Autistic Regression/Burnout
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2020
- Have you ever experienced a loss of skills, heightened sensitivity to sensory things, and generally not being able to cope with life at all? It's possible that you've experienced autistic regression or autistic burnout. Honestly, it's kind of a terrifying experience when you don't know what's happening or why. So, in this video, we're going to go over what it is and also some possible reasons why/how it's happening.
References/Further Reading:
musingsofanaspie.com/2013/12/...
www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.108....
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Lytle, R., & Todd, T. (2009). Stress and the Student With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Teaching Exceptional Children, 41(4), 36-42.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases...
www.health.harvard.edu/mind-a...
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Unfortunately, there are few services for autistic adults PERIOD! This includes my category " Late Diagnosed" autistic adult. I would describe the circumstances that led to my autistic discovery as a burn out.. Since I'm also ADHD/Dyslexic, these comorbid factors also are in play. I think AGE was a factor for me. You just don't have the stamina, the capacity, so ultimately the capability, to put that amount of energy into just maintaining a basic homeostasis. I think many autistic people live at a constant level of fight/flight/freeze. We're constantly walking a tight-rope. Life gets mentally and physically harder as we become older. Society's demands and pressure have become greater... It just gets to the point you stop dog-paddling... and you sink instead of swim. You're doing great Stephanie!
Help is on the way......sort of. I am part of a study being performed by several University's on the affects of Autism in older adults (45-70). ( I am one the eldest) It is a 3 year study in which they are tracking the physical changes in the brain, behavioral shifts, and adaptive skill. One new aspect is how Autism affects "normal" aspects of an aging adult, and how the "normal" aging process affects Autism. (I am in year two of the study and given the insight's gained, are seeking to extend the study several more years.)
Historically, the Mental Health community has almost exclusively focused on Autism in children. That is where the "money" is. The public sympathy has always been with children with more severe Autistic challenges (stereotypes get a lot of media), as well as for the parents faced with such challenges of a child with Autism. The Mental Health community both overtly and incidentally has had the view for adults: "You made it this far, what are you worried about.....keep doing what you are doing." It has only been recently acknowledged there were adults running around with some serious challenges. This was by no means an intentional epiphany, but more of a result of diagnosed children growing up.
The normal approach in dealing with children with Autism has been multi-faceted. For Adults, the individual uniqueness's are such that it is matter of treating the symptoms. All adults on the spectrum can relate to the frustrations of misdiagnosis and the limited number of Doctor's in the field with enough knowledge to work with adults. However, I have taken the analytical approach and have engaged in massive amounts of research (I have read hundreds of research papers to date and continue to dig).
It has been an interesting journey that has given me the tools to fully understand my challenges and where Neuroscience, Philosophy, and Psychology are today. I realize that harboring anger will not break the barrier or speed up the process of gaining services. For the time being, Adults on the spectrum will have to learn as science learns. Awareness is growing as to the number of Autistic Adults and our challenges, but we can do a lot to help that along by gaining knowledge, pairing the knowledge with our own experiences, and sharing that with others.
For me, my challenges and my abilities are two different things. I prefer to focus on my abilities, and as such, the knowledge an skills I gain will guide me through my challenges.
@@davef2975 I've been doing interview with mostly autistic people on my YT channel My ASD Journey - I think many adults would like to here what you have to share about this topic.. If this sound like something you would like to do please contact me.. Tom
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@@MyASDJourney I know this is a year later but if ur still around and looking for ppl, I’d love to volunteer if possible
@@rotisseriepossum me too
Loss of skills can be permanent is a scary situation to think about. That is my biggest fear.
This scares the hell out of me. Like I genuinely get scared that I’ll forget how to act or forget how to do things if I take too long of a break from them or don’t do them every single day because it’s happened before. Even though they were for minor things I get scared that one day I won’t be able to do something major and there will be no one there to help.
Yeah and like replaying interactions with people because unless they are absolutely clear, its pretty vague whether things are good
This happens me too much but it hasnt happened to the extent of this but im just so cursed i wouldnt be one bit surprised if I started losing my skills in this area too. I practice constantly & still my skills regress. Its like a chart of improvement that goes up for about 2-3 weeks and then it all drops to the very bottom all of a sudden & i have to relearn all my skills to get back to where i was previously, i get a little bit better which each relearn but then i lose my skills again after 2-3 weeks of relearning them & this is with close to constant practice too. Yeah i dont find enjoyment or excitement in anything anymore & its all because of this one issue. Ive searched everywhere at this point and i cant find an explanation and permanent solution, i get made fun of me or people think im crazy anytime i talk about this happening to me. People are fed up with my constant complaining about this one single issue but only when i have found the explanation & solution to this issue to make it stop permanently is when i will stop complaining about it
@@jadepatrick7644Eesh 😬😬, since that sounds mentally and emotionally exhausting do you think that you can perhaps just ask people to talk to you in a less vague and ambiguous way?
That's what I've done and it's helped so much and I just have social anxiety.
This just further highlights how important it is to give people access to resources regardless of their ability to be productive/work a job. We’re literally being asked to sacrifice our ability to function in order to be able to afford to live and it’s exhausting! I can tell I’m not as good at my job as I used to be, and I’m pretty sure what I really need is like an entire year of focusing exclusively on recovery, but there’s no way for me to get that kind of time when I need to be able to afford my house, food, and healthcare! 😢
Studies have found that autistic people have higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines than the general population. Proinflammatory cytokines lower the uptake of the amino acid tyrosine, which is responsible for creating dopamine. Without enough dopamine, the amygdala becomes more sensitive to stress, thus becoming more inclined to creating memories of trauma. This also makes you more prone to anxiety and depression.
*TL;DR* - autism -> more cytokines -> less tyrosine -> less dopamine -> sad amygdala -> sensitive to stress -> PTSD + anxiety + depression
(I did some speed-research on autistic amygdalae a few years ago for my blog (thank you, master degree in science for enabling me to pull stunts like that) and this is what I found out. Would link sources but links aren't allowed in yt comments...)
@dark numbers, dark words AFAIK, the amygdala is a "lizard-brain" thing; it's a very primal part of the brain whose sole job in life is basically helping us Not Die from things that we've learned are dangerous. It doesn't store episodic memories on its own. I think (though I'm not a neurologist, obvs) that the low-dopamine-induced amygdala sensitivity could make you more likely to retain, and later ruminate on, traumatic events. Like, the amygdala telling your memory banks to make sure that this trauma is Not Forgotten lest it comes back and Kills You. So yes? Probably? (Also, autistic people can sometimes need different types of therapy than neurotypicals, just because of how our brains are wired, so maybe look into that if you can!)
EDIT: The amygdala is apparently in charge of experiencing and cataloguing ALL emotions, both positive and negative. Thanks, wikipedia. :D
lol sad amygdala
This is fascinating, and it explains a lot about why getting allergy shots has helped me SO much with my sensory issues and mental health. Anything that reduces inflammation seems to help me both physically and mentally in ways I didn't expect, and I still get to keep the fun parts of the autism brain.
And yet they put us on dopamine draining antipsychotics…
Oxytocin ❤
I am NT, my husband is on the spectrum. I found you because I literally put autistic regression into the search engine because that's what I assumed that it would be labeled and accurately describes what I'm perceiving from his behavior is definitely regression. Thank you so much for this video. Regression is definitely the proper term that should be used for this. I've been extremely concerned for months due to what I am seeing as a regression of skills, executive function becoming lower and lower etc. My husband is now only communicating using verbal stimming. His job is extremely demanding and requires him to mask. Our home is a safe place where he doesn't have the pressure of masking. Thanks so much again for this video!
Good on you for being understanding of his stress. Perhaps he could talk to his doctor and get a few days off for a fake emergency medical procedure... Or just take a health leave, depending on the situation. If he's doing a job he cares greatly about damaging by not being there remind him that like having kids in order to take care of them you have to take care of yourself
Thank you for being there for him, and respecting the best he is capable of at the moment. It takes time to come back from, and having someone who is respectful of the process really helps. Engaging things that make him happy as much as possible while reducing active stress in combination is the best way I know to recover from it.
Omg that hit so true when you said it feels more like a regression than a "burnout". It's like I just want to retreat back to a place where I dont talk to anyone or make eye contact. I just lose teritory that I have worked so hard for with respect to operating in the everyday world around us.
Yeah, why is it when I leave work people are outside by their cars talking and make me say bye to them? I just want to leave. Once I'm clocked out I'm clocked out. Leave me be..
Gonna talk to my counselor about this parking lot situation today hopefully
@@MargauxNeedler nobody is perfect
@@autisticexpressiongenx yeah not perfect but they should've taken the hint that I just wanted to leave instead of trying to force me to say bye.
@@MargauxNeedler normies what can we do they dont get it. take care of you tcyt
This is what happened to me at 49 years old. It’s what led me to figure out I was autistic. It’s alarming and jarring to go from being high achieving (albeit in bursts with periods of what I thought was depression), to being full-on autistic. Trouble speaking, trouble understanding people, trouble navigating everyday experiences like shopping at IKEA. And when I ask for help I can tell people are looking at me like I’m “special”. It’s bizarre and upsetting and so many other adjectives. I got diagnosed a couple of weeks ago. Also, im dropping things all the time for no reason. I have to now super concentrate if I’m holding something that would be bad to drop. Run into doorways, hit my head on kitchen cabinets, etc. Also, driving is harder, I’m dyslexic a little, can’t remember anything.
I can relate to this 💯!! I'm 48 and just received my diagnoses a couple of months ago. I feel like I'm just barely getting by every day. I'm exhausted 😩
@@srso4660 I think the autistic burnout is actually chronic fatigue syndrome in many cases
@@WizardKitty723yes diagnosed CFS now fybromyalgia is it burnout in autism heds muscle pain worn out though I've had fatigue from birth a baby I slept 23 hrs a day
i have experienced long term/permanant regressions and honestly it is really scary but more than that it is really difficult to cope with the fact that i can't be the person that i wanted to be anymore, the fact that i got "worse" feels like a failure and like i am wasted potential :(
I’m currently going through this and I haven’t been able to work in a month. My anxiety has been through the roof and I mentally feel like I’m not processing things as I should be anymore. I have adhd and autism.
The same for me… and also AuDHD. Just miss those times when I was able to communicate with others and feel energised, and also had so much ideas, dreams and plans. It was such a great time…
@@user-if2jp9oj3cyes do you have fybromyalgia symptoms with your burnout I have auadhd and heds to fybromyalgia symptoms wondering if any hope it's burnout and may calm one day though years for me
I don't often comment on videos, or otherwise interact publicly on youtube, because I don't like to leave too much of a digital footprint behind, but this video means so much and I needed to say that.
I've been dealing with this for years and I've always felt so ashamed of it and beat myself up for it and I never knew it was related to being autistic except for insofar as I'd already had some level of difficulty with things already. I deal with it in a long term sense, where I'm not really at the level I used to be at anymore in general, but also in a short term sense every semester, when I hit about halfway through the semester things fall apart and I feel like I can hardly do anything anymore, not even basic stuff like showering or eating or getting out of bed, much less keeping up with my schoolwork, and everyone either worries or gets upset with me because I was doing just fine before. My professors especially either get irritated or super worried, because they've all seen me at the beginning of the semester doing two or three times as much work as is required because of my OCPD and then all of a sudden I'm crying in class and not doing any work at all anymore, and they don't know what's happened. Now that I know what it is and that it's a thing other people experience I can look for solutions, bring it up to my therapist, explain it to people, seek accommodations for it and stop blaming myself as much, and that is so important.
I've got some thoughts on it to share, too, about what might contribute to causing it. I think it's worth considering as a factor here that a lot of the traits most associated with autism, are traits autistic people show either exclusively or more prominently when we're in distress and/or a hostile environment- meltdowns, disorientation, difficulty interacting with others, and straight up PTSD symptoms. Obviously, if we're constantly in low-level distress, and especially if we're constantly in a lot of distress, those things will show up a lot more.
Also, going off of the topic of PTSD symptoms, research has indicated that autistic people are susceptible to developing PTSD from things that neurotypicals don't usually consider traumatic, sometimes even susceptible more than we are to developing it from "normal" traumatic things. Stuff like bad sensory input, paperwork, loss of a pet or even just an important object, and social ostracization, that every autistic person has probably run into by the time we're adults- and it's often underdiagnosed, since the sources of the trauma are atypical and a lot of the symptoms of PTSD can be mistaken for just regular autistic stuff. Since PTSD can obviously cause a pretty significant decline in functioning, whether someone is autistic or not, I think it's something that should be researched in connection with autistic burnout.
Really, it also might be worth looking at it as more closely related to regular old neurotypical work burnout. When a person overworks themselves and gets burnt out, they lose some of their competence at their work, whether temporarily or permanently, and it impacts their mental health. For autistic people, most of these skills we tend to lose are undeniably work. Even when I'm at my best and not burnt out, self care takes work. Talking to people takes work. Existing in a world where terrible noises happen constantly takes work. Checking my text messages, watering the plants, and even my favorite hobbies take work. Just because they aren't work for neurotypicals and I am not getting paid for them doesn't mean they aren't work, and so I think that there may be a stronger connection there than people realize- if all those things are work, then burning out in them could conceivably cause a loss of competence in them by the same mechanism that it does in "standard" burnout.
I wonder if something similar can happen with other disabilities, too? I have family members who are not autistic, but have other disabilities, who seem to experience something very similar. I'd imagine it probably is with stuff like ADHD that's so similar, but what I'm really wondering about is stuff like physical disabilities or mental illnesses, that have very different causes and manifestations than most developmental disabilities.
This is also one of the reasons why functioning labels don't work so well. Right now, I'd probably be considered like, "medium functioning," if that's even a thing- I can talk even more eloquently than most neurotypicals if I put in the effort, and handle sensory issues moderately well still, but I can't really take care of myself or get much work done and understanding vague instructions is even harder than it typically is. In a few months, I'll probably be back to "high functioning." In the past, I've been "low functioning." And that's not even considering the disproportionate importance put on traits that aren't that important when deciding functioning labels- someone who is nonverbal or has frequent meltdowns tends to get labeled "low functioning" even if they're functioning just fine in all other ways.
I know this is a little rambly and disjointed, and that's largely because I am pretty burnt out right now, and then also partly because I don't worry as much about sounding articulate when I'm not talking to a target audience of neurotypicals. You know, like, I have not written five drafts of this. But it really does mean a lot to me, so thank you so much for putting this video out about this. I'll bet it's really helped a lot of other people who haven't left comments, too.
You so eloquently described how it feels to need to PEOPLE at work. I function so well on my own in my quiet environment. Add in too many people filled days at work and the mental fatigue rebounds so that on my days off it is almost impossible to shower, motivate enough to prepare even snack type food for my self. Grocery shop, plan meals, clean house and do laundry…the ability to keep pushing just isn’t there.
You just described my life SOOOO well that I actually feel understood for the first time. Thank you for articulating that. ❤
Thakn you for articulating that. Feels very accurate to me as well. Accurate enough, in fact, that I will very likely use it as a reference when i'm looking to express this to someone who is in a position to help, and wants, to, but doesn't understand why I need the help that I need.
I have been trying to google autistic regression and my symptoms, but I would only stumble upon pediatric studies. But that part where you were describing what regression felt like is EXACTLY what I am going through now.Thank you for posting those articles.
Yep that sounds like what I have to recover from after I quit a job. I've never been sacked I've just quit when I crash in a big way, didn't know I had autism then. It's normally taken me a few months to recover.
I married a covert narcissist. He was a pastor and I thought he was a really great guy. Within a year, he displayed enough traits that I recognized his parterns from books I read and asked outloud "Are you a narcissist?" He blurted out "You're so smart. How did you know?"
Reading about the personality disorder and LIVING with the disorder are very different things. I thought maybe I could help him understand how to overcome his tendencies like I have worked to overcome mine. But no. The abuses stacked up and the cptsd piled on me before I realized the damage. So even 2 years post breakup, I am STILL in burnout and regression. I have SLOWLY progressed in function, but ANY stress sends me right back to the starting line. 😢 Luckily I had house sale $ to live on. But the savings are almost gone and I need to get it together asap. I'm online scouting for helpful ideas, that is how I got here.
The sentence "when people are anxious, it becomes harder for them to concentrate on a task and efficiently process task-relevant information" just blew me away.
If you think about it, it's kinda obvious but I just realised why my whole brain just becomes completely useless when I'm in the lab at uni and we have time pressure and a rude supervisor. Like, I cannot remember a task for a single second and it is so frustrating.
I have to admit that I don't have an autistic spectrum disorder, and I don't wanna intrude here, but I noticed over the last couple of months that I can relate to a lot of things that autistic people deal with because of my severe social anxiety. Stimming helps me, when I do smalltalk I feel like I'm a robot reading from a script, I'm very sensitive to emotional and sensory overload, and other little things that I see talked about and I actually feel understood for once, and that's what communities are for, I guess. Most of my friends don't understand my level of irrational social anxiety and it's frustrating often times, especially if you get the absolute hell phrase "Why can't you just...". There is no "just" and "simply", but thanks for you concern. Not.
Then went somewhere else than what it started out as but uhm, yeah. I don't know if that counts but I realise that when I don't interact with people regularly, my anxiety gets so much worse the longer I don't.
Earlier in the year we had a D&D campaign going and I was finally getting comfortable to open my mouth in the session but then it got cancelled a few weeks in a row and when we had the next session I felt like I was back at square one, and I was not saying anything the whole session. I don't know if that relates in any way to the topic but I realised that my other paragraph definitely did not so I wanted to try to say something useful at least ^^"
My father has been a dungeon master with his friends via table top 70s ~ 80s D&D
Have you actually been checked for either ADHD or ASD? Because you sound a lot like what I went through in uni back in the 80's - yes I am that old! You could be Aspergers and honestly I wish I had been diagnosed 30 years ago because for years I felt like I was an alien, I just didn't fit in, I hated the social aspect of work. Give me a written list, not a verbal list. I have a semiphotographic memory - if I like the subject I soak up info like a sponge but if I am not interested, I cannot keep info in my head with a sledgehammer. One of my texts in uni was like printed Mogodon (a sleeping tablet), one paragraph my eyes droop, two paragraphs and I would be asleep and my face planted on the page. Me and biochemistry just don't get along!
@@skwervin1 I partly hoped and partly feared that someone would say that. I suspect that I have a form of ADHD and I've read a lot about it but I'm afraid of self-diagnosing and I'm also afraid to bring it up in therapy -and I'm basically just afraid of everything-
The ADHD is possible, I relate to a lot of things, but for the Asperger's I honestly don't think so. I might be higher on the spectrum between neurotypical and autistic but I don't think it's a diagnosable "severity".
I will keep it in mind for later but I'm right at the beginning of therapy and just gonna see how well I'm doing with treating the social anxiety and depression. I've already planned to bring up the ADHD at some point, I'll see if they even consider that (you know, growing-up-female-syndrom...)
Thanks for your comment, seriously ^^
Yeah me too! I can totally relate to that. When I'm stressed out because of work, I just lose words and my mind is unable to process the information correctly. Full blank. I just feel like an idiot and I think that of course, people think the same about me...
Yep. I went through a stuttering period. I have also lost alot of my ability to comprehend what i read or hear and i also now have trouble writing down or explaining verbally what i am thinking about. These abilities are a bit better sometimes. But overall they are very much deminished and i now dont put pressure on myself to function at the level that i used to. That lowers my anxiety and me punishing myself for being "stupid and lazy"
This is happening to me.
I’m 68 and just found out I’m autistic. Went thru an extended period of caring for my dear brother as he was dying. Very stressful to say the least. No other family members in the State. II haven’t been very functional since he passed. That explains a lot. It feels like it’s hard to get my brain to work. Still trying to learn about Autistic Adults and how to function more effectively. Thank you.
When it comes to losing skills, I’ve always been afraid of losing my ability to write, read, or do any other creative task. Those skills are my livelihood and if they go, what do I have left, especially if I can’t concentrate on anything else because that’s gone too?
I feel exactly the same!!! My creativity keeps me going, it's my life saver.
@Eggs in one basket That makes a lot of sense, actually. It all boils down to whether or not I can focus clearly. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't.
Paranoia immobilizes logic. Autistic regression is a scary term, but regression in adults is not like regression that takes place in some Autistic children. Where as some young children will suddenly stop talking and withdraw, I have never heard of an adult doing such. Mind you, I am not a Dr. or an expert, I do spend a large amount of my time reading research material and some case studies. Growing into adulthood you developed certain adaptations, skills, compensations and mental tools. Although some things initially require conscious effort, over time and practice, these things become a habit. Most often these are things that allow us to socially interact. In the current social isolation environment, you are more apt to loose your edge on social/interpersonal skills. Skill sets used to communicate are not exclusive to direct personal interaction and do not fall into the realm of things we suddenly loose unless something very dramatic happens.
Look at it this way.....You had school work (and home work), yet when you graduated and were not required to write term papers, you did not forget how to write. In fact you most likely learned how to more effectively communicate AFTER you left school. Worrying and paranoia can end up giving you "writers block", which then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. SO de-stress, stop worrying and let your creativity flourish.
@@davef2975 If that's the case, then my social skills haven't suffered much as a result of burnout/regression. And yes, de-stressing sounds good right about now. Maybe I'll watch some "Dark Side of the Ring" while I'm waiting for this wave of burnout/exhaustion to be over.
@Eggs in one basket What you present is a not too uncommon scenario for an adult progression into an ASD diagnosis. What I was addressing in the gentlemen's concern is a total loss of function. Very young Autistic children (diagnosed or pre-diagnosed) may start out verbal and be delayed in some other forms of development. It is unknown why, but some suddenly become totally nonverbal. They may or may not become verbal later. This is different than a shift in social interaction where verbal communication is intact, functional, but the behavior or social interactions are altered. As I stated, I have never heard of an Autistic adult suddenly become totally nonverbal and unable to communicate unless there was some other traumatic trigger. The suddenly nonverbal young child is just beginning to learn verbal communication. There appear to be not external triggers that causes a child to just stop speaking all together. Social factors (as in your past experiences) are not part of the equation for a young child.
I am happy that your path lead to a diagnosis. For many, it is a cheerful moment when so much of a difficult past has an explanation. Now that you understand yourself better, I hope you path into the future is brighter.
Speaking as a recent diagnosis that suspects they are in regression, I can't thank you enough for getting into this. Unfortunately, neurotypicals not only doubt our disability, but even when they acknowledge it, expect us to work around it without issue.
Thank you for such an insightful video! I think I've experienced multiple "burnout" phases in my life, and felt deep shame at my inability to explain not only what was happening to me, but why. I haven't been diagnosed with autism, but have suspected that I'm on the spectrum for a while now. It's reassuring to be able to put a name to some of these experiences. 🙂
Thanks for doing this topic. It's tempting to fear ourselves, to fear failure, when hearing about burnout, but how we treat ourselves when we're down might have a real impact on our recovery. Not just diet, sleep and exercise, but self-talk could make a huge difference. Keeping positive helps me a lot!
Thank you so much for this video! I have just started living on my own at 24, and after a month of job interviews, increasing bills and social activity I have experienced a loss of skill in decision making, speech, and being able to properly take care of my health. I have been diagnosed with ADHD, but hearing about Autistic Regression has me wondering if I'm undiagnosed Autistic. When I am in a busy state of life or stress I often go through sharp regressive states of self-isolation, struggling with eye contact, talking, high body tension/chronic pain and overstimulation in public spaces. all of this is weighing heavy as I try and start working again. I'm going to do my best to take care of myself and keep pursuing the help I'm needing. thanks again for offering so much info, the science behind it was really helpful!
Thanks for this. Pandora’s box. I am one of those people who had a “trauma” event with back/neck injury which instantly put my amygdala on hyper alert and I became “sensitive” to... well all things in the world. Which I was told was “all in my head”. Well, my head was hit multiple times with great force against a solid unforgiving surface damaging my spine with resulting sharp pains exploding my brain. Then I was “sensitive”. It kinda sucked.
My life dramatically changed physically and sensory wise, yet I was told it was psychological (the sensory intolerance was purely psychological). It gradually got worse and worse.
I recently came across some research... it can be searched out on UA-cam about T.I.L.T. Toxicant Induced Loss of Tolerance. Apparently the study shows women who experience this tend to have autistic children. I did. She felt like the symptoms of T.I.L.T. And Autism were very similar in presentation. I thought this as well before I found her study. It’s ALL about the amygdala and sensitization after a toxicant exposure or trauma. Some people call it Environmental Illness or MCS or Mast Cell Activation.
It just seemed after my accident I became Autistic as an adult. Then had children on the spectrum. Maybe I was just Autistic all along and the accident triggered a stress regression. Idk. But. It’s been a 20 year research journey. Let’s just say all the things I used to be able to do... I can’t seem to do. The executive skills just disappeared as my overactive amygdala took up all the real estate in my brain. Cheers
Thank you for posting this. Three years later and there's STILL hardly anything available on youtube about this topic. I found a grand total of three vids, one of which had a LOT of misinformation.
Thankyou for that video it tied together alot of reading I did while I was looking into my diagnosis. Hearing it again when I am in a much better state helped me reflect of some past experiences that can be explained better by applying this understanding. So thankyou for your efforts and in sharing your ponderings
Thank you for this video - this is exactly what I have been trying to understand. You summarized it perfectly out of every other resource I’ve been using
Great job. Info every one needs. Ty
This is a lot of information to process, but what I did catch made a lot of sense to me. I appreciate the scientific approach to this kind of subjects.
Such a needed video. It’s horrible to go through the regression.
Could you do a video on the short life expectancy of autistic people? I know that the topic seems depressing but I think it's something that's worth tackling cuz it's a pretty big problem for our community
It's been an idea floating around my head for a bit now. I'll officially add it to the ideas list :)
Thank you SO much! I've been worrying about this during the current crisis and was also frustrated by lack of research in this area. With some of my resources for survival removed, such as my volunteering (I am unemployed & this was my sense of worth) and especially the library, my sanctuary and vital source of research - videos provided by yourself and others proved to be such a good substitute that I started to leave comments - I started to feel less skilled. I became anxious about leaving the house independently for fear of the frightening, ever-changing, new "rules" of life. If I wasn't living with my supportive parents, I dread what might have happened to me. Now I'm slowly starting to recover and make little steps. "Burnout" didn't seem right to me either and the word "regression" did. I can confirm that my fears are definitely sourced in my childhood.
The past few months I've started watching some of your videos, and sharing them with my wife. I have ASD, and am 38. Just wanted to say, my wife and I love your content and hope you keep the videos coming!
Stephin(n)ie 😱 I love this!!
This is exactly where I’m at and REGRESSION is the perfect word in my opinion.
It’s actually this regressive episode that has brought my full attention to the ASD traits ** I never knew I had!**
Please keep up your fantastic work! You’re a huge help to me and my very new journey of acceptance 😘 xx
Very interesting and helpful, thank you 😊
I went to A&E last night because I can't speak and I was terrified, I thought I had a brain tumour. Thank you for putting my mind at ease!! I have found nothing else online. This is so well put together and researched thank you so so much
Thank you for this video. So much makes sense to me.
Really good information Steph
I like the medical back up too
and its were l am in my life at the moment
Excellent job. Thank you.
Oh My Gosh. Thank you. That explains a GREAT DEAL of what I'm experiencing. THANK YOU! Makes total sense now and gives me ideas of how to better handle life - with more focus on LESS STRESS!
Soo Interesting and Sooo Good! I’m currently unaware of who or what sources out there could be talking about this, regression with autism; in adults specifically. And clearly you did better than mine on this, but I have also felt the frustration of finding online resources with this condition, with children mostly, (along with other controversies) but I’ll stick to today’s topic. Which of course, was/Is Incredibly Helpful and Appreciated! Thank You for Covering This!! : )
Thank you so much! I am massively struggling with this right now
This makes so much sense. It’s helping me understand my son. You are great, thanks!
This affected my 7 year old profoundly since March when school closed. He had learned so many life skills by observing peers, speech and OT, routine etc. We’ve been obviously trying our best ever since but it’s been HARD. I know you’re talking about adults & I can only speak as a mom. I do have a 20 now 21 year old son who was in his last year of the school’s 18-21 program and again when school shut down and he lost time with peers, the time they spent in the community etc, affected him negatively as well.
Brilliant, TYSM!!! I'm going to share this with my therapist, social worker, and a well-meaning but younger "supportive" friend who I believe doesn't yet know what she doesn't know about autistic struggles.
Thank you. Great video!! I needed this one. They are all great though.
I'm almost seventy and have been experiencing this. It's scary as f. It's not the same as dementia. Smells again reduce me to tears: some voices hurt my ears. I am exhausted by interactions with others--even wonderful experiences with those I love.
Thank you very much I really enjoyed this video! Especially all the sciencey bits I didn't get lost at all! I have found that I have lost some of my ability to prepare meals and cook. I used to be a stellar chef and cook elaborate meals and I no longer can do that. And it fits perfectly with what you're saying about prolonged stress. I don't have an official diagnosis but at the end of this month I'll be starting the process of getting an official diagnosis. Your videos are very helpful and informative thank you so much!
I also totally get the loss of speech thing, it's a lot the not being able to get the words from your mind to your mouth.
I've also lost my ability to speak with Elegance, and to explain things with a collegiate style. My language now is much more low brow it's much simpler than it once was. And that's really disheartening because I used to be able to play the part but I don't have those kinds of interactions anymore so I've lost those skills. At least I still know how to ride a bike! I think..😜
Thank you for this information😎
I was diagnosed as a toddler and for most of my life, appearing normal wasn't even a remote possibility because my family and The Professionals (TM) were more concerned with getting me to not have meltdowns and teaching me basic stuff like how to nod my head for yes/shake my head for no. I had to build a lot of these human skills from the ground up and until a couple years ago, my autism was the first thing most people noticed about me. I think being so far removed from the expectation of masking was good for me, because it allowed me to focus on learning skills that actually helped me rather than on trying to be liked or appear normal.
I generally function pretty well these days, but sometimes I can temporarily struggle, usually for no more than a couple days at a time. I can speak most of the time, but when I'm incredibly stressed, I can temporarily lose the ability to speak. This can also happen with other skills like executive function, general social skills, etc. I think in some ways I'm at an advantage because I already have systems in place for what to do when I can't access some of my skills (for instance, I've memorized the steps for how to make the food that's in the kitchen go inside my body so I know what to do when I forget how to eat, and I keep food that's easy to eat on hand). Since I know what to do in the event of a crisis, I don't freak out when things are hard for me. But if someone is constantly stressed for a prolonged period of time and doesn't know what the hell is going on, and they don't have any system in place, I can see what would've been a rough couple of days turn into months of suffering--especially if they've built their whole life around being able to mask.
Another factor that I think plays into this is trauma. Right now, most autistic people have some form of trauma just from living in this society, especially if we've been put through certain types of therapy. At some point, if the trauma isn't being resolved, ESPECIALLY if you're not in a safe place yet or you're continuing to re-enact that abuse on yourself, you're probably going to shut down. This happens to allistic people too, but it's not as obvious with them because a lot of things come naturally to them that never came naturally to us.
The teachers in my daughter's last three schools have no idea what autism is. They think it's either retardation or a behavior problem. Most people don't know I'm dyslexic, but over the years, there have been people, especially teachers, who just didn't get it. I can't imagine what it's going to be like for my daughter. She has had many well-meaning teachers who have been patient and loving. That does help.
At home, she kind of gets what she wants. This does include a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That said, here is what I've found:
Glyphosate is a herbicide found in plant-based foods and some vaccines. The simplest approach is to cut back fruits and vegetables. This is actually much easier than it sounds. Fresh whole animal products are much higher in vitamins and bio-available minerals. You will need to address wheat, sugar, and sugar substitute addiction. But water, beef, butter, bacon, fish, shrimp, eggs, and salt are very tasty and filling. There are countless testimonials on the web.
There are other things that do work, but they can be a pain and are still controversial. Personally, I think zero-carb may cover all the bases with the least effort. It's actually easier than buying and preparing complicated meals and snacks six times a day.
PS, you were not born autistic. Autism always starts with a regression. When it is at a very young age, it is often not noticed.
This is a great video
Thank you
This is so helpful. I have really struggled to underage what has been happening to me, and agree that the research seems so limited!! My burnout has been the most severe it has ever been at 32. Making me hopeful I can get it back. Thank you!
I credited you in the autism community in in with inspiring me and sharing the cooks hard truths, making me aim towards becoming an advocate
I enjoy watching u for all of ur knowledge on autism.
Very interesting study.
That makes a lot of sense. I've been running into things more often and I can't seem to do even basic chores right now. To be fair though, I have ADHD, too, and have not been officially diagnosed with autism yet. I think the stress of meeting my dad and dealing with the reality that you can't make up for 34 years of time has been stressing me out a lot and I'm basically a full grown child right now. Hopefully, I can start to get myself on track again soon. I feel like I keep going through this kind of cycle of doing well, then falling off the wagon for months at a time.
I have been suffering from autistic burnout big time for most of this year. I tried to find more videos on autistic regression in adults and found very little! I agree that regression is not the same as burnout but agree that they have occurred together. The burnout and time off work is what led me to take a long break, and during that time I discovered I am autistic. It’s such a revelation! Hopefully I still have something left to enable me to rebuild the skills I have lost. It’s quite a battle though, as well as trying to keep my job and physical health, especially where so little expert professional help is around (if any).
I feel like I've been going through this for over a yr now due to a traumtic event that happend over a yr ago & really esculated the longer the ongoing trauma. Normally this would happen for like 2wks then things would level back out & id function a lil better til next trigger.
But this is the longest for me & im so severely exhausted & overwhelmed from this.
Thank you for this & our content. Ive been researching for awhile now on what im experiencing & the ppl around me think im joking that im undiagnosed autistic they think im just adhd/depressed when its all the above. My mom says she thinks im normal, but yet complains about how introverted & socially anxious i am etc. I have been sending her things to prove it more to her that I mask so thats why she finds me "normal" & ppl misunderstand autism. I only just realized a few months ago that i am absolutely on the spectrum.
There's also the classic, "but you're just like me", because sometimes our families are undiagnosed autistic too.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! 👍👍❤️❤️‼️
I feel ya on the scariness of regression. It has been the most disheartening aspect of my journey, esp when it seems to come out of nowhere, or at a time when I “should” be making progress instead, because of a lessening of stressors.
I LOVE the sciency aspects! I need them, due to half a century of nay-saying about my entire life experience…but also to satisfy the voracious curious-kitten in me. Thank you for this video, because they manifest really differently for me. Depression, sensory overstimulation, professional burnout, peopling/masking burnout, and this…regression thing. They’re all interconnected, but they are all really different animals for me. I also have 4 brain traumas (including significant prefrontal cortex damage) and a laundry list of cPTSD issues transforming my little lab-rat amygdala into one of those oversized Bugs Bunny potion-induced monsters. 🤪 So understanding that research is finally beginning to confirm and explain things I’ve talked about for decades…but that the scientific understanding just isn’t there YET helps me have more patience with all the clueless nay-sayers, esp in my medical, voc rehab, and mental health team who really do want to help. Thank you for sharing your experience, and I wish you many reversal spoons on any and all regression, current or future!
@Accra Terminal agency Oh nice!!
I can relate. I got so overloaded by my very public and loud surrounding, I literally lost motor skill fluidity and selective mutism kicked in. And i was pitching product (fumbling words) I shutdown in front of everyone like a machine that ran out of battery. I had to take a good week off and I'm still recovering. Getting a new job too
Yours was the first video I saw about autism when I started suspecting I was autistic while living an autistic burnout/regression. Funny that after one year and now having my diagnosis I am here watching this video!
ps: I am still living my burnout, and trying to cope with traumas from living without knowing I was autistic. I also wanted to thank you and others who post video explaining their experiences, because it was really helpful in order to ask for help and seek a diagnosis.
This video is pretty reassuring to me.
I feel better now that I have a better idea of what might be going on and have more of an idea of what I can do to get better.
I agree, this should be researched. I definitely 100% get word loss/stuttering at least a couple times a month. this has been for a couple years (given life stress has increased in that time and I usually have lots of work projects). It usually lasts a few days, but it's probably more often I think than that. I notice, however, that on a bad stuttery day, the next day I'll be waaayyy more prone to anxiety attacks-- so I'd be curious if you have that, too?? And starting last year I noticed days where my memory sucks, but other days I'm fine, and like you said, it is so freaky! I've been scared of having some degenerative neurological disorder. This explanation helps and further enforces that self-care is a must. About a year ago I started to notice just how much large groups of people stress me out, and now I'm learning to develop coping skills for that. On days when I feel more brain dead, I feel less coordinated, too, and it feels embarrassing. All this goes away when I am feeling calm (or on a teeny dose of xanax). It's so weird.
I like the new channel look! And wow what a topic. I hate always feeling like the world is against me but it really is sometimes. Children get help but when you're an adult you're expected to have it all together. Nope!
Thank you for saying that running into things or dropping things is part of autistic regression. I bump into things a lot lately, and I drop things quite often, my meds especially. My husband has to help me look for them on the floor and he is always making fun of me. I can’t even tell why the things keep dropping out of my hands and it scared me. It is such a relief to find out what the reason is.
Thank you 🙏
What you said really makes sense ❤
Hello! I really love this video and found it really helpful. Before I knew I was autistic and going through regression, I spent YEARS with a misdiagnosis of complex PTSD and chronic fatigue syndrome. Interestingly though (you were after science!!!) my understanding is that due to chronic stress, the human body will eventually reach allostatic load in which functioning is no longer possible. I read somewhere that in such a state, part of the frontal lobe will temporarily switch off essentially to converse energy (running on Windows DOS) until such a time the danger (life stress) has passed. I think polyvagal theory can be a helpful framework for understanding this too in terms of a kind of brain hibernation! I hope this helps a little and keep up the amazing work xxx
Yep, same I think, here. I think I had decent coping skills until a major health issue and then I just couldn’t cope anymore and was constantly melting down. This got me looking into autism for me wayyyy more. I super hope I can get that back! Scary to think I might be worse from now on. Especially since it’s a 3-5year wait for the ‘free’ assessment and over $2500 for the paid. I can’t afford either since I’m 40 years old now. I need to know what to do NOW.
Your description of what you experienced is pretty much identical to my past 16-17 years. With me, it just came on super slow at first. I wasn't diagnosed with ASD until 2019, so it was years of testing for everything from an endocrine disorder to brain cancer and coming up empty. Even now, I'm scheduled for an MRI today and an EEG next month because aphasia, loss of speech, increased stuttering, and memory disturbances have been becoming more and more frequent and longer-lasting over the past few months.
It's really worrisome because I make my living from writing, which is difficult to do when you keep losing access to big chunks or all of your vocabulary seemingly at random. Then considering just how long it has been going on without consistent improvement despite my best efforts, I'm finding it difficult to hope I will regain or significantly improve any of the skills I have lost.
Thanks for sharing. Now I know I'm not the only one who struggles with this.
This phenomenon exactly describes what my mom told me what happened with my younger brother when he was quite young. She said that he was doing great learning to talk and had more of what you could call "expected" motor function, but all of the sudden he started losing these abilities. Because of this, he has had to go through speech therapy for many, many years. I am very proud of the young guy he is now, he has had to work hard for the speech skills he has developed!
This kind of thing does scare me, though, since I'm kind of drifting into a stuttering phase currently and have had many other experiences with this in the past...
I’ve been going through this for the last eight months, I had Covid at the beginning of that time, and I thought it was neurological results from that on top of General life burnout. There are moments when my brain stops functioning to the point that I can’t remember what words even are and I’ve completely lost the skill of grocery shopping. I go to the store and, I don’t even know what the first step of the process is. I called it burn out and it was really scary losing these skills that I’d work so hard to acquire. I am autistic and everything you just said, makes So much sense. I’m going to send this video to my mom. It’s exactly what I’ve been trying to explain to her for a long time now.
I've been researching this because this is absolutely what lead to my mid-aged diagnosis. Everything you just listed began in summer of 2018, and I've slowly been gaining skills back, though there's part of my that wonders if I'll ever regain 100%. My "sensory overload" would have temporarily broken a normal person, so of course I went from a super efficient professional to a catatonic lump with little to no ability to understand time or space. Stressors: I have narcolepsy. I'm pretty responsive to the medication, so Narcolepsy + me = doable. I was pretty athletic in my 20's, but in my early 30s things started breaking down in ways they shouldn't, and since I didn't stop "looking athletic" (now that I know, the whole flat affect thing probably didn't help,) I kept getting the "you just don't look sick or sound in like you're in enough pain to be experiencing the things you're saying." All the while I was managing an event marketing team that ran full schedules every weekend and was responsible for bringing in 2.5M of revenue per year. However, you know how sometimes you only find out what's wrong with your car after it's finally stopped working? That was me in spring of 2016. I FINALLY was visibly ill and loosing certain functions. So I got an MRI on my neck to show that 2 discs had collapsed and C7-C5 had grown bone spurs that were compressing and bruising my spinal cord. I was told I was facing non-elective surgery that I had to schedule within the next two weeks to avoid paralysis. (Fun fact: If I received intervention about a year earlier, the spinal cord damage wouldn't have been permanent.) Anyhow, what do I do? I find a way to setup someone else to do payroll and find a way to start working from home after 2 weeks. Of course, I'm not healing on the normal trajectory, I try getting medical help but there's a problem when your PT (or you) have a misunderstanding about literal speech. So I'd be given and exercise and say "I can't do it." There was a lot of conversations and some understanding, but never the treatment I needed as "I can't do it" literally meant, "The part of my brain that talks to that small muscle group behind my shoulder have stopped talking to each other. It's not painful or hard, I just don't know how to make that muscle do anything." I am happy to report that a full 2 years after my surgery I was able to squeeze my shoulder blades together for the first time, so that was something. Anyhow, not quite a year after my surgery it turns out there was some unethical/embezzling behavior going on way above my pay grade, which was obviously hurting my numbers, (and my boss'.) It would have been awesome if she had just dealt with the issue, despite it being neither of our faults and also because I never actually needed her help once - even through the whole spinal fusion thing, but instead she decided to show her uppers she was "taking action" by writing up negative performance reports for her reports. I'm able to get the hell out of dodge as I find out I have friend with a startup that could use my skill set. He thought he had 2 years runway, I had to learn bookkeeping on the fly to find out we actually only had nine and already had taken on too many commitments to develop a revenue plan. (Still in chronic, no one knows what the hell to do to make it better, pain.) Dec of 2017, (about 6 months after leaving what I thought would remain my long term job,) I find an opportunity to co-found a startup with someone of the contacts I met in the meanwhile. I was excited because if we were all on the same page it would have been pretty straightforward and sustainable. HOWEVER, I was definitely at "exhausted panic decision making stage" and being the trusting, honest, person I am, didn't think after I helped structure and set up the business, the model would be tossed out the door and and I would go from partial owner and manager in something I helped create into a glorified scapegoat for everything the CEO thought would go well and didn't. After about 6 months of gaslighting, demotions, and several broken promises, (oh yeah, and the never ending chronic pain,) I just started drinking most days to control the panic attacks, didn't leave my room, and lost most sense of time or anything, really. So that disfunction lead to BIGGER demotion (we're now a little over 1 year from leaving the first job.) Eventually in December I rage quit, and started seeing a therapist. I got a diagnosis, found out my face and voice come off as completely neutral 90% of the time without me knowing it, (which helped explain a lot to my partner of 8 years, but also made her realize that the thing she thought was going to change WAS JUST ME and finally decided it was a good idea for us to break up after you know, 8 years of me having no clue why I couldn't make her happy.) So yeah, I could still engage in high level conversations, but mostly I stared at walls, lost days, forgot to eat or bathe, and of course TRIED TO GET A F*KING JOB because I had a mortgage and you don't get unemployment when you quit your own start up. I also had to keep hearing my ex and mother keep asking me why I wouldn't get a job for at least 6 months, as if I weren't trying. I would say I'm about 70% better now then when things got bad, but I'm not confident I'm getting it all back. My only saving grace is that I bought a cheap house in 2012 that by sheer dumb luck turned out to be in one of the fastest appreciating zip codes in the nation. I'd be totally screwed, but I took out a loan from my folks to remodel and sell so I could move out of town into a small house with a rental unit that would zero out my cost of living, (cause like I said, with my work history and size of disability payments, it would be two years of appeals to live in poverty...yay!!!) I was about a month and a half out from being ready to sell when....LOOK! IT'S A GLOBAL PANDEMIC! (So right now I'm not sure if my level of functioning is 100% due to the burnout/regression or just yellow wallpaper.) I will finally have this thing sold before August is out, so I guess I'll get to find out then. weeeeeee!!!!!......
My goodness!! You've certainly been through quite the whirlwind. I really hope things only go up from here
Yes yes thank you your thoughts seems very logical and helpful keep explaining to the world girl
Thanks!
Thank you very much for this video. Based on my personal experiences, this feels very probable.
I'm pretty sure 18 years ago I had a regression that resulted in permanent lost of skill, highly impacting executive function, emotion regulation, and short term memory. This is the point where my mental health challenges went from eh, i guess, to overwhelming.
And I know for a fact that I experienced one recently when there was an incident at work related to driving. Work and driving are the 2 things I trust myself with most in life. I can be completely incapable of anything else, and still go to work and still drive. So when I made a mistake that blindsided me, I almost went into a panic attack, and the only reason I didn't was because I was with a coworker and good friend that I trust, helping me not completely loose it. Since then, i've noticed difficulty in a couple specific skills that have to be highly refined to be functional. Sharpening small chainsaw chains and throwing the throwball.
I was extremely good at sharpening saw chains, even the small ones, to the point where when they were cutting like new, it was time to touch them up. They cut like butter almost anytime I sharpened it. Even the small ones, which are extremely tricky, would cut like butter, no slip on contact, just beautiful. After the incident I mention above, I found that my ability to sharpen had regressed to a point I could do alright with a medium to large tooth chain, but could no longer get the small chains to cut right, and wasn't as good with the large chains as I used to be. And its been extremely frustrating because as a tree climber, getting the small chains on the climbing saw cutting right or not has a massive impact on my day.
Hola!! Muchas gracias por el video, es una experiencia de miedo, porque no sabes que hacer, que camino tomar, las terapias no funcionan como debieran, es un camino muy sola.
Thank you for talking about this. Some of what you talk about in this video also sounds like it could relate to Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, which is thinking that people are rejecting you, even when they may not be (like the attentional and interpretation biases that you mentioned). It is most known to be associated with ADHD, but I have heard a lot of autistics talk about experiencing it too (and I know that I certainly do). From my experience and others I have heard from, it seems to be caused by the trauma from repeated rejections and often leads/contributes to autistic burnout/regression. I would love to see a video about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and autism.
Yes, it makes a lot of sense. I wasnt working for almost a year because of depression, anxiety, ect, and because I HATE my job but I had to work for 1 year. I went back to work a month ago, now another month to go and I F off. Anyway, since Ive started working again, god help me, Ive experienced SO MUCH problems with dropping things, hitting fournitures, and Ive always been clumsy, nothing new, but now it's like WAY more. And way TOO much, it makes me angry because I can't help myself. I feel like ive lost my ability to control my own moves sometimes. And lets not talk about my social skills. One day I was working with a new guy, he spoke with me all day long, at the end of the end I was almost crying, so tired I could lay on the ground and die and was at the edge of a meltdown. I felt like I had to think before every face expressions, every word. Ive experienced so much stress, anxiety and self harming this last 2 years that I feel like lve lost all my ability to socialise with people I don't know. Or even my ability to feel happy. Actually... I do believe Ive lost my ability to be.
I am currently 16. I only got diagnosed maybe 6/7 months ago when I was 15. It finally made everything click. I've always had some problems still now with autistic burnout and regression (for a certain time period).
This usually happens when there's too much stimuli around me. Similar to what you said, stuttering, hypersensitivity, for me it's curling up and being unable to hear/understand language around me. The first few times it scared me but I find that just retreating to my own little area and taking a good amount of time to calm.
This seems like a very interesting thing that I would love to see be explored more. I know now from my therapist that my parents being angered when I stim is not normal and is actively harmful to me. A lot of the stress they put on me contributed to my depression.
I found your channel when searching for burnout. Your videos are really good, my favorite on the topic so far. I hate the regression terminology, but I understand the idea behind it. I'm 30 and am suffering from burnout, and now looking back in my life I realize that I have suffered a series of burnouts, and they generally have gotten worse over time. I didn't know I had ASD until a couple of years ago when my ex (also on the spectrum) just sort of blurted it out one day. Anyway, I feel now like I'm better equipped than ever to build an environment around myself that minimizes burnout and helps with executive function except that I'm having a hard time getting out of the burnout. Also, as others have noted, it's sort of bizarre that the resources for adults with ASD are largely non-existent, while there are tons for children. Do these children just disappear at age 18? Or are they magically not on the spectrum anymore? It's absurd that ASD in adults is barely recognized as existing.
My brother who is not diagnosed with autism started having issues in high school. He was average teenager who after a break down now lives at a level of an adolescent. He was diagnosed and has other mental health disorders. I think the missing diagnosis of autism will never even be attempted. It was a mother of an autistic child that brought to my attention the possibility of autism. I was investigating my suspicion that I am on the spectrum at the time. I wish they would start offering brain scans for mental health/ neurological issues.
Hello Nice teaching
No formal diagnosis yet, but yes, I've been feeling overwhelmed and burned out, to the point where I feel like I can't deal anymore. My sensory sensitivities are wreaking havoc on me - setting me off, completely short fuse, I'm angry and feel like I'll never get a chance to rest and reset. Being potentially on the spectrum without anyone knowing, working a job, trying to function like the normies - it's very exhausting. I want to find the right support. I want a diagnosis. I want to be heard and believed. But it feels like it's a big ask. I want the people closest to me to understand that I'm not just 'too sensitive' or overreacting or just complaining a lot. I have valid feelings and issues.
The things you're talking about, stuttering and struggling to speak, losng skills, dropping things out of your hands - those exact same things happened to me, like, EXACTLY... and I never got an answer of why. I've also never been diagnosed with autism because I was homeschooled and it's hard to find someone willing to diagnose you as an adult especially when you've never been to public school or anything. I don't know if in autistic or not but I've been reading up on it for a few years and I relate to so much of it. But I wish there was a way to find out for sure. Sigh
Emotional stress can change brain function - im sooooo acutely aware of this. The past year ive been exploring it more within myself, playing a duel role as "scientist" and "test subject," and i firmly believe this route of research could be MASSIVELY important. Seeing how it affects just me is mind boggling. I can imagine it affects so many people similarly.
😌 thanks for this video content
Wow. I think your on point.. when I'm having a burnout...I also have CPTSD.. my brain feels frantic and emotional..I actually feels like all my energy is going in to servival mode and I can't take in any information given to me...I'll look blankly..I'll be waiting for the information to hit my brain and stick...but it doesn't and things in that moment wash over me..just no capacity because I'm in flight or fight..I'm aware of this and don't panic and know if I rest..my brain will go back to normal.. still not really good at remembering things.
I feel like my sensory prossesing, loud sounds and light, get worse when getting older, also executive disfunction is a daily battle
This was SO helpful! I'm another late diagnosed AFAB person who's high masking, and the fact that research on autistic adults is so sparse is just maddening. I mean, researchers are smart people who - by and large - want to help. They know that a shorter lifespan for autistic people doesn't mean that autistic kids disappear at the age of 18. So what the actual fuck? I know that research funding can be a beast, but come on, people.
So add in another heartfelt and humongous THANK YOU from me. This (and a lot of your content) really helps me feel less alone.
I lost most of my executive function and lost much of my personal care function about 6 years ago after losing my job, property, home, and the Observatory I was building. EF is gone and NOT coming back. So bad I am now unemployable. You're not the only one.
burning out brought me to getting diagnosed with adhd but the support from that doesn't even begin to cover what i'm experiencing ( + it feels like i'm just getting worse but i quit my job & graduated school) and learning about autism & autistic regression seems to really address what i've been dealing with my entire life and rn. the problem is, i have always wanted to foster kids and i hear it's incredibly hard to do so with an autism diagnosis. they are updating the dsm5 to cover more of the broad spectrum rather than the more white male experience of autism this month so i have been collecting info and want an assessment but not the official diagnosis, i just to know for myself. not sure if that's possible :-/ thank you so much for this video though, it was incredibly helpful to my collection of research
I’ve been in autistic burnout for almost 7 months. And I know what’s caused it. But due to my parents stealing me rights in court. I have no power to just fix them on my own. It’s getting really hard and I can’t even preform most of my daily living skills. And that bothers me to no end because I was teaching special ed and was a scoutmaster who worked with autistic scouts and trained other leaders how to work with them. I really need help at this point.
This was something I was not all familiar with. There are moments that I notice where my sweet fellow will have issues with sensory issues.
I think for us especially with autism we need at least 1 to 4 persons in our life that we can give positive interactions to and get positive interactions from. You know how with many people when they talk with each other you see interactions that are very enjoyed?
I think it probably would correlate with processes in neurotypical people as well. Its recognised that acute stress can cause post traumatic stress disorder (ptsd). Such as in returned soldiers. Which I think is the sensitisation of the fight flight survival response which I think is located in the amygdala. Its also becoming recognised that prolonged chronic stress in childhood or perhaps at any stage of life but particularly childhood, can cause complex ptsd (cptsd). This is when the adrenal cortisol fight flight (and also other stress/survival responses such as freeze & fawn, become too easily activated but it is often not clear what the reaction is directly linked to as the stress was prolonged over time and over a wide range or f circumstances. This can affect the later ability to function effectively, emotional stability, anxiety and generally would diminish the ability of a person to function at the level they would like and think they should be capable of. I imagine that autistic burnout would be similar to cptsd but at a more debilitating level due to the increased sensitivity to stress & environmental stimuli autistic people have. Perhaps it is a more extreme version of adrenal burnout or perhaps there are other areas that are also affected. There may be nutritional deficiencies that over time have resulted in depletion of calming neurotransmitters or perhaps also a lack of dopamine - which is the neurotransmitter implicated in adhd and also Parkinson’s Disease where its deficiency in the niagra striatum leads to cognitive and movement disorders. This would tie in with decreased motor ability. It would be interesting to find out if supplementing with nutritional supplements, particularly those in the vitamin B range or drugs used to treat adhd or Parkinson’s Disease that increase dopamine like leva dopa or antidepressants that increase serotonin may also help with people with autistic burnout.
Even as a high functioning autistic person. Working a full time career and trying to continue learning as well as being a parent. Ive lost all enthusiasm for anything else
Interesting theory. As a adult 55 yr old undiagnosed (hopefully soon) ASD, I am currently expecting a burn out which has lasted 6 months. During this time my flight fight freeze response and anxiety presents as nearly always active. Also my motor skills are impeded resulting in bumps, cuts, grazes and tripping over things. Stairs also scare me at the moment. Stimming has increased. It's frustrating also as my interpretation of what I say seems different to thought. And at times how I articulate. Like I am out of phase with everyone. The analytical and observation skills that seem to be one of the plus things I have also are not as good. Quite scary as I have had these experiences on and off since childhood in some manner. Thought I was mad. Luckily I found a therapist who is a Aspie and it was like speaking the same language. Hence going for diagnosis. Thanks for the video, I have really connected with it. Like you I want the evidence. But I realise that being a child of the 60s in the UK this would never have been known, or recognised where I lived. Branded as other things. Ever likely masking develops, not only to fit in but as survival.
Make sure you are doing whatever your self helps to unwind are. Mine are adult colouring books, playing World of Warcraft or Diablo 3 and I am trying to learn to paint - even though I completely suck at drawing and failed stick figures in primary school. I am 54 and wasn't diagnosed ASD until last year but have been suffering from chronic anxiety/depression for over 10 years, have had my rounds of suicidal thoughts prior to that when I was married to a narcissistic jerk who loved to abuse me in all ways possible, but I hid it from everyone - ASD masking at its best.
Find someone to talk to - another ASD person, facebook group. We see the world in a different way and I for one would NEVER want to klose that and be forced to live in the dull world of Neurotypicals.
@@skwervin1 very very relatable
While burnout is not what anyone wants to be dealing with, I hate the term because when I say Autistic burnout, everyone just thinks burnout. It's not distinct. "Why are you complaining so much? Anyone can go through this!" But to my mind, it's more nuanced. Sensory input can contribute to our burnout, sensory input that on a normal basis, neurotypicals don't even notice. I'm with you, I kinda prefer the more accurate description of regression. I have lost so many abilities over the last couple years while trying desperately to claw my way back to "sanity". Everything is overwhelming. Everything is utterly exhausting. Everything is too loud, bright, suffocating. Burnout is a term neurotypicals throw around, therefore it's lost it's power to convey the level of distress we are experiencing. Regression. That feels more accurate.