Autistic Burnout

Over the last couple of weeks I've mainly had to rely on information that I've researched or seen on social media to explain meltdowns and shutdowns as I've never experienced one of them, and only think that I've experienced the other. This week is different though because this week we're discussing burnout, and I've definitely burnt myself out at least a couple of times since learning about autism. So I'll be going on my own experience more than anything else this time.

From my own personal experience burnout is horrible and feels a lot like a depression, but in my experience of depression it comes with a lack of motivation whereas burnout comes with a lack of energy. Not physical energy, but mental energy and the ability to really do or handle anything unless absolutely necessary. My most recent burnout didn't have anything specific that caused it. It was just a result of lots and lots of different things going on in my life at the same time, and - as I told work - "everything piling on top of me". But with that in mind other people may experience burnout from just 1 specific event that they're exposed to. I've heard lots of people mention that they've had burnout immediately following a meltdown because of the emotional energy it takes.

That's what burnout is. It's just like when a match burns down to the end and there's no more match to fuel the fire so the fire burns out. I've seen people describe it in more spiritual terms such as like their mind running out of energy so it disconnects from the body for a while, but the gist of it is the same even though everybody experiences it differently. It's the nature of not only autism but diversity in general that everybody experiences things differently, so differing reports are to be expected.

So how do you recover from burnout? In my case I just couldn't face anything that I could avoid so instead of doing whatever it was that we had planned we went home, I rang in sick to work and I spent the next couple of days resting and recovering in bed. Just like when a phone or other gadget runs out of charge the best thing to do is leave it alone and let it charge (plugged in, obviously), the best way to recover from burnout is to take the time you need to recover and recharge your energy/your batteries/your spoons or whatever you want to call it. Bed is the best place to spend this time in my case, but if you do anything while you're recovering it should be something simple and enjoyable like watching crap TV. The only thing to do if you're another person looking after the autistic person in burnout is just to give them the space and time to recharge themselves but still be there for anything they might need. The first time I recognised that I was in burnout we were going to go out somewhere but I couldn't face it so I stayed at home and my wife took the kids out without me. I then spent the day lying on the sofa and I felt like that was the best thing I could have possibly done. I didn't sleep but the rest did me so much good the time just seemed to fly by.

I realise that I've just said to stay with the person then contradicted myself by saying I stayed at home alone but that's just my preference, especially given that I wouldn't have gotten any rest with the kids around. Again, each person is different and may have different needs such as if they've got any other health issues (mental or otherwise) that mean they need to be looked after. Just like I've said through each of these meltdown/shutdown/burnout posts, it's important to know the person you're looking after where possible.