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Waiting for an assessment and burnout

Hollyhop

Hi 

not sure if anyone can help offer any advice.

I am currently on the waitlist for an assessment. It’s always been questioned my whole life but nothing was ever done about it. The more I learn about autism the more my whole life makes sense. 

I think I may have hit burnout. When I read about it pretty much explains what I have been feeling for the past month. When I look back on my life and times when I just thought I just had anxiety I think it was actually burnout as well. While it makes prefect sense my brain won’t let it rest and keeps questioning it rather than accept that this is where I am at right now. Almost like it constantly needs answers. 

very much trying to meet myself with kindness but it’s hard. Any advice on waiting for an assessment and burn out would be very much appreciated.

thank you 

  • Waiting takes forever no matter how long or short it is. Once you make the decision to do something you want an answer. Then the assessment will suddenly arrive and then be over and you'll wonder what happened. Then you'll wait for the report.

    The best thing to do is start thinking about all your issues. Digestive issues, health items, times when things didn't work out for some reason or when you were confused, communication issues, childhood problems, relationship and friend issues, what causes stress. You can use YouTube and the internet to see typical traits and see how many you can relate to.

    Just write them down as you think of it as you won't remember it all.

    It takes time and you think of stuff over a period of weeks or months. I set out to disprove it and just kept finding more evidence.

    You can also do loads of questionnaires, as there have questions that prompt thoughts about some of the traits.

    In terms of burnout, the only thing is to reduce stress and get some rest. I seem to be atypical, I seem to have some mental burnout but not a physical one. I sleep less and become a bit manic, but this may have been also due to PTSD and childhood issues, yet I appear normal and people don't notice despite being in a complete state. I assume it's all the masking. 

    I end up stuck in looping thoughts, replaying all.my worst fears.

    This drove me to seek help.

    To reduce stress, i found this list when I was struggling in late Jan. Most are not controversial. It is possible to do quite a few of these without too much trouble. 19 is more for NTs, or means people you are close too.

    Tings which can reduce cortisol;

    1. Dark chocolate
    2. Tea, green or black, not too much
    3. Extra virgin olive oil
    4. Adaptogenic herbs, ashwaganda, tribulus, rhodiola, ginseng,
    5. Food protein and water
    6. More omega 3 and less omega 6
    7. Antioxidants, vitamin C and E
    8. Curcumin and turmeric
    9. Pre-biotic foods, carrot, onion
    10. Reducing caffeine and alcohol
    11. Laughing
    12. Play with animals
    13. Music and dance
    14. Relaxation techniques
    15. Exercise, but not too much
    16. Sleep
    17. Chew aspartame free gum
    18. Stand tall
    19. Socialize
    20. Bright light acupuncture, transcranial current or magnetic stimulation

  • I think burnout can sneak up on you, you may start to feel more tired than usual, perhaps need more sleep or nap in the day. It can feel like just about doing anything is a struggle, even continuing work. It’s often the case that we keep plodding regardless because society expects us to, work needs us, other people rely on us. We aren’t machines and sooner or later we will need to check out for a bit and focus on ourselves and you have to be selfish with it, it’s important to really make time to do the things you enjoy. Being kind to yourself is hard sometimes, you may even feel like you don’t deserve it. Comparing yourself to others and thinking well they just get on with it, they aren’t facing the possibility of being autistic though. 

  • Hi and welcome to the community!

    If you live in England and are currently on the NHS's own waiting list (ie for an assessment to be carried out by the NHS itself), then you might like to ask your GP about re-referring you using the Right to Choose pathway (RTC), which you are entitled to use instead if you wish.

    In England (only), this enables access to certain, approved, private autism assessment providers who typically have much shorter waiting lists than the NHS, but with your referral and assessment still fully funded by the NHS. 

    I was on an NHS waiting list for two years before I learned about RTC and switched to it (on the recommendation of an NHS psychiatrist). My assessment and diagnosis (I chose to use Psychiatry UK) then followed around just four months later.

    There's a list of RTC providers for autism at the bottom of this page, for example:

    NHS Sussex - NHS Right to Choose: for Autism and ADHD Assessment

    More information:

    NAS - How to request an autism assessment

    Hollyhop said:
    I think I may have hit burnout

    You might find the strategies in this NAS resource helpful:

    NAS - Autistic fatigue and burnout

    There's also some great (free) advice here from Dr Megan Neff - a neurodivergent author (who's also a clinician and advocate):

    Autistic Burnout Recovery: How to Build a Recovery Plan

    I've also bought this new book of hers. It covers the subject in much greater detail, whilst remaining very user-friendly (including lots of diagrams and worksheets, for example):

    The Autistic Burnout Workbook: Your Guide to Your Personal Recovery Plan