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Illness With Autism

Chissy

I was wondering if anyone experiences pretty severe mental health dips when they're ill with head colds / flu. My son recently brought genuine flu home from school which I got. I tried to battle against it to keep my routines but had to concede defeat and try and unhook myself from my demands and actually try and 'relax'.

I find relaxing very stressful as it involves feeling guilty and not doing and a week of it was enough to make me feel very low. I feel most NT people would find it a problem but would just pull the covers over and watch box sets for a week, not have an existential crisis about whether I'll ever be able to work again or lower my anxiety levels to acceptable levels.

I'm slowly finding my feet but the disruption has affected my sleep, my energy levels, my appetite, blown my anxiety to 11 and has reduced my ability to apply myself to work.

Does anyone else get like this when ill and bed bound?

  • in reply to Chissy

    You're welcome. Then I get it more why you get like that. I have been told in the past I had harsh expectations of myself but was very forgiving and gentle towards others in terms of expectations, if others got sick. Don't know if it will help but if it could be about that then try to think of you being someone else who is sick and how would you then think of and treat that someone? That is what you feel towards your son feel it towards yourself too, self-love, forgive yourself for getting sick. Try to think it is like that so you won't get even more sick next time. We all need to get sick sometimes. It is never a good time for it, though. 

  • in reply to Table1

    I really appreciate the input. I own my own company and it’s only me so I would imagine that adds a lot to the anxiety of trying to rest. 

  • in reply to MsR

    Thank you for your experience. I’m just awful at letting myself rest and recover. I’m worried that if I step off the treadmill, I might never get back on it. 

  • I have evidence that I have a head cold flu even though now I have had the flu jab. My head can be a bit painful to touch and I have been sneezing. It has been concerning to me and you are not alone in dealing with this. It has knock off effects for my mental health for sure and it can be an extra challenge  for me to live with alone. i think I really need to let my body rest to recover. I wish you well and hope you recover soon.

  • I don't sorry. Could it be you get this way because you are overly emphatic and you don't want others to do your work or that all the work is piling up when you get back? Is there someone at home that can step in and take your place when you are sick (and not complain about it)? I get overly sensitive when ever I get a cold and can start sobbing over any small thing they display on the tele. Afterwards I can laugh at myself, but yeah, I get more emphatic and sensitive, not that I would say it is anxiety.