Autistic Burnout 🧩🔥

Amazing

oh shit i saw this like ghostly blue glow so i followed it and its a firefly being ripped up by ants

This sounds like an amazing introduction to his autobiography

Just yesterday, already tired, I tried to go to sleep but I felt like I literally forgot how to fall asleep.

I slept like an hour even though I barely slept the night before??

Do I need to buy more plushies? Is there some kind of sleep chant I need to listen to?

Source ~ Neurodivergent Insights

ADHD and Autistic Sleep

Part One: Sleep Struggles

Neurodivergent Sleep 101

Both ADHD and autism are associated with several sleep issues, including:

Insomnia

Sleep Walking

Sleep Terrors

Sleep apnea

Sleep paralysis

Narcolepsy

Flattened melatonin curve

Circadian rhythm sleep disorders (CRSD)

Restless leg syndrome

Sleep Stats: Autism

Nearly 80% of Autistic children age 2 to 5 have sleep problems (Reynolds et al., 2019).

Autistic people tend to get less REM sleep. On average, we spend about 15% of our sleep in REM sleep (Allistics, on average, spend 25% in REM sleep). This means we need MORE sleep to get the same amount of REM as the average person (Buckley et al., 2010; Neumeyer et al., 2019).

Autistic people are more likely to experience insomnia, which includes everything from difficulty falling asleep to night waking and early morning rising (Furfaro, 2020).

Autistic people are more likely to have gene mutations that impact melatonin regulation & circadian rhythms (Furfaro, 2020).

Sleep Stats: ADHD

As many as 83% of ADHDers experience sleep disturbances, including nonspecific sleep disruptions, parasomnias, hypersomnia, and limb movement disorders (Sobanski, 2008).

Approximately 25-50% of ADHDers struggle with:

• Insomnia

• Circadian rhythm sleep disorders

• Narcolepsy

• Restless leg syndrome

• Sleep-disordered breathing

Nightmares and insomnia are also common among ADHD children. Up to 70% of ADHD children have sleep difficulties (Sciberras, 2020).

Causes of Neurodivergent Sleep Struggles

Common co-occurring conditions such as anxiety, depression, and gastrointestinal disorders can interfere with sleep.

Sensory sensitivities can interfere with sleep

Sensory sensitivity to light can cause a person to avoid light during the day, further disrupting their circadian rhythm.

It is more common to have breathing-related sleep disorders, which can impact the quality of sleep.

ADHDers and Autists are more likely to have gene mutations that impact melatonin regulation and circadian rhythms. (Van der Heijden et al., 2007; Yan et al., 2020).

Health Consequences

On average Neurodivergent people experience less REM sleep. REM sleep is valuable for several reasons:

• We consolidate learning and memory during REM Sleep

• It is vital for physical and mental health

• REM sleep is critical for detoxing the brain • Less REM sleep affects serotonin and dopamine, influencing mood and mental health

• Disruptions to REM sleep impact neurotransmitters, which have implications for mood, sleep cycles, and more.

When we are sleep deprived, we are more likely to

• Be in car accidents

• Experience heightened pain and sensory difficulties,

• Have difficulty regulating emotions

• Have less resilience to stress

• Struggle with executive functioning

Sleep Supports

Throughout this sleep series I will be introducing the six "Buckets of Sleep Support" I draw from to support neurodivergent sleep struggles.

Sleep Hygiene

Sensory Supports

Relaxation Strategies

Sleep Stimulus

Sleep Routine

CBT-I

Reblog to give the person you reblogged it from the energy to do one (1) chore or maybe many

U ever just feel like u can't fall asleep until some magical unknown requirement is fulfilled so u just end up doom scrolling for hours trying to figure out what it is?

WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE HORRIBLY:

1. You’ll never write anything if you don’t

Yes I can accept this

silly echoes of the eye theory

so the hearthians have rock/mineral names, nomai have plant names...

maybe to complete that, the owlks would have had animal names like canidae or ursidae

#important #online culture

This is so sad

thought they needed a little reminder that they still have far more to lose if they double down on this stupidity. spread the word, it seems they're... very forgetful about this.

This is the best post!

Depictions of autistic characters in media almost always fall into the "insanely rude but somehow tolerated" -type, or more rarely into the "innocently pure sweet cinnamon roll who's oblivious about everything uwu"-cathegory, but I think it would be great to have a character somewhere who is very clearly on the spectrum, and also this dude fucks. Like, a lot. You start out assuming that this guy's remarks about how much he regularly gets laid are some sort of a self-deprecating, sarcastic joke, but as the story goes on and you get to know the characters better, it becomes evident that not only are women drawn to him everywhere he goes, clearly the ladies also keep coming back for seconds.

And when someone wonders how in the fuck does he do that when he literally can't look people in the eyes he just goes "they are enthralled by my pure animal energy and unfathomble autism" and isn't joking. And when asked why nobody else has managed to replicate that he just goes "skill issue." And throws out the note that a woman just handed to him - with her number clearly written on it - right in front of her because talking to two people at once is overwhelming and he is not in the mood for that now.