I Love You Autistics Who Can't Control Their Volume . I Love You Autistics Who Struggled With/never Understood

list of cognitive distortions

Cognitive distortions are biased and negative thinking patterns not based on fact or reality. They impact how we see ourselves/others and are usually associated with depression, anxiety, or trauma. (Note: this list was given to me by my therapist and is not my original writing.)

All-or-nothing thinking — You see things in black-and-white categories. If your performance falls short of perfect, you see yourself as a total failure.

Overgeneralization — You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.

Mental filter — You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors the entire beaker of water.

Disqualifying the positive — You reject positive experiences by insisting they “don’t count” for some reason or other. In this way you can maintain a negative belief that is contradicted by your everyday experiences.

Jumping to conclusions — You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion. A) Mind reading: You arbitrarily conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you, and you don’t bother to check this out. B) Fortune telling: You anticipate that things will turn out badly, and you feel convinced that your prediction is an already-established fact.

Magnification (catastrophizing) or minimization — You exaggerate the importance of things (such as a goof-up or someone else’s achievement), or you inappropriately shrink things until they appear tiny (your own desirable qualities or other people’s imperfections). This is also called the “binocular trick.”

Emotional reasoning — You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are. “I feel it, therefore it must be true.”

Should statements — You try to motivate yourself with should and shouldn’t, as if you had to be whipped and punished before you could be expected to do anything. “Musts” and “oughts” are also offenders. The emotional consequences are guilt. When you direct “should” statements towards others, you feel anger, frustration, and resentment.

Labeling and mislabeling — This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. Instead of describing your error, you attach a negative label to yourself. “I’m a loser.” When someone else’s behavior rubs you the wrong way, you attach a negative label to them. Mislabeling involved describing an event with language that is emotionally loaded.

Personalization — You see yourself as the cause of some negative external event, which in fact you were not primarily responsible for.

Source ~ My Autistic Soul

Autistic Burnout : A Guide

What is Autisic Burnout?

When an autistic person is in burnout, it means that they are experiencing extreme mental, physical, and/or sensory exhaustion.

This exhaustion can stem from a variety of places, especially from masking, and can lead to an even larger variety of symptoms.

It can last a few hours or several years

It can be the result of a slow build-up or it can hit suddenly

The effects of burnout (especially loss of skills) are more likely to be permanent if the burnout has lasted several years

It is more common in adolescents and adults

It is different than neurotypical burnout and regular depression

It affects every area of your life

It requires more time to recover

What Causes Autistic Burnout?

Masking

Too high of expectations

Lack of support

High intensity interactions (concert, party)

Prolonged interaction (school, work)

Sensory overload

Suppressing autistic traits

Operating beyond capacity

Not being able to recover from or cope with stress at the beginning signs

Change

What are the Signs of Autistic Burnout?

Anxiety

Increased shutdowns or meltdowns

Depression

Suicidal ideation

Little to no motivation

Loss of interest

Loss of basic skills

Exhaustion

Increased executive dysfunction

Difficulties with memory, communicating or sleep

Easily triggered/overstimulated

Headaches/migraines

You may seem "more autistic"

Difficulties in making decisions

Low attention span

How to Prevent/Cope with Autistics Burnout

Accommodations (in work, school, and everyday life)

Say no

Find community (on social media or in person)

Take breaks (often)

Let autistic traits breathe

Get rid of expectations

Therapy (especially for prolonged burnout)

Leave, even if it seems rude

Engage in simple self-care

Learn to manage energy

Stim

Ask for help

Rest

Set boundaries

Put yourself first

Identify your triggers

Autistic burnout is largely fueled by having to navigate a world that was not made for us. And so, burnout is nearly inevitable for autistics.

Burnout is exhausting, overwhelming and scary. It is something a lot of is deal with on a daily basis without even realising what it is. It has become our normal way of existing.

Recovering from, preventing, and coping with burnout is not a quick and easy fix. It is a lifetime process of taking care of and being gentle with ourselves. Which is hard, my dudes, not gonna lie.

But we're some tough sons of bitches.

water_s h a p e s // rendered with eevee, Blender

I think people need to learn that managing tasks on our own is a task in itself

"Put it in a diary" thats a task

"Use this app!" thats a task

"Make a list" thats also a task

Its why we start great with it but then stop after a while

A. Presence of obsessions, compulsions, or both: Obsessions are defined by (1) and (2):

Recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and unwanted, and that in most individuals cause marked anxiety or distress.

The individual attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, urges, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action (i.e., by performing a compulsion). Compulsions are defined by (1) and (2):

Repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the individual feels driven to per- form in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.

The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing anxiety or dis- tress, or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neu- tralize or prevent, or are clearly excessive. Note: Young children may not be able to articulate the aims of these behaviors or mental acts.