Thank God for this video. I'm a late mother of older age with an autistic son that's currently 18 and graduated this year and he's getting ready to be 19 in June. He's had Dysthymia Depression since he was diagnosed with Autism at 7 years old. He is working at this time at Fastfood restaurant and still lives with me his Mom. He is struggling with repetitive work with food. He seems like he's getting ready for the burnout you are talking about. He is very exhausted mentally and physically right now. He also works hard. No one works as hard as him at his job. Preston is the type that doesn't like anyone to know he is autistic. He wants to completely deny it because he's afraid of what others will think of him. I want him to know it's nothing to be ashamed of but I don't know what or how to help him with not being ashamed of it. You are helping me understand my son more. His father is Moderate Autism and his Uncle's and Aunts on his Dad's side. Without mom helping I don't think he would have made it this far in his life. We are in Southwest Missouri. Very informative video and good to know that others have this as well as Preston. Thanks! 🙂
He has nothing to be ashamed of and honestly, people who are on the spectrum are the most intelligent, empathetic, genuine people I’ve ever known…I prefer to be around them instead of “normal” people who I tend to avoid at all cost really….idk many people in my area that are high functioning gifted people so it gets quite lonely at times….ive recently seen and read some studies that they’ve been doing with amino acid therapy to treat alcoholism and addiction as well as a lot of mental “disorders” and have found that there’s a huge possibility that all of these disorders may actually be symptoms of deficiency in amino acids and the body is trying to balance itself out by having cravings etc…so maybe ur son could benefit by taking amino acids etc…it’s helped me tremendously with severe depression and burn out all happening as I turned 45 and started going through biological changes as well as some dark knight of the soul work surfacing and I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to carry on….it just was a coincidence I started having issues with my dental health and started looking into supplement s simply because I remembered in A&P 2 in college, my instructor talking about how the body will starve the limbs and eye sight, hair teeth etc…the least necessary for survival in order to sustain the core functions to keep from dying….so when someone presents with these areas having issues then u know it’s a nutrient deficiency….so I started taking boron and vitamin k2-mk7 and immediately started having improvements in mood and energy then adding a B complex….its amazing the difference ….swanson supplements online has great prices and products and is who I use now….i hope things start looking up for u and ur son…
He has nothing to be ashamed of and honestly, people who are on the spectrum are the most intelligent, empathetic, genuine people I’ve ever known…I prefer to be around them instead of “normal” people who I tend to avoid at all cost really….idk many people in my area that are high functioning gifted people so it gets quite lonely at times….ive recently seen and read some studies that they’ve been doing with amino acid therapy to treat alcoholism and addiction as well as a lot of mental “disorders” and have found that there’s a huge possibility that all of these disorders may actually be symptoms of deficiency in amino acids and the body is trying to balance itself out by having cravings etc…so maybe ur son could benefit by taking amino acids etc…it’s helped me tremendously with severe depression and burn out all happening as I turned 45 and started going through biological changes as well as some dark knight of the soul work surfacing and I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to carry on….it just was a coincidence I started having issues with my dental health and started looking into supplement s simply because I remembered in A&P 2 in college, my instructor talking about how the body will starve the limbs and eye sight, hair teeth etc…the least necessary for survival in order to sustain the core functions to keep from dying….so when someone presents with these areas having issues then u know it’s a nutrient deficiency….so I started taking boron and vitamin k2-mk7 and immediately started having improvements in mood and energy then adding a B complex….its amazing the difference ….swanson supplements online has great prices and products and is who I use now….i hope things start looking up for u and ur son…
My name is Vincent. I am 62yrs old, college educated, combat veteran, ex cop and I am doing ok. I have depression, dythymia and ptsd. Tell your son he's doing great.And like you said , nothing to be embarrassed about.I have 1 good friend who's been apart of my life for 28 years.Your son will find his true life long friend.All my best.
@tammy5338 I'm the same and it's not about being ashamed, it's about the fact a lot of people will use anything they see as weakness against you, sadly. I find if people know about my medical conditions they want to talk about it, even if it's from a perspective of care, wanting to understand etc. I don't want to waste my energies discussing it with people who realistically can't change it or help in any way. So I keep it private
Shout out to Jason's Lip Swiffer. 😄 🙋♀Guilty for commenting b/c my autism appreciates your autism and my burn-out understands your burn-out. Precisely why we need an Emotional Support Moose. Thanks, Mack, for giving us one of these 👍, and one of these ❤
Mack, I’m sure I’m not the only one who really appreciates your doing this live when you are not feeling well. You’re quite a guy! Also, shout-out to Jason for being such an engaged and helpful wingman. I know it must not be easy to see someone you care about suffer.
I stay up late as some sort of "revenge time" where I'm "taking back my time" that I spent at work all day and doing errands and tasks. I know it doesn't help at all with my fatigue but in my dumb human brain I'm some how "winning" when actually I'm just loosing hours that I should be sleeping 🙃.
I think one answer is waking up early for yourself. I suggest to everyone, MMC especially, to spend 10 minutes or more every day with your feet in contact with the ground or a porch or sidewalk that is in contact. It's called grounding and the Earth takes away any extra electricity you're carrying in your body. Since we started wearing shoes with synthetic soles we've been literally insulated from the Earth, and people are sicker than they were. They've done studies and have seen a reduction in ailments and negative conditions in people when they ground regularly. My blood pressure was always at the high end of normal, but since I started grounding every day, it has lowered and that's the only change I made. My diet and lifestyle stayed the same. I feel more centered and calm when I do this. It's how I start my day with my coffee. I hope you try it and please reply here to update any results. And MMC, it looks like you could use an assistant to handle the emails. You could put in an auto response email that tells people if they're asking for help, email again with their location, situation, etc., and to put REQUEST or some other word as the subject. That way you can search for that word and read the list of them all at once. I hope this helps you spin kick those emails! They called me "Email-kickin' Trixie" back in Joshua Tree. (Actually lived there in the house my grandfather left us.) And any way you talk is fine with me. I look at YT lives as real life, so pauses and quiet aren't a problem. Love you! Take care. 🌴💜😎 Lorraine
Hi Mack, Have you noticed that every time you hit a personal challenge, and share what you learn from it that you’re able to help so many people? We all have a purpose in life…and yours seems to be to shine a light on things most people tend to blame themselves for. You offer knowledge, practical solutions, and most of all your humor and perspective help to remove stigma. You’re clearly doing God’s work. Please take care of yourself. You are loved by many.
My therapist (who is also autistic) advised me that burnout has more in common with a head injury, treatment-wise, than depression. Fern Brady mentioned going to an occupational therapist to get a "sensory diet" so she doesn't overstimulate herself and burn out.
So, im an autistic person who has ADHD. Drs don't recognize the autism, because its nearly impossible to get them to see it in women. For women we get diagnosed as Borderline Personality Disorder, and we are generally dismissed as hypochondriac if we have the autistic burnout and they call it depression, and then depression meds don't work. Its rough.
I’m a therapist and worked at a mental health residential center and the amount of people I saw and was like nah they just autistic and don’t know it is staggering. So many women with BPD and I’m like umm looks like autism and trauma to me.
I have heard a lot of women being under diagnosed for autism and i know its a thing. But where i live, if someone suspects it and seeks diagnosis it is easier to find. I suspect there are regional differences in how difficult it is tl get properly diagnosed
I wasn't diagnosed with autism until I was 44 years old. I'm 53 now. My approach to things has changed since my diagnosis. I have a clearer idea now how to handle things. In my case, different forms of stimulus affect me differently. Some more so than others. For instance, if I'm in a very casual social situation, it's less of a drain on me than a more formal setting. So, let's say I'm at a party having small talk with people. That requires far less skill than a job interview. So, it drains me far less. The more crowded a place is, the more it affects me. But noise level can be a bigger factor. So, a church with 100 people in it might be less of an issue than a room with three screaming kids. The way I handle it is that I spend most of my time by myself and spend a more limited amount of time socializing with others. I also don't "mask" as much as I used to. I make a reasonable effort to learn social norms and to avoid offending others. But the key word here is, "reasonable". Beyond that, I don't worry about it. If someone has too big of stick up their butt to cut me some slack, I just find someone else to interact with. Part of that, though, is that I'm open about being autistic, and I don't pretend to be a neurotypical or try to pass as one. I came to the realization that I was a lot better at being an autistic person than a neurotypical. So, I should go with my strengths. So, my goal is to be the best autistic person I can be rather than a poor imitation of a neurotypical. As for the sleep, make certain that isn't just autism. Get checked for sleep apnea as well. I found out that I stopped breathing 131 times an hour. It was life threatening. Now I'm using an APAP machine and that number dropped to below 5. Which is like someone who doesn't have sleep apnea.
My 28 year old son still lives with us. He has Autism and ADHD, and recently more mental health challenges. He can’t work regularly or keep a job. He has many friends online, but rarely leaves the house. Video games help and he is a good teacher and artist. He followed you when you made videos about zoo tycoon and such, and we both love your humor. I think it’s fate I found your channel. Love your content and your messages about Autism and neurodivergence. Thanks!
Wow, so real. I love this channel so much more now. You're literally turning your own autism into helping others with autistic burnout, for free, and extracting ad money from YT. I'm in awe. I wish you the best with your own struggles.
This literally explains why I resigned after 26 years in education. Mack- I sadly get this video from a place of knowing. I haven’t been able to work for ten months and I worked for probably 60-70 hours a week+ for the past twenty of those years. I supervised 1400 middle school students and over 120 adults. The stimulus was constant. I fought the burnout with meds for depression which never helped because I could force myself out of bed and to work and I never felt better. Thanks for speaking on this. It is hard for most to understand. Wishing you all the best- I am still recovering and still selectively isolating very regularly. I feel sad about losing a career I loved and worked so hard in but my husband said it was better than losing me! The journey is ongoing- just be kind to yourself as much as possible!
Similar situation with myself. 49 woman adhd. I've had a breakdown about 7 weeks ago after some really crappy things at work happening to me. I was diagnosed with adhd around 3 years ago. Burnout is real and debilitating. I've had to quit my career in education. I really don't know what to do next ..
@@voodle48 I am so sorry to hear this. Education is a very stressful career that people don’t really understand. It takes a lot from you physically and mentally and does not give a lot back-especially financially. I haven’t worked in ten months. I cashed out my retirement (which wasn’t much) just to get to this point. None of those decisions were best, long term, but necessary to reset myself so I can figure it all out. Point being, be kind to yourself. Education is challenging on its best day. Take time to heal as much as you can. It takes time and in my case a lot of time. Sending you a virtual hug! You are not alone in this difficult journey!
@@CallestrasCorner and @voodle48, I became a public school educator at 50, and listening to Mac/reading about the symptoms of autistic burnout describe my last five years. I was previously self-employed, and a much more regulated person.
I don't know if you will see this ... You have made me cry because I now understand what has been happening to me for 60 yrs. I was diagnosed autistic 15 yrs ago. Being a woman, Dr's never listen, they just want to give me medication. Everything I experience is what your saying. Thank you
Wow! I listened on replay. I have been a nurse for 4 decades and if I learned anything it is no matter how good the treatment is, if it is the wrong diagnosis it is worthless. It sounds logical but it happens more often than you might think! Your story is a perfect example. SOOOO thankful you found out what was going on and for those going through this, thank you for sharing. 🙏
I big-time relate to staying up too late just to bask in the quiet. I'm lucky to get 5 hours of sleep on weeknights because of my need to decompress after everyone else goes to bed. Autistic burnout is brutal. I'm glad you're doing a video on it, and I hope you're feeling better soon.
Mac; Thank you for shedding light on mental illness and being open, honest and informative about your life and experiences. As a newly retired ER and behavioral health RN I can tell you it is refreshing to see. Thanks again and rest assured appreciated.❤
Hello, my husband and both of my kids are autistic and I have ADHD and this is blowing my *ucking mind. Everything you're saying explains my husbands life with working hard and then setting his f#cking life in A blaze of sh*t fire. And it's always drove me crazy cause I couldn't wrap my head around why he would do that and screw up everything we had going. Oh man I'm pissed at the world right now cause he's been floatin around seeing all these doctors and nothing would ever help and I'm finding out about this on youtube and he's still not getting the help he needs. And my kids are having a very hard time with their mental health and now I'm seeing that it is probably burnout and now I'm super excited cause now I have an answer to help them cause nothing we're doing now is helping them. I really appreciate doing this live, thank you soooo %uckimg much!
Autistic Burnout is why I got my official autism diagnosis. My old psychiatrist quit his job in the centre im am treated for my ADHD, I got a new one assigned. She listened to my symptoms and asked if I ever consideres being autistic, which I had since my ADHD diagnosis. The old psychiatrist did not want to test for it because there is no medication for it, its wild. I am now in autistic burnout for over 2 years, sometimes it gets a bit better and some energy comes back and now I can finally get the help I needed with my official diagnosis. Hope you get better soon.
For the guy having a hard time showering: as a child, I grew up without running water sometimes, and I had some depression. I couldn't take a shower (even when I had water), but I could go out with my friends to the local public pool. You have to rinse off to get into the pool. The pool has chlorine in it, so it'll really help with smells. You don't have to swim. You can just lay on your back with your ears in the water so you don't have to hear anything and just be. Obviously, you should force yourself to shower at some point, but if you simply can't. Maybe some family and friends can drag you out to the pool to float and simply exist in a wag that'll make you smell better and feel cleaner afterward. I hope this helped, and I don't get bullied by the clean freaks.
Thanx for sharing. I have trouble mustering the energy to shower, but I love the pool. Will try this out; maybe even bring a soap bar to the rinsing station
I will add, if you take a little sample size shampoo, conditioner and body wash set with you, it can be novelty to get to use them. And become a "the rule is" that we self inflict. I take better care of my hygiene at the pool. I use a family or disability shower room, so only me there. And I take a bag with everything. I bring 2 towels, toothbrush and paste, hair brush and hair ties, fresh undies pants and shirt and bra, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, and leave in conditioner. And I just do all the steps while there. Nobody will say a word, because its perfectly acceptable. Another place to try this is getting a gym membership through your insurance plan, and use their sauna, and then shower with all the steps.
Thank you so much for talking about this. My 13-year old son is autistic. It’s good to hear experiences from adults. I do hope you feel much better as soon as possible.
I think of you and your beautiful family every time I'm wearing my "oh look more dishes" and "oh look more laundry" tee-shirts. You give me the grit to keep taking care of the laundry and the dishes ♥
You are the first person I've seen who can articulate authentically about depression. You have helped me. You UNDERSTAND, because you're there, in it, trying to function. I appreciate you. I'm watching this on rerun. Thank you always. P. S. Jason is a sweetheart.❤❤❤❤
I'm 59 yrs old and your videos over the last couple of years helped me finally figure out that I'm autistic. I laughed when I finally realized it because it explains everything weird in my life. Thank you!
Thank you for discussing autistic burnout. I am a 31-year-old woman who recently realised I'm on the spectrum (undiagnosed, but I'm very certain after reasearching autism extensively for over a year). I had to cry a bit listening to you while telling us how you're doing. I really empathise with you, and I feel like I couldn't have said any of this better myself. Traditional talk therapy never really helped my 'depression' much. What has actually helped is when other autistics talk about the experiences they have and starting to do what they do, so I really appreciate you being open about it. Sending good thoughts to everyone in this community. :-)
I have heard that, for autistics, a therapist who is more like a life coach , who "walks one through problem solving" and who understands autistic minds, can be more effective than traditional talk therapy. / For me personally, I also find creative writing more effective than typical style yakking.
After being someone who chased caffeine and not sleeping due to finding a normal environment overstimulating, I think I understand your your need to drink and vape to medicate. My Dr finally tried me on ADHD medication last year. The calm in my head that followed was life changing. I am almost 60 and have been treated for decades for depression, ptsd, eating disorder and burning myself out by overworking etc Since this medication I can now manage my binge eating, my house is largely decluttered and I just started a part time business at home. With a lot of work and a rare good Dr, I am unlearning my past coping behaviours (one being giving up caffeine) but my brain is at peace for the first time in my life. It is short term medication ie 4hrs duration but it resets my brain every morning. Exhausting decades chewing on my brain, losing jobs, friends and relationships. Mack (and recently Jason), you have been a big part of that journey out of a terrible place. If I can get to this place, anyone can. Thank you for giving me the courage and a community to connect with every week.
@laureygreider7617 Hi. I don't think TH-cam will allow me to say but the Dr is the best person to talk to - there are a few free adhd sites that have an assessment on the Web and give you an idea if it is an issue. It presents quite differently for middle aged women. I was really surprised I scored high. Just don't tell the Dr you have googled an assessment. They go nuts.
@@laureygreider7617 my son (age 7) is on Medikinet XL (UK brand) AKA Ritalin (USA). I think it's also called Concerta in Europe? ... And the difference in him is INCREDIBLE! He can finally read and write like his peers and cross a road safely 💗 It has given him so much confidence and control! (He was previously the utter "Taz" stereotype of ADHD). TLDR: The actual drug name is *Methylphenidate* ... And obviously different people have varying results with different meds, but I'm wishing you all the best!
What I appreciate about you is that you are not bitter because of your health issues. Most people play the victim. You play the hand you were dealt and keep a great attitude. There is always something to be grateful for.
Mack, I can't express how much you have helped me with cleaning and with understanding and accepting my neurodiversity. I hope your burnout resolves quickly for you.
I know this live was difficult for you, but so glad you are addressing autistic burnout. I am learning about it myself right now as I have a family member that is going through it as well (teenager). Just learning about it now and it is frustrating how little people discuss it from a realistic and everyday experience. So glad you have family support. You have the support of your subscribers.
I went to my naturalpath after a medical dr reccomend I take good B multiple vitamin. The NP gave me 1/2 of a B12 shot and my suicidal thoughts left. I had a fresh start. Getting vitamins via a IV can be life changing for exhaustion.
My 17 year old ADHD autistic son just completed a whole year of High School on Citicoline with CDP Choline + Tyrosine. 1st time he hasn't had ADHD meds in his system since 4th grade. It worked great for him.
Mack, I am in burnout too. Its hell. We are the same age and I am also late diagnosed. When I learned about autistic burnout it explained a LOT. I remember you mentioned once how you get sick every 3-4 months. That can also be a symptom of burnout. My immune system has been garbage since the burnout started about a year ago. I am just now able to fend off viruses and maintain health for longer than a month. Ive been on antibiotics more in this last year than I have been in my whole life combined. I also notice I am clumsier and hurt myself a LOT more when I am in burnout. Wishing you the best, Mack. Things WILL get better, they always do.
I had no idea such a thing existed, thank you for the education. Take your time, take care of yourself and we'll be here when you recover. Much love. 🧡
My son will be 40 - he was diagnosed at 3-4- they said I should institutionalize him - he works full time and owns his own home - he gave me a beautiful grandson and he suffers these things - so thank you
Thank you both for all you do!I I will Be 67 tomorrow and I'm still trying to figure me out . I was diagnosed with depression but I feel like there is more .I have hard time focusing, when I'm doing something my mind is always going to the next thing to do.Cooking is actually something I can focus on .My house is clean,I do the laundry. I worked different jobs for almost 50 years,before I retired. For the most part I function but I've always felt like my brain is different. Thanks for listening to my rant! 🎉
Autistic burnout sucks!! I’m in one for the past 5 years. Gotten chronically ill too. But I very much love watching your videos! They give me a sense of comfort. Keep up the good work, you guys are amazing.
Yep. I was stuck in bur out for a good 5 years, myself. Finally coming out of it, though I am well aware that the way my life is set up has allowed me to listen to my body as much as I was able to in order to recover. I'm on SSI and don't work, so I slept when I was tired, isolated when I didn't want to socialize, cleaned when I wanted to clean, etc. I'm finally back to a place where I'm working on doing things because they need to be done and not only when I have the energy for it (my energy reserves are back!!). Be gentle with yourself and listen to your brain and body as much as you can. Recovery takes awhile, but omg, it's so worth it. 💙💙💙💙
Man this would not let me do a super chat. MACK!!!! I’m so happy you considered burnout vs depression. My wife and I talked about it the entire last episode considering your description of your experience. Take care of yourself!!
New subscriber and fellow autistic here - in case nobody else has mentioned yet, recovering from burnout *can* take months but that's mostly only in fairly extreme cases; if you catch it decently early and really rest like you need to it can clear up in just a couple days. It does mean really resting, though - if you feel like sleeping for 18 or 20 hours and not doing anything but playing video games, I'd say do it, at least once to see if it works for you; it's much better to completely lose a couple days to recovery than to function at half capability for weeks because you're still pushing yourself. The other thing, and I don't know if you have this problem but some of us do (even if we don't usually have problems with it), is to make sure you're getting enough to eat while you're recovering; it's kind of like recovering from a physical injury that way. OTC pain meds can also help, they take the edge off the overload and can break an overload-related spiral; just be careful not to mess up your liver or whatever.
I have two ideas for you on the request for help thing. 1. On email you could put a auto reply to all messages with a message of what you need in order to be able to help. Like in the auto reply say you have you be within this are in order for me to help or something like that and that they have to reply with their information for you to read the message. The rest you ignore. 2. Perhaps you could create an online form which people have to fill in if they want to ask you for help. In this form you could force feilds like geographic locations and other information you need to even concider being able to help out. This form can then we sent to only you email for example and when you spread the message you can also spread that you will not read or comment on any request messages unless it's form this form. I understand ignoring requests is hard on a caring heart but as you grow this will just grow. You have to find ways to put boundaries in place. I really hope you find a way to handle these requests that will lessen the impact on you. What you offer is a blessing to those that recieve it.
I have complex PTSD from childhood abuse and trauma, which includes depression, anxiety, OCD, occasional social anxiety, etc etc. I push myself to do stuff even when in a dark place as l am so scared of becoming a hoarder, especially as I am a crafter. I have been in and out of therapy since my 30s and i am now in my 60s. At the moment i am boxing up and selling a ton of my craft supplies as my craft room is getting cluttered and that's doing my head in. I honestly wonder if i am autistic but at 64 l can't be bothered to get assessed because i will never change either way ha ha. I love to clean and seeing how you do too makes me realise I am not at all weird. Hope you soon sleep better and feel better too. Greetings from Alison across the pond in Northern Ireland. (We don't have moose in Ireland either ha ha)
If you don't want to get diagnosed, you can still look into accommodations for autistic people, and try implementing them where you can. If they help then it tells you it's likely. You still wouldn't have to get diagnosed, but continuing to accommodate yourself would be an important thing to continue if it helps, even without diagnosis.
It’s so not fair that we have to do the work and pick up the pieces of our shattered souls for years after the abuser(s) have done their damage. I have been in and out of therapy for years as well . I tend to avoid my feelings once I recover from a depressive episode and try to go about life until a stressful life event triggers me. About 20 years ago I started to collect things. The more things I had around me that I liked, the more it felt like a protective warm fuzzy blanket. I couldn’t see my walls. It felt like my Happy Place. Then something happened, like a light switch turning on. I suddenly felt anxiety like things were closing in on me. I started to go the opposite direction and began to purge most of my “collectables”. I wonder if I’m autistic, but like you, I’m not taking the journey to find out at 58 years old. I will educate myself and continue to tune into MMC! Thank you for sharing your story and I’m sending you positive vibes and energy. 🤗🥰❤️
Thank you. I think what you're doing with this channel is so meaningful. It really gives me hope. Everything you've talked about in regards to mental health and empathy has resonated with me. It's very inspiring.
Hi Jason! I’m glad you finally get to talk. Dad needs to let you talk/narrate more! Congratulations on the baby. I can’t wait to see you before/after pictures.
As I recall, he has said that was the closest he came to reporting the homeowners to the authorities, as they regularly watched their young grandkids there. He made clear to the homeowner’s adult child that that could not happen again, and he *would* report them if he discovered it did.
I appreciate all of your information on Autism. I work with Autistic children. Our school district has NO autism support. I try learning on the internet or anything that will help me help them. You are very important ry informative. God Bless you and yours!!
Bless you Mack, you are such a beautiful caring soul. I know you will get through this. Much love to you, Jason and the rest of your family. Debra from Melbourne Australia xxx
What you are doing is unbelievable. Dealing with the people would be the worst for me. I love your attitude, your honesty, I admire your patience and tolerance. The one thought which comes to my mind is don't be so hard on yourself. You need a break, thats fine. We will still be here, the mess will still be there, take the break.
Mack, I’m sitting here thinking about the time Emily had her surgery & you kept yourself SO occupied during that time, perhaps to help deal with stress. So now y’all are moving past that & the exhaustion hits. Just a thought that there is possibly a connection. I have ADHD & that’s kind of what I do.
You know your own body and reactions best, but autistic and ADHDers often have different reactions to stimulants like caffeine than people without ADHD or autism. I (an AuDHDer) experience this with coffee. If I have a little bit of coffee I wake up more, but if I have a big coffee I will take a coffee nap 😂 I absolutely love the mornings before everyone else wakes up. I have little kids and I almost never catch a break to recoup during burnout. I always feel like I'm about to catch a flu with the back aches. I always have to do things with no days off which keeps me in a burnout limbo- doing enough so that the kids are cared for and some basic household chores, but never able to raise above just that basic level of function. I've been there for years. I'm late diagnosed, in my early 30s.
🙏. Sorry for your troubles. I want to say, you have helped me get started cleaning my house. I wasn't doing it because it was overwhelming. W hen you showed me how to just clean one area, it started doing that and my house is getting much cleaner. Not as much as I want but, less dirty.
I’m glad you brought this up. I have a son who is autistic and he has never seemed depressed or tired. I will be talking to him about it for sure. Please take care of yourself. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I do hope it passes and you can get your life back soon.
I appreciate the candid conversations on all this. I’m also autistic and have been in burnout for a good couple of years now as a consequence of getting adhd diagnosis in 2021 and then autism last year. I had no idea before so both completely knocked my self image off the shelf. Getting help and accepting disability is really difficult. About a month ago I got a 3yo rescue dog and what felt the most insane about it (being a person who never thought I’d want a dog) was the fact that I would be going outside every single day and multiple times! But it has helped. My interests, low stimulus threshold and tendency to socially isolate means I don’t go outside if I don’t have to and that sedentary lifestyle isn’t good for anyone.. Being more active even if it’s just a couple walks a day makes doing tasks at home and my sleep better too. My dog is a good limitless point of focus too, my mind is always running but now there’s always something positive to think about.
As much as I get out of your cleaning videos (which is a lot), I get so much more from this!! Thank you for modeling self-care and staying teachable! It's such a privilege to learn how to flourish with autism along with you.
I have been having trouble getting diagnosed. I have what you have in spades. I have taken online autism tests and have been found to be moderately autistic; however I had asked a psychiatrist who is roughly 80 to test me for autism. He said I am not autistic. I asked why he said that, I've had no test with you. (by the way I am 61 and have been having the same symptoms you mention since I was 13). He said you can't be autistic, you're a girl. I changed programs recently and the doctor there was a young psychiatrist who also told me the same thing, you're a girl so you cannot have autism. True for the diagnosis of schizophrenia as well. Women can have adhd, but not schizophrenia or even autism by psychiatrists living in 1800's. My son was diagnosed at around 10 years old with autism and younger for adhd. I have yet to understand how women are diagnosed in the year 2024 with the attitude of these 2 male psychiatrists. No wonder we have a large swath of our citizens who suffer for years and years with autism. 🤷
Ow geez! I am a woman, I have ADD and autism, properly diagnosed. As a woman you can definitely have autism, it can even be worse because the expectations and the masking. F*ck those doctors who say you can't, they are incompetent...
Oh, Mack I’m sorry you’re struggling. Thank you for your candour and explanation of autistic burnout. My own daughter is going through something similar and I need all the information I can gather. Her autism seems worse with age or maybe she’s not masking as much now, but communication with her needs such delicate precision. Yours are wise words. Thank you.
@user-bj3nk4rn6y it gets worse with age because when you're a teenager and early 20s it's relatively normal to be unconfident, socially anxious and kinda awkward in situations. The problem is autistic people don't grow out of it. So the level of masking needed to fit in becomes greater and greater, which is more and more tiring, and sometimes (always, for some people) it's impossible to achieve the level of masking needed to fit in, meaning you get sort of left behind in life both socially and in terms of career (or even ability to hold a job at all).
I love the father son relationship you and Jason have. An amazing family. Thank you so much for explaining to us the autistic brain. Jason you are an amazing support for your dad and your family. Congratulations on the pregnancy you and Lea will be amazing parents. Your little girl will bring you all so much love and unity. Sending love and support from Australia. ❤❤❤❤
It's wild how many of us went most of our lives undiagnosed because of either lack of information, bias or medical negligence... I think back to my high-school times, university times, when I started working, etc and had periods of being absolutely broken for months. Going to the doctor, sometimes even the ER and coming back with a "Your results are all normal, nothing to worry about". I'm turning 30 in 2 weeks and have only known I'm autistic for 3 years now. I'm glad I could inform my brother and he was able to get assessed and get his diagnosis younger than me. Your last video about depression made me get up and tidy up my house. I'm glad I have an understanding husband that gets what's going on when I have episodes and helps by even feeding me when I can't do it myself. As someone who's recovering from autistic burnout right now, thank you so much for talking about it ❤
Thank you for telling us more of your health issues on TH-cam. If you don’t ever feel like you are up to doing a video don’t stress out about it. We here really care about you and what you do and how you care about mental health issues. I myself have many days in a month that I don’t feel well enough to keep a job. So I feel your pain. Jason is such a great young man!❤️
Real burnout, in the true sense of the word, is acutely dangerous to one's health. Those with autistic or perfectionist/obsessive compulsive make-ups can work themselves sick. I believe it is the higher level of mental concentration and focus that leads to the physical exhaustion. I've cleaned house sits for 24hrs straight, which left me with similar bronchitis and flu-like symptoms. Fallen into the trap of cleaning, studying etc, until sunrise, collapsing into bed as others go off to work, needing the 'quiet silence of the night' to get my chores done. If the eyes start darting and hands start grabbing 20 tasks at once, I recognise it and remove myself from the stimuli until I can think straight again. Otherwise looking left while walking right will cause one injury whilst the brain and the eye try to catch up with the limbs! Each instance I have had friends and family tell me to stop what I am doing and a 'that's enough now', which I encourage concerned others to do so.
I have been learning about adhd burnout. I do not think it is exactly the same but very similar. Seems like too much sensory or stimuli brings it on. I learned about in January and it made so much sense. I would crash and take a sick day and not be able to function for. A day or two. Baby burnouts my coach calls them. But at least I was avoiding a big burnout. And I think masking makes it more likely as that requires so much energy and space in my brain. Hugs Mack
Hi Mack. So glad to see you are taking care of yourself and learning about and managing your autism. I'm glad you have a supportive family. I am a retired OT and did work with sensory integration. People with autism and similar things basically have trouble with processing the sensory input from all of the senses, even something as simple as the feeling of your clothes on your body. Usually, people are able to acclimate to these things so they can focus, bit when your brain filter doesn't regulate this. A person can become tactily defensive. It causes sensory overload, which sounds like what you are suffering from now. I'm glad you found that game that helps you organize the overload and function. There are some techniques to use, but it is a very individual process to find what helps you. Thank you for the good you do in the world and continue to take care of yourself. I am glad you are taking the time to do that when you need to. It will keep you functioning.
I really appreciate your videos. Partly because of the cleaning- love it! And in part because of your honesty about autism. My husband is a late diagnosed autism. And it is so nice to have people talking openly about their experiences with it. It has been so stigmatized in the past and as an ADD person I adore listening to honest people speaking so respectfully about the challenges people face. Burnout has always felt to me and my husband as us not being tough enough - or my favorite “too sensitive” or lazy. Like somehow listening to your body being overwhelmed is a bad thing. Appreciate your work man!
I'm watching this on replay. Again. Now I need to comment after thinking about this. I'm 70, love this channel. I started watching for the cleaning, but your descriptions of hoarding, ADHD, etc., have made me a fan and admirer. I've told my friends, who are subscribers. This video is different for me. It explains my whole life. Failed marriages, friendships, mediocre career due to hitting emotional walls...all of it. Now that I'm retired I can stay in bed when I want. I clean for a bit of added income to my social security. That doesn't wear me out nearly as much as social interaction. I mask well. For a while. I think I need to make a doctor's appointment to ask about this. Thank you for bringing this up for all of us.
Please don't stop making these videos, what you do helps so many people. I just watched you for 2hrs. I learned so much about mental health and the differences. I have stayed up all night for decades...sometimes I am awake in the daytime...usually in the summer, but not always...I can sleep all day or into the next day. Having watched this...I see I am not the only one. So suck it.
I worked for 19 years helping people with employment needs with several individuals with your diagnosis. Wish I had this video to help me understand what they were dealing with. Thanks for being so open, information is key to understanding! Bless you and your family! Tell Jason his laugh is infectious and I love it😊
Thank you for all the education that you do . Through you, I realized that I probably have ADHD. This realization happened about a month ago. I am 69. I spoke with a cousin, and she zeroed in on my many traits that I had never considered before. I have had counseling off and on from time to time and no one ever spotted it. I know when I am depressed and I like the way you fight it, too. You are a blessing to many for speaking about these issues. I just so thank you for giving me helpful information. God bless you! 😊 ❤
Mac, you & Jason are truly incredible!! Such loving people & a loving relationship & family.❤ I'll say prayers over the brain surgery. Have you had your B12 checked? I have ADHD mental & physical EXhaustion, so I get it. B vitamins & aminos help me tremendously. Low b12 affects so many things. Good luck with your burnout. Luv you guys!❤❤❤❤❤
My husband is autistic and he has very little personal insight into his diagnosis and the effects it has on him and relationships with others. I am constantly on the hunt for information that will help me gain an understanding of the what and why so I appreciate you explaining your life so openly and honestly. Thanks for all you do! I hope you take care of yourself and keep sharing your life with us and others. You MAKE a huge difference in the lives of so many!
My hubby has OCD and Social Anxiety - when his OCD kicks in - I sit down - out of the way - and let him do his thing…to acknowledge his social anxiety I let him know if I plan something whether he can stay home (Or) I plan something he would enjoy in addition to the thing he he wouldn’t be so good at - now I have progressive MS - so he’s really stepped up and out of his comfort zone to help me - I can see a lot of similarities in your situation- Take care of you, and hang in there❤
This is such an important topic, really really appreciate you taking the time to talk about this while you're in it just because you wanted to share this realisation as fast as possible. I've gotten into an autistic burnout myself recently. It's been so significant for me to actually do extended research on what I've been doingrecently and seeing how normal it is and what things I can do to help myself. I got myself some Loop earplugs (HIGHLY recommend, especially the Experience ones) and I'm having some real conversations with people. It turns out we can always ask for what we need. What made this happen is that I'm about to do a long-term move by myself for the first time--from Berlin, Germany to a town in Illinois with this fantastic university and library specialising in what I'm coming to study!! Guess we'll kind of be neighbours :) It's all very exciting, but it triggered some overwhelm. I'm really grateful though for what it's been teaching me about myself. It will all be so, so good in the long run. Thank you for all that you guys do!! Hope you feel better soon, Mack!
I was gonna say really similar - filtering earplugs when I still need to be able to hear important things and be able to respond, noise cancelling over ear headphones when i want a complete break. Has made it much easier to be social in public without getting overwhelmed, so now I’m isolating myself less which makes a big difference. I still kinda hate the physical sensation of wearing them, but it’s still really worthwhile to have the ability to have more control of the amount and type of noise I experience.
Hi Mack- I am so glad that you are diagnosed and researching. I found you during my 4th year of recovering from the most severe disabling burnout of my life. I found myself nonverbal in most situations, with people's voices sounding to me more like the parent characters in Peanuts (wah, wah waaaah, wha wahh) than actual words. I lost my ability to remember what I was doing from room to room, and my ability to add and subtract and make change. A drive through order was beyond challenging. Accompanying that was pain from my already diagnosed FM. It is what led me to a diagnosis- Audhd and ptsd... I ended my career as a teacher and began my career as a chronically ill and struggling 55 year old. You have helped me to reduce the clutter. You have helped me by being a body double for cleaning. You have helped me by being so very transparent about your neurodivergence. Thank you for your advocacy. Please lean in to the idea of supporting your sleep better. How can you get closer to 10 hours of rest? You love to work 16 hours but your body is telling you something different. I can tell you from experience that your body will only scream louder if you continue to disregard its messages. I can only share what 'hacks' I have found to help. Not a doctor, just someone like you- and I'm tired of the misdiagnoses and misinformed treatments. Get your neurodivergent research skills ready and dive into breathwork and the vagus nerve, learn about guided body meditations before sleep, get canna curious. When I can't sleep, I am practicing my deep breathing skills and using my heated blanket to soothe my muscles. I have had to prioritize myself over the needs of others (that one is super tough). Learn more about cbd and autism. Learn more about cannabis and autism. For me it lessens the "noise" that I have to manage around. It has been lifesaving. Like you have said- it is a multifaceted problem- your recovery will include a multifaceted solution.
He has weed intolerance, like I do. When someone gave me weed to smoke for the first (and the last) time in my life, I almost died. Was lying barely concious for I don't know how long, a couple of hours maybe. With an excruciating pain every time I slightly moved my head, it felt like a lightning strike hit my head every time. I couldn't concentrate on a single thought in my head, thoughts were running in my head like a speed train. When I was finally able to get up and looked in the mirror I looked like death. Extremely pale with dark circles aroind my eyes. I think I barely survived.
@@spacetraveller9399 WHEW!!! After a first experience like that, I totally get why it is a one and done for you. Have you had a similar experience with cbd? Us autistics have a tendency to be chemically sensitive. I can get away with what is called "micro-dosing" which consumes about 1/5 of a normal dose and for me it cuts down the "sensory noise" of the world, allowing my musculature to relax and my mind to be not quite so full (easier for the intrusive thoughts to let go). Wish it were a quick fix for all, but I do get that we are all extremely different. Think I talked to an ashtray the first time I smoked. So sorry for your experience.
I just think you are amazing! You are so self aware and real. It is completely refreshing to watch and listen to someone who owns his stuff, welcoming viewers into your triumphs and struggles. You’ve turned your gifts into servicing others….. I could watch your videos all day! Thank you so much for your transparency !!
Mack, I appreciate you being so real with us. I hope you’re feeling more like yourself soon. I caught the last 20 mins or so of your live so I went back to rewatch. So glad I did! Congrats to Jason on being a dad too!🥳 PS I just realized someone gifted me a membership for your channel today and it totally made my day! Thank you to whomever gifted that🫶🏻🤗
I've been in autistic burn out for months. The only cleaning I've been able to do is dishes, laundry, and picking up trash. Your channel made me feel not terrible about this. I kept my house from becoming an emergency, even if I couldn't really keep it clean. Now it's summer break (I'm a teacher) and I can really rest as much as I need and still get on top of things.
Thank you for being you, and for sharing. You helped me start to start doing my dishes every night. I have never been able to do this in all my life (I’m 38) until I heard your encouragement to do it. I clean my kitchen and living room every single night and I’ve been consistent. I have been doing this since I found you in the winter. I can’t thank you enough. I hope you take all the time you need to get better. I completely understand burnout. It’s so difficult.
I just want to say as a person who is not diagnosed but I have 2 sons officially diagnosed with autism.. the noise of my 4 young kids was driving me insane, I was getting so angry and overwhelmed by them just being kids. I now have Bluetooth headphones I wear to make life quieter. It helps me so much. I completely understand the sigh of relief when everyone is asleep though. I love that time so much.
Thank you for doing this. I was the top student everywhere I went but in the 80s noone talked about autism in girls in my part of Canada. So I kept striving to do more and better, but the more I did the more it rubbed everyone the wrong way. I was baffled. I got angry. I dropped out of elementary school, yes, showed up to class but refused to participate, quit high-school, quit college, quit university. Now I understand why. After all the depression and anxiety healed I discovered I have autism.
I am 41. I was very driven to complete school at the top 10% of the class… but I wondered why I could not function normally in a workplace. Jobs didn’t last long, and then I had kids, so I have avoided long-term professional work. Masking for social situations with my kids is SO DRAINING.
I just got my late autism diagnosis on the 22nd of may 2024. Just 8 days ago. I'm 43 years old. I'm forever grateful for autistic youtubers like you. It means the world to me. Thank you. 🏆❤
I have chronic fatigue syndrome/ME and dysthymia. Watching your videos helps a lot. Both in form of how to manage to stay on top of cleaning the apartment and to understand mental health struggles better
you are such an understanding and empathetic person, especially for people with mental health struggles. i’m glad to see that your openness and understanding for others has led to more self understanding too! it’s such a beautiful thing.
I find cold water therapy works a lot for me. Not necessarily a full on ice bath but even just a cold shower or a tub with cold water and sitting in it for at least 15mins. Once I get out, I feel energised.
I agree. Anything to help reset your vasovagal system in a healthy way, and force your body to give itself a restful sleep without too much depending on sleep medicine.
Agreed. I have a 150 gal rubbermaid trough on my back porch for my morning dip. I go in even if I have to break ice, it’s good to start in the summer. It works great, though!
![ตีสิบเดย์ [FULL] | เปิดใจ "อาจารย์ เบียร์ ฅนตื่นธรรม" นักสนทนาธรรมสายดุดัน!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vqaBI_mnoDk/mqdefault.jpg)
Topic begins at 3:35
Thank you very much.
Thank God for this video. I'm a late mother of older age with an autistic son that's currently 18 and graduated this year and he's getting ready to be 19 in June. He's had Dysthymia Depression since he was diagnosed with Autism at 7 years old. He is working at this time at Fastfood restaurant and still lives with me his Mom. He is struggling with repetitive work with food. He seems like he's getting ready for the burnout you are talking about. He is very exhausted mentally and physically right now. He also works hard. No one works as hard as him at his job. Preston is the type that doesn't like anyone to know he is autistic. He wants to completely deny it because he's afraid of what others will think of him. I want him to know it's nothing to be ashamed of but I don't know what or how to help him with not being ashamed of it. You are helping me understand my son more. His father is Moderate Autism and his Uncle's and Aunts on his Dad's side. Without mom helping I don't think he would have made it this far in his life. We are in Southwest Missouri. Very informative video and good to know that others have this as well as Preston. Thanks! 🙂
He has nothing to be ashamed of and honestly, people who are on the spectrum are the most intelligent, empathetic, genuine people I’ve ever known…I prefer to be around them instead of “normal” people who I tend to avoid at all cost really….idk many people in my area that are high functioning gifted people so it gets quite lonely at times….ive recently seen and read some studies that they’ve been doing with amino acid therapy to treat alcoholism and addiction as well as a lot of mental “disorders” and have found that there’s a huge possibility that all of these disorders may actually be symptoms of deficiency in amino acids and the body is trying to balance itself out by having cravings etc…so maybe ur son could benefit by taking amino acids etc…it’s helped me tremendously with severe depression and burn out all happening as I turned 45 and started going through biological changes as well as some dark knight of the soul work surfacing and I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to carry on….it just was a coincidence I started having issues with my dental health and started looking into supplement s simply because I remembered in A&P 2 in college, my instructor talking about how the body will starve the limbs and eye sight, hair teeth etc…the least necessary for survival in order to sustain the core functions to keep from dying….so when someone presents with these areas having issues then u know it’s a nutrient deficiency….so I started taking boron and vitamin k2-mk7 and immediately started having improvements in mood and energy then adding a B complex….its amazing the difference ….swanson supplements online has great prices and products and is who I use now….i hope things start looking up for u and ur son…
He has nothing to be ashamed of and honestly, people who are on the spectrum are the most intelligent, empathetic, genuine people I’ve ever known…I prefer to be around them instead of “normal” people who I tend to avoid at all cost really….idk many people in my area that are high functioning gifted people so it gets quite lonely at times….ive recently seen and read some studies that they’ve been doing with amino acid therapy to treat alcoholism and addiction as well as a lot of mental “disorders” and have found that there’s a huge possibility that all of these disorders may actually be symptoms of deficiency in amino acids and the body is trying to balance itself out by having cravings etc…so maybe ur son could benefit by taking amino acids etc…it’s helped me tremendously with severe depression and burn out all happening as I turned 45 and started going through biological changes as well as some dark knight of the soul work surfacing and I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to carry on….it just was a coincidence I started having issues with my dental health and started looking into supplement s simply because I remembered in A&P 2 in college, my instructor talking about how the body will starve the limbs and eye sight, hair teeth etc…the least necessary for survival in order to sustain the core functions to keep from dying….so when someone presents with these areas having issues then u know it’s a nutrient deficiency….so I started taking boron and vitamin k2-mk7 and immediately started having improvements in mood and energy then adding a B complex….its amazing the difference ….swanson supplements online has great prices and products and is who I use now….i hope things start looking up for u and ur son…
@@w8what575 Thank You for your advice. I will see about the Amino acid and Vitamin Bs
My name is Vincent. I am 62yrs old, college educated, combat veteran, ex cop and I am doing ok.
I have depression, dythymia and ptsd. Tell your son he's doing great.And like you said , nothing to be embarrassed about.I have 1 good friend who's been apart of my life for 28 years.Your son will find his true life long friend.All my best.
@tammy5338 I'm the same and it's not about being ashamed, it's about the fact a lot of people will use anything they see as weakness against you, sadly. I find if people know about my medical conditions they want to talk about it, even if it's from a perspective of care, wanting to understand etc. I don't want to waste my energies discussing it with people who realistically can't change it or help in any way. So I keep it private
Please take care of yourself. We have come to love you and what you do for others. Please, take care of yourself.
Shout out to Jason's Lip Swiffer. 😄 🙋♀Guilty for commenting b/c my autism appreciates your autism and my burn-out understands your burn-out. Precisely why we need an Emotional Support Moose. Thanks, Mack, for giving us one of these 👍, and one of these ❤
Yes!!!!!!!!!! 🎉
🫎
I would also like some emotional support mousse...preferably chocolate...or strawberry...
I'm learning about my autism too. 77 years old and have known about a year now. It all makes sense now.
Thanks, and keep sharing.
Mack, I’m sure I’m not the only one who really appreciates your doing this live when you are not feeling well. You’re quite a guy! Also, shout-out to Jason for being such an engaged and helpful wingman. I know it must not be easy to see someone you care about suffer.
I stay up late as some sort of "revenge time" where I'm "taking back my time" that I spent at work all day and doing errands and tasks. I know it doesn't help at all with my fatigue but in my dumb human brain I'm some how "winning" when actually I'm just loosing hours that I should be sleeping 🙃.
Me too. Exactly the same 💖
I think one answer is waking up early for yourself.
I suggest to everyone, MMC especially, to spend 10 minutes or more every day with your feet in contact with the ground or a porch or sidewalk that is in contact.
It's called grounding and the Earth takes away any extra electricity you're carrying in your body. Since we started wearing shoes with synthetic soles we've been literally insulated from the Earth, and people are sicker than they were.
They've done studies and have seen a reduction in ailments and negative conditions in people when they ground regularly.
My blood pressure was always at the high end of normal, but since I started grounding every day, it has lowered and that's the only change I made. My diet and lifestyle stayed the same.
I feel more centered and calm when I do this. It's how I start my day with my coffee.
I hope you try it and please reply here to update any results.
And MMC, it looks like you could use an assistant to handle the emails. You could put in an auto response email that tells people if they're asking for help, email again with their location, situation, etc., and to put REQUEST or some other word as the subject. That way you can search for that word and read the list of them all at once.
I hope this helps you spin kick those emails! They called me "Email-kickin' Trixie" back in Joshua Tree. (Actually lived there in the house my grandfather left us.)
And any way you talk is fine with me. I look at YT lives as real life, so pauses and quiet aren't a problem.
Love you! Take care.
🌴💜😎 Lorraine
Same
I'm doing that right now 😂
Same.
Hi Mack, Have you noticed that every time you hit a personal challenge, and share what you learn from it that you’re able to help so many people? We all have a purpose in life…and yours seems to be to shine a light on things most people tend to blame themselves for. You offer knowledge, practical solutions, and most of all your humor and perspective help to remove stigma. You’re clearly doing God’s work. Please take care of yourself. You are loved by many.
Also you should know that Normal is a setting on your dryer ❤
Woo Hoo! What a great truth. Thank you. I will remember this.
Haha "normal is a setting on your dryer" good one!
I think i might use that tag… thank you…
It's yours!
Amen! I love this lol
My therapist (who is also autistic) advised me that burnout has more in common with a head injury, treatment-wise, than depression. Fern Brady mentioned going to an occupational therapist to get a "sensory diet" so she doesn't overstimulate herself and burn out.
So, im an autistic person who has ADHD. Drs don't recognize the autism, because its nearly impossible to get them to see it in women. For women we get diagnosed as Borderline Personality Disorder, and we are generally dismissed as hypochondriac if we have the autistic burnout and they call it depression, and then depression meds don't work. Its rough.
This is so true, thank you for detailing it.
I’m a therapist and worked at a mental health residential center and the amount of people I saw and was like nah they just autistic and don’t know it is staggering. So many women with BPD and I’m like umm looks like autism and trauma to me.
Is BPD Borderline personality Disorder, or BiPolar?
I have heard a lot of women being under diagnosed for autism and i know its a thing. But where i live, if someone suspects it and seeks diagnosis it is easier to find. I suspect there are regional differences in how difficult it is tl get properly diagnosed
@@RowenaSnow-px3jg I've not heard anyone say it was easy anywhere in the US. Mind sharing a basic area?
I wasn't diagnosed with autism until I was 44 years old. I'm 53 now. My approach to things has changed since my diagnosis. I have a clearer idea now how to handle things. In my case, different forms of stimulus affect me differently. Some more so than others. For instance, if I'm in a very casual social situation, it's less of a drain on me than a more formal setting. So, let's say I'm at a party having small talk with people. That requires far less skill than a job interview. So, it drains me far less. The more crowded a place is, the more it affects me. But noise level can be a bigger factor. So, a church with 100 people in it might be less of an issue than a room with three screaming kids.
The way I handle it is that I spend most of my time by myself and spend a more limited amount of time socializing with others. I also don't "mask" as much as I used to. I make a reasonable effort to learn social norms and to avoid offending others. But the key word here is, "reasonable". Beyond that, I don't worry about it. If someone has too big of stick up their butt to cut me some slack, I just find someone else to interact with. Part of that, though, is that I'm open about being autistic, and I don't pretend to be a neurotypical or try to pass as one. I came to the realization that I was a lot better at being an autistic person than a neurotypical. So, I should go with my strengths. So, my goal is to be the best autistic person I can be rather than a poor imitation of a neurotypical.
As for the sleep, make certain that isn't just autism. Get checked for sleep apnea as well. I found out that I stopped breathing 131 times an hour. It was life threatening. Now I'm using an APAP machine and that number dropped to below 5. Which is like someone who doesn't have sleep apnea.
My 28 year old son still lives with us. He has Autism and ADHD, and recently more mental health challenges. He can’t work regularly or keep a job. He has many friends online, but rarely leaves the house. Video games help and he is a good teacher and artist. He followed you when you made videos about zoo tycoon and such, and we both love your humor. I think it’s fate I found your channel. Love your content and your messages about Autism and neurodivergence. Thanks!
Wow, so real. I love this channel so much more now. You're literally turning your own autism into helping others with autistic burnout, for free, and extracting ad money from YT. I'm in awe.
I wish you the best with your own struggles.
This literally explains why I resigned after 26 years in education. Mack- I sadly get this video from a place of knowing. I haven’t been able to work for ten months and I worked for probably 60-70 hours a week+ for the past twenty of those years. I supervised 1400 middle school students and over 120 adults. The stimulus was constant. I fought the burnout with meds for depression which never helped because I could force myself out of bed and to work and I never felt better. Thanks for speaking on this. It is hard for most to understand. Wishing you all the best- I am still recovering and still selectively isolating very regularly. I feel sad about losing a career I loved and worked so hard in but my husband said it was better than losing me! The journey is ongoing- just be kind to yourself as much as possible!
Similar situation with myself. 49 woman adhd. I've had a breakdown about 7 weeks ago after some really crappy things at work happening to me. I was diagnosed with adhd around 3 years ago. Burnout is real and debilitating. I've had to quit my career in education. I really don't know what to do next ..
@@voodle48 I am so sorry to hear this. Education is a very stressful career that people don’t really understand. It takes a lot from you physically and mentally and does not give a lot back-especially financially. I haven’t worked in ten months. I cashed out my retirement (which wasn’t much) just to get to this point. None of those decisions were best, long term, but necessary to reset myself so I can figure it all out. Point being, be kind to yourself. Education is challenging on its best day. Take time to heal as much as you can. It takes time and in my case a lot of time. Sending you a virtual hug! You are not alone in this difficult journey!
@@voodle48
@@CallestrasCorner and @voodle48, I became a public school educator at 50, and listening to Mac/reading about the symptoms of autistic burnout describe my last five years. I was previously self-employed, and a much more regulated person.
Education is brutal.
Jason, congratulations to you and your wife.
I don't know if you will see this ...
You have made me cry because I now understand what has been happening to me for 60 yrs. I was diagnosed autistic 15 yrs ago. Being a woman, Dr's never listen, they just want to give me medication. Everything I experience is what your saying.
Thank you
It's good you got diagnosed and great that you found Midwest Magic Cleaning!
Some people who experience medical gaslighting have said they get better heard by soctors who ate: female, or younger than average.
I just switched to a female young Dr. We shall see if this is true.
Wow! I listened on replay. I have been a nurse for 4 decades and if I learned anything it is no matter how good the treatment is, if it is the wrong diagnosis it is worthless. It sounds logical but it happens more often than you might think! Your story is a perfect example. SOOOO thankful you found out what was going on and for those going through this, thank you for sharing. 🙏
I big-time relate to staying up too late just to bask in the quiet. I'm lucky to get 5 hours of sleep on weeknights because of my need to decompress after everyone else goes to bed. Autistic burnout is brutal. I'm glad you're doing a video on it, and I hope you're feeling better soon.
Mac; Thank you for shedding light on mental illness and being open, honest and informative about your life and experiences. As a newly retired ER and behavioral health RN I can tell you it is refreshing to see. Thanks again and rest assured appreciated.❤
Jason seems like a really great young man. Hope all goes really well with home and family.
Hello, my husband and both of my kids are autistic and I have ADHD and this is blowing my *ucking mind. Everything you're saying explains my husbands life with working hard and then setting his f#cking life in A blaze of sh*t fire. And it's always drove me crazy cause I couldn't wrap my head around why he would do that and screw up everything we had going. Oh man I'm pissed at the world right now cause he's been floatin around seeing all these doctors and nothing would ever help and I'm finding out about this on youtube and he's still not getting the help he needs. And my kids are having a very hard time with their mental health and now I'm seeing that it is probably burnout and now I'm super excited cause now I have an answer to help them cause nothing we're doing now is helping them. I really appreciate doing this live, thank you soooo %uckimg much!
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Autistic Burnout is why I got my official autism diagnosis. My old psychiatrist quit his job in the centre im am treated for my ADHD, I got a new one assigned. She listened to my symptoms and asked if I ever consideres being autistic, which I had since my ADHD diagnosis. The old psychiatrist did not want to test for it because there is no medication for it, its wild.
I am now in autistic burnout for over 2 years, sometimes it gets a bit better and some energy comes back and now I can finally get the help I needed with my official diagnosis. Hope you get better soon.
For the guy having a hard time showering: as a child, I grew up without running water sometimes, and I had some depression. I couldn't take a shower (even when I had water), but I could go out with my friends to the local public pool. You have to rinse off to get into the pool. The pool has chlorine in it, so it'll really help with smells. You don't have to swim. You can just lay on your back with your ears in the water so you don't have to hear anything and just be. Obviously, you should force yourself to shower at some point, but if you simply can't. Maybe some family and friends can drag you out to the pool to float and simply exist in a wag that'll make you smell better and feel cleaner afterward. I hope this helped, and I don't get bullied by the clean freaks.
Thanx for sharing. I have trouble mustering the energy to shower, but I love the pool. Will try this out; maybe even bring a soap bar to the rinsing station
Q
@journeytojoy3443
I think that's a wonderful idea 😊
I will add, if you take a little sample size shampoo, conditioner and body wash set with you, it can be novelty to get to use them. And become a "the rule is" that we self inflict. I take better care of my hygiene at the pool. I use a family or disability shower room, so only me there. And I take a bag with everything. I bring 2 towels, toothbrush and paste, hair brush and hair ties, fresh undies pants and shirt and bra, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, and leave in conditioner. And I just do all the steps while there. Nobody will say a word, because its perfectly acceptable.
Another place to try this is getting a gym membership through your insurance plan, and use their sauna, and then shower with all the steps.
Thank you so much for talking about this. My 13-year old son is autistic. It’s good to hear experiences from adults. I do hope you feel much better as soon as possible.
I think of you and your beautiful family every time I'm wearing my "oh look more dishes" and "oh look more laundry" tee-shirts. You give me the grit to keep taking care of the laundry and the dishes ♥
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An "oh look, more dishes" apron would be really cool and funny.
You are the first person I've seen who can articulate authentically about depression. You have helped me. You UNDERSTAND, because you're there, in it, trying to function. I appreciate you. I'm watching this on rerun. Thank you always. P. S. Jason is a sweetheart.❤❤❤❤
I'm 59 yrs old and your videos over the last couple of years helped me finally figure out that I'm autistic. I laughed when I finally realized it because it explains everything weird in my life. Thank you!
Thank you for discussing autistic burnout. I am a 31-year-old woman who recently realised I'm on the spectrum (undiagnosed, but I'm very certain after reasearching autism extensively for over a year). I had to cry a bit listening to you while telling us how you're doing. I really empathise with you, and I feel like I couldn't have said any of this better myself. Traditional talk therapy never really helped my 'depression' much. What has actually helped is when other autistics talk about the experiences they have and starting to do what they do, so I really appreciate you being open about it. Sending good thoughts to everyone in this community. :-)
I have heard that, for autistic people. Seein
I have heard that, for autistics, a therapist who is more like a life coach , who "walks one through problem solving" and who understands autistic minds, can be more effective than traditional talk therapy. / For me personally, I also find creative writing more effective than typical style yakking.
After being someone who chased caffeine and not sleeping due to finding a normal environment overstimulating, I think I understand your your need to drink and vape to medicate. My Dr finally tried me on ADHD medication last year. The calm in my head that followed was life changing. I am almost 60 and have been treated for decades for depression, ptsd, eating disorder and burning myself out by overworking etc Since this medication I can now manage my binge eating, my house is largely decluttered and I just started a part time business at home. With a lot of work and a rare good Dr, I am unlearning my past coping behaviours (one being giving up caffeine) but my brain is at peace for the first time in my life. It is short term medication ie 4hrs duration but it resets my brain every morning. Exhausting decades chewing on my brain, losing jobs, friends and relationships. Mack (and recently Jason), you have been a big part of that journey out of a terrible place. If I can get to this place, anyone can. Thank you for giving me the courage and a community to connect with every week.
Please, what medication? This would be wonderful for me, if I could do what you have done. Thanks 🌸
@laureygreider7617 Hi. I don't think TH-cam will allow me to say but the Dr is the best person to talk to - there are a few free adhd sites that have an assessment on the Web and give you an idea if it is an issue. It presents quite differently for middle aged women. I was really surprised I scored high. Just don't tell the Dr you have googled an assessment. They go nuts.
@@laureygreider7617 my son (age 7) is on Medikinet XL (UK brand) AKA Ritalin (USA). I think it's also called Concerta in Europe? ... And the difference in him is INCREDIBLE! He can finally read and write like his peers and cross a road safely 💗 It has given him so much confidence and control! (He was previously the utter "Taz" stereotype of ADHD).
TLDR: The actual drug name is *Methylphenidate* ... And obviously different people have varying results with different meds, but I'm wishing you all the best!
@laureygreider7617 I did reply about going to the Dr to find out but it got deleted by Ytube or Mack.
Have you tried the cbd mushroom coffee? I haven't, but I hear good things...😅
What I appreciate about you is that you are not bitter because of your health issues. Most people play the victim. You play the hand you were dealt and keep a great attitude. There is always something to be grateful for.
Mack, I can't express how much you have helped me with cleaning and with understanding and accepting my neurodiversity. I hope your burnout resolves quickly for you.
Please take off as much time as you need, we will all still be here when you are feeling back up to it!
I know this live was difficult for you, but so glad you are addressing autistic burnout. I am learning about it myself right now as I have a family member that is going through it as well (teenager). Just learning about it now and it is frustrating how little people discuss it from a realistic and everyday experience. So glad you have family support. You have the support of your subscribers.
Thank you Jason for all your hard work. Congratulations on your new baby news!
As a neurodivergent, I've learned that L-Carnitine and B vitamins are super important for the brain.
Absolutely. The Walsh Protocol, which has blood and urine testing to determine deficiencies, affirms this.
I went to my naturalpath after a medical dr reccomend I take good B multiple vitamin. The NP gave me 1/2 of a B12 shot and my suicidal thoughts left. I had a fresh start. Getting vitamins via a IV can be life changing for exhaustion.
My 17 year old ADHD autistic son just completed a whole year of High School on Citicoline with CDP Choline + Tyrosine. 1st time he hasn't had ADHD meds in his system since 4th grade. It worked great for him.
@@Sattori_hikesI'm replying so I can find this later. Super interesting never heard of these vitamins want to look it up. Thanks for sharing !!!!
@@maryschultz1744 i will have to look into this Walsh protocol.
Mack, I am in burnout too. Its hell. We are the same age and I am also late diagnosed. When I learned about autistic burnout it explained a LOT. I remember you mentioned once how you get sick every 3-4 months. That can also be a symptom of burnout. My immune system has been garbage since the burnout started about a year ago. I am just now able to fend off viruses and maintain health for longer than a month. Ive been on antibiotics more in this last year than I have been in my whole life combined. I also notice I am clumsier and hurt myself a LOT more when I am in burnout. Wishing you the best, Mack. Things WILL get better, they always do.
Jason is so adorable he seems like a great young man wishing him an extraordinary life with his new little one.
I had no idea such a thing existed, thank you for the education. Take your time, take care of yourself and we'll be here when you recover. Much love. 🧡
My son will be 40 - he was diagnosed at 3-4- they said I should institutionalize him - he works full time and owns his own home - he gave me a beautiful grandson and he suffers these things - so thank you
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Thank you both for all you do!I I will
Be 67 tomorrow and I'm still trying to figure me out . I was diagnosed with depression but I feel like there is more .I have hard time focusing, when I'm doing something my mind is always going to the next thing to do.Cooking is actually something I can focus on .My house is clean,I do the laundry. I worked different jobs for almost 50 years,before I retired. For the most part I function but I've always felt like my brain is different. Thanks for listening to my rant!
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Autistic burnout sucks!! I’m in one for the past 5 years. Gotten chronically ill too.
But I very much love watching your videos! They give me a sense of comfort. Keep up the good work, you guys are amazing.
Yep. I was stuck in bur out for a good 5 years, myself. Finally coming out of it, though I am well aware that the way my life is set up has allowed me to listen to my body as much as I was able to in order to recover. I'm on SSI and don't work, so I slept when I was tired, isolated when I didn't want to socialize, cleaned when I wanted to clean, etc. I'm finally back to a place where I'm working on doing things because they need to be done and not only when I have the energy for it (my energy reserves are back!!). Be gentle with yourself and listen to your brain and body as much as you can. Recovery takes awhile, but omg, it's so worth it. 💙💙💙💙
Man this would not let me do a super chat.
MACK!!!! I’m so happy you considered burnout vs depression. My wife and I talked about it the entire last episode considering your description of your experience. Take care of yourself!!
New subscriber and fellow autistic here - in case nobody else has mentioned yet, recovering from burnout *can* take months but that's mostly only in fairly extreme cases; if you catch it decently early and really rest like you need to it can clear up in just a couple days. It does mean really resting, though - if you feel like sleeping for 18 or 20 hours and not doing anything but playing video games, I'd say do it, at least once to see if it works for you; it's much better to completely lose a couple days to recovery than to function at half capability for weeks because you're still pushing yourself. The other thing, and I don't know if you have this problem but some of us do (even if we don't usually have problems with it), is to make sure you're getting enough to eat while you're recovering; it's kind of like recovering from a physical injury that way. OTC pain meds can also help, they take the edge off the overload and can break an overload-related spiral; just be careful not to mess up your liver or whatever.
I have two ideas for you on the request for help thing.
1. On email you could put a auto reply to all messages with a message of what you need in order to be able to help. Like in the auto reply say you have you be within this are in order for me to help or something like that and that they have to reply with their information for you to read the message. The rest you ignore.
2. Perhaps you could create an online form which people have to fill in if they want to ask you for help. In this form you could force feilds like geographic locations and other information you need to even concider being able to help out. This form can then we sent to only you email for example and when you spread the message you can also spread that you will not read or comment on any request messages unless it's form this form.
I understand ignoring requests is hard on a caring heart but as you grow this will just grow. You have to find ways to put boundaries in place. I really hope you find a way to handle these requests that will lessen the impact on you. What you offer is a blessing to those that recieve it.
It’s so cool to see Jason and hear his voice! He’s so mature and seems to be easygoing! He is definitely a blessing as well as you are!
As a twenty something I had panic attacks. They’re horrible. Sorry you are having those.
I have complex PTSD from childhood abuse and trauma, which includes depression, anxiety, OCD, occasional social anxiety, etc etc. I push myself to do stuff even when in a dark place as l am so scared of becoming a hoarder, especially as I am a crafter. I have been in and out of therapy since my 30s and i am now in my 60s. At the moment i am boxing up and selling a ton of my craft supplies as my craft room is getting cluttered and that's doing my head in. I honestly wonder if i am autistic but at 64 l can't be bothered to get assessed because i will never change either way ha ha. I love to clean and seeing how you do too makes me realise I am not at all weird. Hope you soon sleep better and feel better too. Greetings from Alison across the pond in Northern Ireland. (We don't have moose in Ireland either ha ha)
If you don't want to get diagnosed, you can still look into accommodations for autistic people, and try implementing them where you can. If they help then it tells you it's likely.
You still wouldn't have to get diagnosed, but continuing to accommodate yourself would be an important thing to continue if it helps, even without diagnosis.
It’s so not fair that we have to do the work and pick up the pieces of our shattered souls for years after the abuser(s) have done their damage.
I have been in and out of therapy for years as well . I tend to avoid my feelings once I recover from a depressive episode and try to go about life until a stressful life event triggers me.
About 20 years ago I started to collect things. The more things I had around me that I liked, the more it felt like a protective warm fuzzy blanket. I couldn’t see my walls. It felt like my Happy Place.
Then something happened, like a light switch turning on. I suddenly felt anxiety like things were closing in on me. I started to go the opposite direction and began to purge most of my “collectables”.
I wonder if I’m autistic, but like you, I’m not taking the journey to find out at 58 years old. I will educate myself and continue to tune into MMC!
Thank you for sharing your story and I’m sending you positive vibes and energy. 🤗🥰❤️
Autism and CPTSD have many overlapping symptoms. Patrick Teahan has a really good TH-cam video explaining this if you are interested.
Oh! And thank you for monitering comments. Your channel is one of my favorite safe spaces on You Tube
Thank you. I think what you're doing with this channel is so meaningful. It really gives me hope. Everything you've talked about in regards to mental health and empathy has resonated with me. It's very inspiring.
Thank you for your educational info on adhd & autism. My daughter & I were recently diagnosed & our therapists aren’t as good as you❤❤❤
Hi Jason! I’m glad you finally get to talk. Dad needs to let you talk/narrate more! Congratulations on the baby. I can’t wait to see you before/after pictures.
Agree. They are both amazing human beings and it is great to see them together.
I just saw the "needle house" cleanout. It was unbelievable and would have sent me into a freaking tailspin. You are a very strong man.
As I recall, he has said that was the closest he came to reporting the homeowners to the authorities, as they regularly watched their young grandkids there. He made clear to the homeowner’s adult child that that could not happen again, and he *would* report them if he discovered it did.
I appreciate all of your information on Autism. I work with Autistic children. Our school district has NO autism support. I try learning on the internet or anything that will help me help them. You are very important ry informative. God Bless you and yours!!
Bless you Mack, you are such a beautiful caring soul. I know you will get through this. Much love to you, Jason and the rest of your family. Debra from Melbourne Australia xxx
What you are doing is unbelievable. Dealing with the people would be the worst for me. I love your attitude, your honesty, I admire your patience and tolerance. The one thought which comes to my mind is don't be so hard on yourself. You need a break, thats fine. We will still be here, the mess will still be there, take the break.
Mack, I’m sitting here thinking about the time Emily had her surgery & you kept yourself SO occupied during that time, perhaps to help deal with stress. So now y’all are moving past that & the exhaustion hits. Just a thought that there is possibly a connection. I have ADHD & that’s kind of what I do.
You know your own body and reactions best, but autistic and ADHDers often have different reactions to stimulants like caffeine than people without ADHD or autism. I (an AuDHDer) experience this with coffee. If I have a little bit of coffee I wake up more, but if I have a big coffee I will take a coffee nap 😂
I absolutely love the mornings before everyone else wakes up. I have little kids and I almost never catch a break to recoup during burnout. I always feel like I'm about to catch a flu with the back aches. I always have to do things with no days off which keeps me in a burnout limbo- doing enough so that the kids are cared for and some basic household chores, but never able to raise above just that basic level of function. I've been there for years. I'm late diagnosed, in my early 30s.
🙏. Sorry for your troubles. I want to say, you have helped me get started cleaning my house. I wasn't doing it because it was overwhelming. W hen you showed me how to just clean one area, it started doing that and my house is getting much cleaner. Not as much as I want but, less dirty.
I really enjoy watching you. The Navy diagnosed my son with autism. It explains so much. This was not talked about in the '80's.
I had only seen the nonverbal autism type or hearing of asperger syndrome.
I’m glad you brought this up. I have a son who is autistic and he has never seemed depressed or tired. I will be talking to him about it for sure. Please take care of yourself. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I do hope it passes and you can get your life back soon.
That's sweet of Jason. We as family need to take care of each other. Jason is lucky to have a dad that is so caring.
I appreciate the candid conversations on all this. I’m also autistic and have been in burnout for a good couple of years now as a consequence of getting adhd diagnosis in 2021 and then autism last year. I had no idea before so both completely knocked my self image off the shelf. Getting help and accepting disability is really difficult. About a month ago I got a 3yo rescue dog and what felt the most insane about it (being a person who never thought I’d want a dog) was the fact that I would be going outside every single day and multiple times! But it has helped. My interests, low stimulus threshold and tendency to socially isolate means I don’t go outside if I don’t have to and that sedentary lifestyle isn’t good for anyone.. Being more active even if it’s just a couple walks a day makes doing tasks at home and my sleep better too. My dog is a good limitless point of focus too, my mind is always running but now there’s always something positive to think about.
You help me understand what my Aspergers Daughter Maxine also deals with so thank you Mack for explaining & sharing, it makes a big impact. Xx
OMG... Same, well EVERYthing! I was diagnosed at age 48! I'm going through this NOW! Dr's have no idea, either.
As much as I get out of your cleaning videos (which is a lot), I get so much more from this!! Thank you for modeling self-care and staying teachable! It's such a privilege to learn how to flourish with autism along with you.
I have been having trouble getting diagnosed. I have what you have in spades. I have taken online autism tests and have been found to be moderately autistic; however I had asked a psychiatrist who is roughly 80 to test me for autism. He said I am not autistic. I asked why he said that, I've had no test with you. (by the way I am 61 and have been having the same symptoms you mention since I was 13). He said you can't be autistic, you're a girl. I changed programs recently and the doctor there was a young psychiatrist who also told me the same thing, you're a girl so you cannot have autism. True for the diagnosis of schizophrenia as well. Women can have adhd, but not schizophrenia or even autism by psychiatrists living in 1800's. My son was diagnosed at around 10 years old with autism and younger for adhd. I have yet to understand how women are diagnosed in the year 2024 with the attitude of these 2 male psychiatrists. No wonder we have a large swath of our citizens who suffer for years and years with autism. 🤷
Ow geez! I am a woman, I have ADD and autism, properly diagnosed.
As a woman you can definitely have autism, it can even be worse because the expectations and the masking.
F*ck those doctors who say you can't, they are incompetent...
Oh, Mack I’m sorry you’re struggling. Thank you for your candour and explanation of autistic burnout. My own daughter is going through something similar and I need all the information I can gather. Her autism seems worse with age or maybe she’s not masking as much now, but communication with her needs such delicate precision. Yours are wise words. Thank you.
@user-bj3nk4rn6y it gets worse with age because when you're a teenager and early 20s it's relatively normal to be unconfident, socially anxious and kinda awkward in situations. The problem is autistic people don't grow out of it. So the level of masking needed to fit in becomes greater and greater, which is more and more tiring, and sometimes (always, for some people) it's impossible to achieve the level of masking needed to fit in, meaning you get sort of left behind in life both socially and in terms of career (or even ability to hold a job at all).
I love the father son relationship you and Jason have. An amazing family.
Thank you so much for explaining to us the autistic brain.
Jason you are an amazing support for your dad and your family. Congratulations on the pregnancy you and Lea will be amazing parents. Your little girl will bring you all so much love and unity.
Sending love and support from Australia. ❤❤❤❤
Jason has the most contagious bubbly laugh
I love all of your efforts to keep your comments section a safe place.
It's wild how many of us went most of our lives undiagnosed because of either lack of information, bias or medical negligence... I think back to my high-school times, university times, when I started working, etc and had periods of being absolutely broken for months. Going to the doctor, sometimes even the ER and coming back with a "Your results are all normal, nothing to worry about". I'm turning 30 in 2 weeks and have only known I'm autistic for 3 years now. I'm glad I could inform my brother and he was able to get assessed and get his diagnosis younger than me. Your last video about depression made me get up and tidy up my house. I'm glad I have an understanding husband that gets what's going on when I have episodes and helps by even feeding me when I can't do it myself. As someone who's recovering from autistic burnout right now, thank you so much for talking about it ❤
Thank you for telling us more of your health issues on TH-cam. If you don’t ever feel like you are up to doing a video don’t stress out about it. We here really care about you and what you do and how you care about mental health issues. I myself have many days in a month that I don’t feel well enough to keep a job. So I feel your pain. Jason is such a great young man!❤️
Real burnout, in the true sense of the word, is acutely dangerous to one's health. Those with autistic or perfectionist/obsessive compulsive make-ups can work themselves sick. I believe it is the higher level of mental concentration and focus that leads to the physical exhaustion. I've cleaned house sits for 24hrs straight, which left me with similar bronchitis and flu-like symptoms. Fallen into the trap of cleaning, studying etc, until sunrise, collapsing into bed as others go off to work, needing the 'quiet silence of the night' to get my chores done. If the eyes start darting and hands start grabbing 20 tasks at once, I recognise it and remove myself from the stimuli until I can think straight again. Otherwise looking left while walking right will cause one injury whilst the brain and the eye try to catch up with the limbs!
Each instance I have had friends and family tell me to stop what I am doing and a 'that's enough now', which I encourage concerned others to do so.
I have been learning about adhd burnout. I do not think it is exactly the same but very similar. Seems like too much sensory or stimuli brings it on. I learned about in January and it made so much sense. I would crash and take a sick day and not be able to function for. A day or two. Baby burnouts my coach calls them. But at least I was avoiding a big burnout. And I think masking makes it more likely as that requires so much energy and space in my brain. Hugs Mack
Hi Mack. So glad to see you are taking care of yourself and learning about and managing your autism. I'm glad you have a supportive family. I am a retired OT and did work with sensory integration. People with autism and similar things basically have trouble with processing the sensory input from all of the senses, even something as simple as the feeling of your clothes on your body. Usually, people are able to acclimate to these things so they can focus, bit when your brain filter doesn't regulate this. A person can become tactily defensive. It causes sensory overload, which sounds like what you are suffering from now. I'm glad you found that game that helps you organize the overload and function. There are some techniques to use, but it is a very individual process to find what helps you. Thank you for the good you do in the world and continue to take care of yourself. I am glad you are taking the time to do that when you need to. It will keep you functioning.
Thank you for the conviction and boundaries that you stand in. Your strength is appreciated
I really appreciate your videos. Partly because of the cleaning- love it! And in part because of your honesty about autism. My husband is a late diagnosed autism. And it is so nice to have people talking openly about their experiences with it. It has been so stigmatized in the past and as an ADD person I adore listening to honest people speaking so respectfully about the challenges people face. Burnout has always felt to me and my husband as us not being tough enough - or my favorite “too sensitive” or lazy. Like somehow listening to your body being overwhelmed is a bad thing. Appreciate your work man!
Awesome vintage Pyrex on your shelves! Good for you for turning down sponsors. I admire that.
I'm watching this on replay. Again. Now I need to comment after thinking about this. I'm 70, love this channel. I started watching for the cleaning, but your descriptions of hoarding, ADHD, etc., have made me a fan and admirer. I've told my friends, who are subscribers. This video is different for me. It explains my whole life. Failed marriages, friendships, mediocre career due to hitting emotional walls...all of it. Now that I'm retired I can stay in bed when I want. I clean for a bit of added income to my social security. That doesn't wear me out nearly as much as social interaction. I mask well. For a while. I think I need to make a doctor's appointment to ask about this. Thank you for bringing this up for all of us.
Your videos make me happy. So funny. So relaxing. So satisfying. I love your humor, kindness, compassion, understanding and intelligence.
Please don't stop making these videos, what you do helps so many people. I just watched you for 2hrs. I learned so much about mental health and the differences. I have stayed up all night for decades...sometimes I am awake in the daytime...usually in the summer, but not always...I can sleep all day or into the next day. Having watched this...I see I am not the only one. So suck it.
I worked for 19 years helping people with employment needs with several individuals with your diagnosis. Wish I had this video to help me understand what they were dealing with. Thanks for being so open, information is key to understanding! Bless you and your family! Tell Jason his laugh is infectious and I love it😊
Thank you for all the education that you do . Through you, I realized that I probably have ADHD. This realization happened about a month ago. I am 69. I spoke with a cousin, and she zeroed in on my many traits that I had never considered before. I have had counseling off and on from time to time and no one ever spotted it.
I know when I am depressed and I like the way you fight it, too. You are a blessing to many for speaking about these issues. I just so thank you for giving me helpful information. God bless you! 😊 ❤
Mac, you & Jason are truly incredible!! Such loving people & a loving relationship & family.❤ I'll say prayers over the brain surgery. Have you had your B12 checked?
I have ADHD mental & physical EXhaustion, so I get it.
B vitamins & aminos help me tremendously.
Low b12 affects so many things.
Good luck with your burnout. Luv you guys!❤❤❤❤❤
My husband is autistic and he has very little personal insight into his diagnosis and the effects it has on him and relationships with others. I am constantly on the hunt for information that will help me gain an understanding of the what and why so I appreciate you explaining your life so openly and honestly. Thanks for all you do! I hope you take care of yourself and keep sharing your life with us and others. You MAKE a huge difference in the lives of so many!
My hubby has OCD and Social Anxiety - when his OCD kicks in - I sit down - out of the way - and let him do his thing…to acknowledge his social anxiety I let him know if I plan something whether he can stay home (Or) I plan something he would enjoy in addition to the thing he he wouldn’t be so good at - now I have progressive MS - so he’s really stepped up and out of his comfort zone to help me - I can see a lot of similarities in your situation- Take care of you, and hang in there❤
My autistic self clicked right away as soon as I saw the title ❤ with a spin kick of course
This is such an important topic, really really appreciate you taking the time to talk about this while you're in it just because you wanted to share this realisation as fast as possible. I've gotten into an autistic burnout myself recently. It's been so significant for me to actually do extended research on what I've been doingrecently and seeing how normal it is and what things I can do to help myself. I got myself some Loop earplugs (HIGHLY recommend, especially the Experience ones) and I'm having some real conversations with people. It turns out we can always ask for what we need.
What made this happen is that I'm about to do a long-term move by myself for the first time--from Berlin, Germany to a town in Illinois with this fantastic university and library specialising in what I'm coming to study!! Guess we'll kind of be neighbours :) It's all very exciting, but it triggered some overwhelm. I'm really grateful though for what it's been teaching me about myself. It will all be so, so good in the long run.
Thank you for all that you guys do!! Hope you feel better soon, Mack!
I was gonna say really similar - filtering earplugs when I still need to be able to hear important things and be able to respond, noise cancelling over ear headphones when i want a complete break. Has made it much easier to be social in public without getting overwhelmed, so now I’m isolating myself less which makes a big difference. I still kinda hate the physical sensation of wearing them, but it’s still really worthwhile to have the ability to have more control of the amount and type of noise I experience.
Thank you thank you thank you!!! In the middle of an spell of burnout myself right now, and it really helps to hear about someone else's journey!
Hi Mack- I am so glad that you are diagnosed and researching. I found you during my 4th year of recovering from the most severe disabling burnout of my life. I found myself nonverbal in most situations, with people's voices sounding to me more like the parent characters in Peanuts (wah, wah waaaah, wha wahh) than actual words. I lost my ability to remember what I was doing from room to room, and my ability to add and subtract and make change. A drive through order was beyond challenging. Accompanying that was pain from my already diagnosed FM. It is what led me to a diagnosis- Audhd and ptsd... I ended my career as a teacher and began my career as a chronically ill and struggling 55 year old. You have helped me to reduce the clutter. You have helped me by being a body double for cleaning. You have helped me by being so very transparent about your neurodivergence. Thank you for your advocacy. Please lean in to the idea of supporting your sleep better. How can you get closer to 10 hours of rest? You love to work 16 hours but your body is telling you something different. I can tell you from experience that your body will only scream louder if you continue to disregard its messages. I can only share what 'hacks' I have found to help. Not a doctor, just someone like you- and I'm tired of the misdiagnoses and misinformed treatments. Get your neurodivergent research skills ready and dive into breathwork and the vagus nerve, learn about guided body meditations before sleep, get canna curious. When I can't sleep, I am practicing my deep breathing skills and using my heated blanket to soothe my muscles. I have had to prioritize myself over the needs of others (that one is super tough). Learn more about cbd and autism. Learn more about cannabis and autism. For me it lessens the "noise" that I have to manage around. It has been lifesaving. Like you have said- it is a multifaceted problem- your recovery will include a multifaceted solution.
He has weed intolerance, like I do. When someone gave me weed to smoke for the first (and the last) time in my life, I almost died. Was lying barely concious for I don't know how long, a couple of hours maybe. With an excruciating pain every time I slightly moved my head, it felt like a lightning strike hit my head every time. I couldn't concentrate on a single thought in my head, thoughts were running in my head like a speed train. When I was finally able to get up and looked in the mirror I looked like death. Extremely pale with dark circles aroind my eyes. I think I barely survived.
@@spacetraveller9399 WHEW!!! After a first experience like that, I totally get why it is a one and done for you. Have you had a similar experience with cbd? Us autistics have a tendency to be chemically sensitive. I can get away with what is called "micro-dosing" which consumes about 1/5 of a normal dose and for me it cuts down the "sensory noise" of the world, allowing my musculature to relax and my mind to be not quite so full (easier for the intrusive thoughts to let go). Wish it were a quick fix for all, but I do get that we are all extremely different. Think I talked to an ashtray the first time I smoked. So sorry for your experience.
I just think you are amazing! You are so self aware and real. It is completely refreshing to watch and listen to someone who owns his stuff, welcoming viewers into your triumphs and struggles. You’ve turned your gifts into servicing others….. I could watch your videos all day! Thank you so much for your transparency !!
Mack, I appreciate you being so real with us. I hope you’re feeling more like yourself soon. I caught the last 20 mins or so of your live so I went back to rewatch. So glad I did! Congrats to Jason on being a dad too!🥳
PS I just realized someone gifted me a membership for your channel today and it totally made my day! Thank you to whomever gifted that🫶🏻🤗
I've been in autistic burn out for months. The only cleaning I've been able to do is dishes, laundry, and picking up trash. Your channel made me feel not terrible about this. I kept my house from becoming an emergency, even if I couldn't really keep it clean. Now it's summer break (I'm a teacher) and I can really rest as much as I need and still get on top of things.
I am a teacher too. Same.
Thank you for being you, and for sharing. You helped me start to start doing my dishes every night. I have never been able to do this in all my life (I’m 38) until I heard your encouragement to do it. I clean my kitchen and living room every single night and I’ve been consistent. I have been doing this since I found you in the winter. I can’t thank you enough. I hope you take all the time you need to get better. I completely understand burnout. It’s so difficult.
I just want to say as a person who is not diagnosed but I have 2 sons officially diagnosed with autism.. the noise of my 4 young kids was driving me insane, I was getting so angry and overwhelmed by them just being kids. I now have Bluetooth headphones I wear to make life quieter. It helps me so much. I completely understand the sigh of relief when everyone is asleep though. I love that time so much.
Thank you for doing this. I was the top student everywhere I went but in the 80s noone talked about autism in girls in my part of Canada. So I kept striving to do more and better, but the more I did the more it rubbed everyone the wrong way. I was baffled. I got angry. I dropped out of elementary school, yes, showed up to class but refused to participate, quit high-school, quit college, quit university. Now I understand why.
After all the depression and anxiety healed I discovered I have autism.
I am also 50. Thank you. You have a radio-quality voice.
I am 41. I was very driven to complete school at the top 10% of the class… but I wondered why I could not function normally in a workplace. Jobs didn’t last long, and then I had kids, so I have avoided long-term professional work.
Masking for social situations with my kids is SO DRAINING.
I just got my late autism diagnosis on the 22nd of may 2024. Just 8 days ago. I'm 43 years old. I'm forever grateful for autistic youtubers like you. It means the world to me. Thank you. 🏆❤
Explanation makes sense, more than most mental health professionals I’ve seen personally.
I’ve heard it described as a black hole rather than burnout. That’s a good way to think about it for me.
Remember there is a crack in everything. It's how the light gets in. God bless you.
I have chronic fatigue syndrome/ME and dysthymia. Watching your videos helps a lot. Both in form of how to manage to stay on top of cleaning the apartment and to understand mental health struggles better
you are such an understanding and empathetic person, especially for people with mental health struggles.
i’m glad to see that your openness and understanding for others has led to more self understanding too! it’s such a beautiful thing.
I find cold water therapy works a lot for me. Not necessarily a full on ice bath but even just a cold shower or a tub with cold water and sitting in it for at least 15mins. Once I get out, I feel energised.
I agree. Anything to help reset your vasovagal system in a healthy way, and force your body to give itself a restful sleep without too much depending on sleep medicine.
Agreed. I have a 150 gal rubbermaid trough on my back porch for my morning dip. I go in even if I have to break ice, it’s good to start in the summer. It works great, though!