Trigger Warning: This article discusses burnout and psychosis
While it is evident to myself and my colleagues that Autistic people have a predisposition towards psychotic phenomenon, it seems to be a relatively new discovery to many of the mental health professionals I have talked to. Research that is non pathological in this area is sparse.
This article was rewritten into a chapter in David’s book A Guide to Autism and Psychosis, find the book by clicking the button below.
Despite this, acute psychosis and psychotic conditions seem to be emerging in the Autistic community (anecdotal, based on experiences of myself and colleagues). Some might suggest this is due to the increased stress that we have faced since 2020.
I feel at this point it is important to discuss a phenomenon I have been witness to in both myself and others. I refer to this as the Burnout-Psychosis Cycle.
To begin with, we will look at the infographic I recently posted to the social media page I run.
Once something places us into a state of burnout, Autistic minds seek to return to their natural state of monotropic attention tunnels. We hyperfocus.
We then get caught in an attention tunnel regarding something that is traumatic to think about, unable to shift our focus from that attention tunnel. This causes distress. Tanya Adkin refers to this as a monotropic spiral.
As we become dysregulated, our sensory experiences also become dysregulated. This is where we may start to have hallucinations, and experience emotional dysregulation such as paranoia or mania. This is the psychosis part of the cycle.
Unfortunately, psychosis leaves the person burnout, starting the cycle again.
In order to break this cycle, we need to ensure that the burntout person has the time and space to engage their attention tunnels within their special interests. Things that will bring them joy and recover their spoons.
It is possible to break the cycle through the treatment of the psychosis, but medication doesn’t generally help burnout.
More research is needed in this area as this is based on anecdotal evidence, rather than peer-reviewed research. Autistic people need to speak loudly about this where and when it is safe for them to do so.
The ramifications of becoming psychotic can be serious. People experiencing psychosis may put themselves in danger, or rarely, endanger others. It may be necessary to detain the individual and have them admitted to an inpatient facility.
While these facilities have their place, it is not a positive experience for many Autistic people, and can add to the burden of trauma that led to the cycle starting in the first place.
When working with Autistic individuals, we need to be holistic in our approach and consider all the factors co tri using to burnout.
Until we do this, we will not be meeting their needs.
11 responses to “Autistic people and the burnout-psychosis cycle”
Food for thought…
Thank you for sharing.
This is very interesting, thank you for the post.
The trigger for my 2 psychotic episodes felt like the monotropic split described in the article by Tanya. The build up of that led to the burnout, and while I was in the midst of the psychosis it felt like the splitting had taken on a life of its own. Though in both cases there was also a monotropic spiral also going on that I was trying to ignore but kept leaking through to the surface.
Having an explanation for the scariest moments of my life is the biggest relief.
I would be curious to know if David has experienced psychosis since his autism diagnosis. For me I feel like more understanding of how my mind works and what it needs is helping my mental health massively.
Hi Danielle,
Yes I have had two major episodes since.my diagnosis 6 years ago. Understanding and advocating for myself has been of great help.
[…] Autistic people and the burnout-psychosis cycle […]
[…] Autistic people and the burnout-psychosis cycle […]
[…] cited: https://emergentdivergence.com/2022/07/14/guest-post-what-is-monotropic-split/Adkin, T. & Gray-Hammond, D. (2022) Autistic people and the burnout-psychosis cycle – Emergent Divergence.cited: https://emergentdivergence.com/2022/07/12/autistic-people-and-the-burnout-psychosis-cycle/ […]
[…] cited: https://emergentdivergence.com/2022/07/14/guest-post-what-is-monotropic-split/Adkin, T. & Gray-Hammond, D. (2022) Autistic people and the burnout-psychosis cycle – Emergent Divergence.cited: https://emergentdivergence.com/2022/07/12/autistic-people-and-the-burnout-psychosis-cycle/ […]
Hello, this is very interesting to me as an autistic neuropsychologist. Is there any more information or articles about this cycle?
Hello,
There is some more detail in my book “A Guide to Autism and Psychosis”
We are also planning to test the concept in academic research, but that project is a bit more long term.
Link to book https://mybook.to/autpsychosisguide
I am AuDHD and recently diagnosed due to facing burnout. I am not like all these instagram reels saying I can’t get out of bed, normal tasks feel hard…I feel more like my foot is hard down on the pedal and I can’t stop! Every area of my life is being researched, I’m constantly trying to solve life’s puzzles in depth. And exercising too much. I definitely feel stuck in fight or flight/ hyper arousal and my nervous system is fried and my emotional buffer of tolerance has gone! This meerkat theory is as close as I’ve found to what I am experiencing.
I have worked professionally with so many AuDHD who have this experience, myself included. If you’re interested, we do offer peer mentoring and group peer support as services 😊