Published on 12, July, 2020
My 12 year old daughter has been in autistic burnout for about a year. She has not been in school for 10 months and probably won't return.
Previously a high academic achiever, loved reading and art but now will only play video games as her special interest. Struggles to leave her room. Won't allow us to bathe her, wash hair, clean teeth. She doesn't see the point in getting up in the mornings.
We have done everything suggested to us, CBT, OT Ed Psych, SALT and there is no change.
We believe she is depressed but we don't know how to get her help as CAHMS won't get involved as they say it is due to her autism and she is not self-harming or suicidal.
We feel like we have nowhere else to turn.
Has anybody had a similar experience? What helped?
We are thinking about medication for depression but we don't know who can help us? Private Psychiatrist maybe?
The distinction between autistic burnout and depression is certainly not clear cut. If it is purely autistic burnout then antidepressants are very unlikely to help. The problem is that prolonged burnout can lead to depression which may have happened with your daughter.
We are not allowed to give medical advice on here. The official NHS position on the most commonly used type of antidepressants is that they aren't usually recommended for children and young people under 18, due to the increased risk of suicide and self harm and the potential impact on brain development.
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/medicines-and-psychiatry/ssri-antidepressants/considerations/#:~:text=SSRIs%20aren't%20usually%20recommended%20for%20children%20and%20young%20people,in%20children%20and%20young%20people.
My own experience of taking such medication when much older than your daughter was horrific and personally I would not go back on them or recommend them. The warnings about the increased risk of suicide are there for a good reason.
Autistic people generally need to have interests to motivate them and make life worth living. Some people do have video games as their special interest but that in itself isn't enough and in your case appears to be no longer making your daughter happy. The question is how to re-engage her with the things she used to enjoy or find new interests.
It is a very difficult situation but sadly not an uncommon one. I've linked below some articles on burnout which contain some tips on recovery. I hope you can find something in there that might help your daughter.
https://theautisticadvocate.com/an-autistic-burnout/
https://www.barrierstoeducation.co.uk/burnout
https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/autistic-burnout-recovery