@dramypsyd@actuallyautistic I didn’t know there were different types of burnout, including the autistic variation. I didn’t know it was possible to be struggling with a few at the same time. In that situation, it’s taken a long time, EMDR and a reduction in responsibilities to gradually start recovery. - @innervisioner on social media.
@dramypsyd My support has been various online peer communities like #ActuallyAutistic and the skills I’ve developed over the years as a crisis counselor (BA), MSW studies, coaching certification, and spiritual practices.
I’ve stopped looking for a therapist for support after four years of calling and emails without a single reply. I know people are busy but it’s unprofessional at best and extremely unkind.
You can use my screen name for citation. @actuallyautistic
As a newly realised autistic, I look back & wonder why I’m still here. (I’m ok, just in wonder about how I managed then, although I nearly didn’t.) Coping with the trauma of loss & grief, of marriage breakdown, of poverty, the stress of single parenting while working & studying… all without knowing I was autistic.
Anti-depressants & therapy, some of which was itself exhausting & traumatising…
And now, decades worth of unmasking to do, of telling people who’ve known me for decades that they don’t know the real me…
Food packages helped, & an empathetic non-judgmental ear, & hugs from people I trusted, & counselling from therapists without issues & an agenda of their own.
How do some people get to be psychologists without sufficient assessment & supervision such that they are in a position to cause harm?
@dramypsyd@actuallyautistic Coming clean with the people I love. Letting them know that the things they do naturally aren’t easy for me and that sometimes their ideas of what I can manage are unrealistic. It surprised me how accepting my loved ones are. - Anna
@dramypsyd@actuallyautistic "First, in order to have mental health care with burnout, professionals need to see us as autistic first. Not attach misdiagnosis that fit their own narrative of how they wish to pathologize us. Secondly, care must go beyond the pop sci platitudes of "work-life balance" and yoga/mindfulness/mediation. (I'm a certified yoga/meditation instructor and while they help me, they are not cure-alls and mental health professionals need to stop treating them as such.)" - Kit
Add comment