Yeah I know how that feels…. You need to shut off from the world and recover like a little star fish growing their leg back (your brain is recovering from trauma) but your neurotypical partner and other people are forcing you to do the opposite of what you need to heal. It’s hard especially if you know you’re coming back to life and recovering slowly and they keep criticising you and keep criticising your progress because you’re not neurotypical and need a little longer.
i have just seen this post having only just joined the community. i am definitely in burnout at the moment and have been sleeping so much just recently due to the stresses of life, especially at this time of year. having a demanding job, i have been quite overwhelmed the last couple of months, and now, having a 2-week break, i am sleeping so much. not 24 hours but certainly 12 hour stretches have been quite common recently. the job, being a dad to 2 children, the stress of christmas and socialising etc...it all adds up and i found myself in a foetal position in bed with my hood up and ear plugs in at 2pm today because i couldn't cope with setting up my new phone. i needed it to be exactly like my old one as it has my life on it and it was just too hard. it sounds ridiculous, but this was a real trigger, probably brought on by stress and the exhaustion of constantly masking. i'm feeling really quite down at the moment and find my partner who is neurotypical just doesn't get it. i know i'll come out of this the other side, but being asd can be very isolating and exhausting sometimes hey.
I prefer to be physically active (can be undemanding stuff like housework of walking) which keeps my motor skills active and frees up my mind for processing the stuff that is clattering about in my head.
I find naps are better as too much forced sleep gives me too many dreams about whatever led to the burnout.
Also taking time to just sit and watch something like the sea or people in a park can be therapeutic too and helps calm the mind.
