Autistic friends, how often do you feel like you're "in trouble"? Do you feel like it is justified?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #Autistic #AuDHD

Am I lazy or burned out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3vA8d3IDF8

#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Neurospicy #Neurodivergent #ND

What if you rephrased it in your own mind from, “I’m lazy” or “I just can't be bothered” or “I need a good ass kicking” or whatever, to “I don't have enough energy right now to do X” or “I’m saving up my limited energy for X,” or “I’m recuperating from X.”

How would you think about yourself differently? How would you think about your to-do list differently? How would you relate differently to people around you?

#ActuallyAutistic #Autistic #Neurodiversity #AutisticBurnout

Curiosity goes a long way in autistic burnout recovery. Asking yourself things like: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵?

The answers to those questions will change over time. 𝙎𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨. The mindset here is that it’s okay to feel good. And that 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

#ActuallyAutistic #BurnoutRecovery #Interoception #AutisticBurnout

Today we are starting the Beyond Autistic Burnout course with our first orientation call. It's not too late to join us. Learn more and enroll: https://www.autismchrysalis.com/course-autistic-burnout-recovery/

#AutisticBurnout #BurnoutRecovery #Burnout #ActuallyAutistic

Decreased access to your emotions.

Not remembering whether you ever had access to your emotions.

Being certain you never did.

It's harder to tell when you are tired, sleepy, hungry, full, etc.

It's hard to tell whether you really want to be on social media, gaming, sleeping, or whether you're doing things out of habit.

Having less access to what your body feels in general.

A track record of accomplishments without feeling good about them.

Not being satisfied with all you have done.

You're worried it'll never be enough.

A strong drive to keep going even when you don't have energy, eventually turning into not caring whether you keep going or not.

A strong, visceral, negative reaction to any suggestion to take it easy, relax, do self-care, take time off.

Low energy.

Exhaustion.

Sleep disruptions, lack of sleep, or sleeping all the time without feeling rested.

Getting sick easily.

Taking longer than usual to recover.

Decreased motor control or coordination, especially for detailed tasks.

Dropping or bumping into things more frequently.

Minor, or major, injuries or accidents.

A feeling that you "have to" do things.

Increased black and white thinking, all or nothing thinking.

Getting frustrated more easily, at more things.

Increased negativity.

A sense that the world is going to pot.

You become the toxic person that people start to avoid or complain about.

🧵Common warning signs of autistic burnout:

Either that it is coming soon, or that you’re in it.

Any individual may experience some of these, but probably never all of them.

In no particular order. -->

#AutisticBurnout #BurnoutRecovery #Burnout #ActuallyAutistic

Read more about Shifting Negative Thought Patterns on my blog: https://www.autismchrysalis.com/2022/08/13/shifting-negative-thought-patterns/

As I did this, I started noticing the good moments. The good experiences. The good days and weeks that eventually became good months and now I’m well into a decade that has actually been pretty good.

That doesn’t mean that there haven’t been bad experiences. Difficult things. Painful things, even. But my overall outlook isn’t negative anymore. It’s by and large pretty neutral, tending towards positive. And, I’ve gotten some well needed rest. 😉

As a person with AuDHD who has experienced burnout multiple times and is now eleven years burnout free, I’ve used these phrases to help me improve a number of different areas of my life:

- When I’m happy, let myself be happy.
- When I’m tired, let myself be tired.
- When I’m sick, let myself be sick. (i.e. Don’t push through and overdo it.)
- When I’m excited, let myself be excited.
- When I’m feeling good, let myself feel good.
Etc.

#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #AutisticBurnout #BurnoutRecovery

Then, after a while, you'll learn how to tend to your own needs more. Advocate for yourself more. This is another essential skill to learn to get out of autistic burnout for good.

Many Autistics have learned to numb our sensory input, at least to some extent. Like, in kindergarten, when you’re fidgeting, but you’re supposed to sit still, it’s time for the circle, just sit still and look at the teacher. We’re taught to clamp down on our physical needs.

We are taught to just get by so that we don’t get in trouble, so that we don’t get yelled at, so that we don’t make the people around us upset, in small ways and huge ways. 1/3

#ActuallyAutistic #Sensory #Interoception

But when we do that, we also learn to disregard our own physical sensations. So, if you can start asking yourself questions about what you're feeling in your body, looking for clues as to what is causing those sensations, to piece together the information, you can start to figure out what you actually need. As you do that in little little ways, you’ll gradually learn more about how your senses work.

Check out these common (and commonly overlooked) sources of stress in everyday modern life for Autistics, highly sensitive people, and anyone who is sensitive to stress: https://www.autismchrysalis.com/5-most-common-autistic-stressors/

If you've reduced most of the stressors in your life but still feel stressed and can't explain why...

Or if you're frequently exhausted, have trouble functioning, melt down or shut down, have low energy, or are feeling tired or sick, get headaches, or avoid daily tasks, and have eliminated or explained everything you can figure out, and there's still something... -->

#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Autistic #Neurodiversity

One really important tool during autistic burnout recovery is 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚. Being able to respond to yourself with compassion. Even when things go wrong, even when you make poor choices, even when you make reasonable choices and it all goes kablooey.

#ActuallyAutistic #AutisticBurnout #BurnoutRecovery #Burnout