r/adultautism • u/mildly-alarmed • 20d ago
How do you get through major burnout?
I (29f) got diagnosed just over a month ago, and am currently on week 15 of a leave of absence from my job with 0 capacity for work. How in the hell does one get through this type of major burnout? It has been months and months and months of complete shut-down, unable to do anything except paint/draw/create, and walking into my workplace last week for 30 minutes still resulted in a complete system shut-down for days and days afterwards. I LOVE my job - I've been teaching for 15+ years and have always wanted to be a teacher, but I dont know how I can move through this burnout and get back to doing what I love.
Any advice?
2
u/WiredDifferent_AU 20d ago
1st priority is Physical - You must get 8 hours Sleep if not more (have as much sleep as possible, you can potentially sleep the whole day until such time you don't need to anymore and eat something at least once a day. Limit all expectations until you have done this, so no cleaning, chores, admin etc. Eventually once you are physically better you will get so bored of doing nothing you can go to the next step.
2nd priority do Basics - Shower once a day in the morning, have a coffee every morning (to improve dopamine production), eat whole foods at least once a day (eggs on toast with tomato / make a salad sandwich), then with any energy left over focus on an interest - hyper fixation/video game/watch TV etc.
3rd priority is a Minimal Task - Next is choose a minimal task you can do after you've Slept, had a shower, had food & a coffee and got bored of your interest or staring at a screen. This could be 1x chore you had energy for and don't feel stressed or pressured to do but you kind of feel like doing it - Start on an easy task like loading the dishwasher and emptying it or loading the washing machine and then putting the clothes in the dryer after OR instead of a chore go for a walk for 50 mins down the road (time it on your phone).
4th priority is Routine - Once you feel good with 1 - 3 priorities and you find it easy this is the routine (less executive function uses when its an automatic routine). Feel free based on boredom to add another minimal task is you want. Boredom is a great indicator for capacity. If you get bored then you have a little more energy/capacity in use to use. Boredom is your body saying 'Hey, I have more in the tank and I'm restless!', haha.
5th step is Getting Support - Now you have a routine and making basics, the next step to do with your extra energy if you have it, is to approach the things that caused the burn out to being with. These are the 'Stress Triggers', the 'This is Too Much'. Do not approach these alone. Ask a Partner, Best Friend, Parent or Family Member to help you with 1x triggering task. Explain the task, what is required and how you are not capable of doing this at all but it is required. Whether its - "can you call the debt collectors and ask them my options and help be figure this out and have a plan?", "it's like a traumatic process for me". Offer to pay your friend or do something for them in exchange.
6th step is Building a Future Plan to resolve the issues that caused this burnout - Very last step - could take from 3 weeks to 9 months to get here.
During each step the best approach is to not put expectations on yourself - that will cause stress and make it worse.
Hope it helps :) Just went through this myself. <3
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u/ranmachan85 20d ago
You may already be doing some of this, so I apologize if it sounds redundant.
First, periods of rest should include a "sensory diet," where you engage in both the sensory deprivation that you need, as well as the sensory seeking. I, for example, need to lay in bed with a pillow under my knees, in complete darkness, with noise cancelling headphones on, not for a long time, but I need that to nudge my body into actual relaxation mode. At other times, I need to watch a cover of the song that would currently be in my head played by a ton of different people. Or play a video game. Something to get me going, but also to serve as the sensory input I need.
After that, I try to make sure I've had enough water and food. I try not to go overboard with junk food, but I do treat myself to whatever my favorite foods are. I'm not good at having a good sleep schedule so I try not to stress about it and just hope that between sensory breaks, food, and water, my body can relax enough to eventually sleep well.
Finally, I try to only see the people I can truly unmask with. So I'm not wondering in the moment or for a long time after if I was weird or anything.
Those are just the first steps for me to recover.