Published on 12, July, 2020
I’ve noticed as a single adult (27) in a flat share, I stay in my room all weekend sometimes after working full-time all week. For example this weekend I work up at 9am on Saturday and lay in bed watching Once Upon A Time and cleaning my (very cluttered and messy) room and doing a house cleaning task once an hour, and today I lay I bed all day watching Tik Toks and watching Once Upon A Time. I also ordered take out five times. I do not do this every weekend, but do any autistic adults find they feel so flat sometimes once every fortnight or month that they get really lazy and tired; because it feels like their energy has been drained by the stress of being around strangers? I even avoid my flat mates because if feel like living with strangers drains me almost. I meant to work on projects all weekend, cook my own meals, and get out for a picnic and did not.
The isolation part is familiar. I usually avoid bumping into my flatmates in the kitchen, either by waiting until they are all finished with cooking, or going out for food (somehwere that has self-checkouts). I like chatting to them occasionally, but if I'm tired I just can't deal with the interaction.
It can be sort of therapeutic to be by yourself and clean/tidy/organise your thoughts and listen to music or something. You might need to do that sometimes (especially if your job involves talking to people). Sure it's better if you can also eat healthy food and go outside for fresh air/excercise, but don't be too hard on yourself :)
I started drinking those meal replacement drinks when I am burnt out or stressed. It removes the need to make decisions about what to eat, and it's supposed to contain all the foodgroups. You could try that, it's probably cheaper than takeaway anyway :D or just cook pasta or baked beans on toast. Very easy and fast.