadn't realised), all my sensory issues have got noticeably worse and I have headed towards a nervous breakdown.
My executive function has got a lot worse, I zone out more easily after even small social encounters and I can cope with a lot, lot less than I could before and I have even had total thought blankouts in the last few days which has been scary.
I think we just literally build up with existential stress which is never truly released (perhaps unless you have mega regular meltdowns and maybe not even then - I only have mini meltdowns with the occasional bigger one) and then when you get pushed to breaking point by a period of higher stress, your body and mind just seem to make everything harder and more obvious perhaps to make you shut yourself away to recuperate.
I do think social and life demands build up on us over time, it's a zillion times harder for us to exist in this world than it is the neurotypical person, and they would probably say it's hard enough for them.
I have also noticed that my desire for special interests is more intense since this has happened to me too. Perhaps that is another way the mind/body tries to make you focus on one thing to shut out everything else.
You are not alone. It is so hard to deal with, and the support for us adults is virtually non-existent.
My local mental health services say that they don't have any autism expertise and cannot gear interventions or therapies towards someone's autism, and any support there is available locally is from charities. So many GPs don't have a clue about adult autism and will just give you medication. I feel that the NAS is also failing hugely in supporting adults, more so high-functioning ones.
In fact, just the term "high-functioning" annoys the hell out of me. It's an utter misnomer. Just because you are not intellectually impaired and are verbal does not mean the entire rest of your life is not low-functioning and in fact the higher intellect you have the more you analyse and are aware of your difficulties so it's like being trapped inside a shell that doesn't function properly and aware of every last tiny aspect of it, which is like an endless torture.
