Hi!

I don't officially have autism but I suspect I do. My sister is autistic.

I'm at a point in my life where I'm struggling with responsibilities. My goto coping mechanism is to be extremely passive and do nothing but watching YouTube video's all day. Doing so, I feel worse and I think I need to find another way to "productively cope".

Any tips or people feeling the same way?

Shutdown/burnout is very common for autism.

To commiserate: my entire energy reserve is taken up just by going to and from work and extra chores leave pits in my stomach from stress, so I also do a lot of nothing outside of my bare survival responsibilities.

Decompressing by lowering your sensory input isn’t a bad thing, but if it’ll help you feel better to do something else maybe find a low-stimulus sedentary “activity” like a craft or drawing or listening to music or whatever strikes your fancy. Do the barest minimum, then consciously give yourself time to “unsqueeze” your brain and body without guilt. Recovery is not a sin.

it happens.

not sure i'm the right one for suggestions. i usually try to do different stuff to evade the mood. go out, feed the crows, go to the store. sports. i guess chronic pain helps me get stuff done because when i don't get up for too long the pain gets unbearable

Don't assume it's autism. If how you're living your life isn't working get professional help. There's so much overlap with mental health issues that self diagnosing can lead to the wrong conclusion and interventions that don't work.

sounds more like depression to me.

super agree

this matches the advice from YouTube ND psychologists

Thank you for your thorough reply!

It's comforting to read how you spend your energy. There's a small part of me that thinks I'm lazy but I'm mostly okay with allowing myself to decompress. Sometimes I just find it hard to stop, and start doing something else.

Thanks for your reply! I am getting professional help :) I'm on the waiting list for a specialist to determine if it's autism.

Thanks!

Well, it might be.

Good. I hope you find relief.

Whether or not autism plays any role here, this sounds like depression-related behaviour.

YouTube videos all day will keep your dopamine reserves low. Best tip I can offer is to let yourself become bored instead and then use that feeling to propel you to do things away from your screens.