Ergo therapy and other treatments for autistic burnout

I have heard that specialist desensitzation can help with sensory issues.  Certainly, "widening my sensory diet" seemed to be on my list of recommendations.  

I'm afraid i can't offer a view on whether it might help as I haven't tried it.  I guess my reservation might be that some sensory things might be just better avoided.  Some, granted we can't avoid and it might be worth looking at for that reason.  Trouble for some folks is sensory problems can naturally get a bit better or suddenly spring up seemingly 'out of nowhere', perhaps in response to a sensory shock - such as my food issues as a kid.  Apparently I ate all sorts of things until a bad experience with a school dinner one day one, shocked me into being unable to eat any cooked veg (the smell, taste and texture suddenly made me gag) and I would only eat raw veg from then right up until my teens and although a good deal better since meat and  two veg are pongy and unappealing to me even now.  I'd be intrigued to know whether such a therapy can deal with that.

I guess for you, the big counter consideration is the fact that they want you to go into hospital.  They are not the best of environments for autistic people.  And whilst I'd certainly be prepared to give this therapy a go, I sure as Hell wouldn't go into hospital to do it.  I'd never cope in there.  The issues in just being there would soon out weigh any benefit gained from the therapy.  Trying to cope with a bunch of strangers in a not very private environment could soon bring on the melt downs.

As for getting better... none of us can judge for another human being and without knowing all of the issues, but you do say "again", suggesting that once felt you were....that would kind of suggest there must be a whole lot of hope.

If it's any comfort, I hit a point where I was just barely functioning at all for the best part of year.  Looking back now that was down to two things - a whole lot of psychological confusion because these sensory and fear born meltdowns were happening and I had no idea why.  I did not know I was autistic.  And secondly, I was experiencing what I now know to be autistic burn out.

If either or both of these apply to you, you can recover from them.  Once I knew I was autistic, the very distressing psychological confusion just lifted and disappeared in a puff of smoke.  As you get to understand your true nature, things will stop being a puzzel to you and you might find you have reason to congratulate yourself for things you have achieved inspite of autistic difficulties or because of autistic benefits.  Burn out can last a while, but does get better with enough simple R and R to look after yourself.

One other consideration...just 'cos I've just had a problem with this. You say you have BPD.  I assume that diagnosis pre-dates your ASD diagnosis.  You might want to re-examine that just to make sure it's sitting comfortably with you.  You may very well have both, who am I to know, I'm not a clinical psychologist, but sometimes people are misdiagnosed with another condition because the autism has not been understood in the equation.  Worth looking at whether you think all other diagnoses are really still sitting well with you or whether you want any of them looked at again.  Such diagnoses for other things are only helpful to you if they are right.

Thank you for all you wrote.

That has been helpful.

I have decided to not go to the hospital. I am just so easily swayed when talking to my doctor. At home I wondered: What kind of hell am I getting myself into now? You are right, benefits would be slim compared to the price I'd have to pay.

Thank you for bringing up the sensory diet. This is a new concept for me and I will look into that.

That story about the veggies ... Oh dear, poor little girl you were.
Have you tried to just warm up veggies instead of cooking them?

Yes, I have meltdowns and pretty sure this is an autistic burnout. I have been on disability retirement for over a year and it's not getting better. The last year has been rough, so I hope that things will settle down now.

My diagnosing doctor said it was unlikely that I have BPD, he didn't think I have it.
My regular psychiatrist didn't comment on it. In my opinion I do not have BPD. It never explained things for me, though autism does. It just is difficult to handle. I like my regular doctor very much, but she is not that autism-experienced. There are no doctors who are in my area. My therapists aren't either.

Dawn said:

Burn out can last a while, but does get better with enough simple R and R to look after yourself.

Thank you! I hope so!
:-)

Thank you for all you wrote.

That has been helpful.

I have decided to not go to the hospital. I am just so easily swayed when talking to my doctor. At home I wondered: What kind of hell am I getting myself into now? You are right, benefits would be slim compared to the price I'd have to pay.

Thank you for bringing up the sensory diet. This is a new concept for me and I will look into that.

That story about the veggies ... Oh dear, poor little girl you were.
Have you tried to just warm up veggies instead of cooking them?

Yes, I have meltdowns and pretty sure this is an autistic burnout. I have been on disability retirement for over a year and it's not getting better. The last year has been rough, so I hope that things will settle down now.

My diagnosing doctor said it was unlikely that I have BPD, he didn't think I have it.
My regular psychiatrist didn't comment on it. In my opinion I do not have BPD. It never explained things for me, though autism does. It just is difficult to handle. I like my regular doctor very much, but she is not that autism-experienced. There are no doctors who are in my area. My therapists aren't either.

Dawn said:

Burn out can last a while, but does get better with enough simple R and R to look after yourself.

Thank you! I hope so!
:-)

BPD is a common and dangerous misdiagnosis for ASD. The approaches ASD needs are the antithesis of those for BPD. Insist they get it right.

Some reading around sensory issues might help. I'm a synestete too; one sense triggers another. I'm just reading a book called the "Man who tasted Words" by an emenant neurologist. It isn't only about Synesthesia and not really about autism, but a lot in it is giving me clues as to what may have been going on with my sensory system all my life. The more I understand the less scary it is.

In the end a lot of your problems may be more neurological than psychological - but only you will know in the end x