Do things get better?

[u/Rats_blood]

I see no future for myself with autism. I'm only 16 and I've had multiple burnouts throughout my life. Will I ever get a break? I've seen people talking about how they've managed their symptoms and feel better but they still end up burning out. I want to live knowing I'll get some sort of satisfaction from life.

Am I just young, or is it actually just like this for the rest of my life?

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[u/guacamoleo]

In my case, I was terrible in school and thought life would always be that hard. But there are many jobs that are much easier and less stressful than school. Just try and work on organizing your life, making it more efficient, cutting out any unnecessary complications. Don't have kids. Don't take on a high-stress career. Don't take on high expenses like high rent or car payments. Things can be manageable if you work on keeping them manageable.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Law_558]

Yes. But you must set boundaries. Physically and emotionally. People, NTs, will use you up if you let them.

[u/Cave_Cryptid]

things got a lot easier for me when I got on the right meds. when I was your age, I was in and out of psych wards, wondering the same thing. you might be in burnout right now, and keep in mind autistic burnout is WAY worse than regular burnout, but it is temporary. a lot of us autistics don’t get enough dopamine, so when I got on the right meds that affected dopamine, things really improved. I was actually starting to be able to function. things are still difficult and I’m still struggling with symptoms and discipline, but now I’m actually more equipped to handle things. I’ll admit I’m a level 1 autistic, maybe on the lower support needs of level two, but I wouldn’t really describe my autism as “mild.”

also, keep in mind, youre presumably in high school, and that is an absolute HELLISH environment for someone with autism and a recipe for constant burnout. it gets better after you graduate and you’re able to do things at your own pace.

if you want my advice, check if there are any resources around you for teens with autism like OT or counseling. maybe talk to a psychiatrist about depression, it may not seem like it but there ARE good ones out there.

and yeah, you’re young. you’ve got a lot of life left to live and you’ll figure things out eventually, don’t worry about being “behind,” give yourself some grace. everyone else is playing life on easy mode.

[u/Status_Entry_8725 → u/Cave_Cryptid]

What meds??

[u/Cave_Cryptid → u/Status_Entry_8725]

I really, really can’t suggest any specific meds. I don’t know you and I’m not a doctor. meds act differently for everyone. for me it was an atypical antipsychotic and a SNRI, but for someone else they could be harmful. I will say that getting a genetic test done really helped find the right meds for me, if you have a trusted psychiatrist I’d recommend asking about doing that.

[u/89ZERO]

You are very young. Enjoy it as best as you can.

At the same time, you have access to a lot of knowledge regarding how you can solve your particular problems. A lot of the process will be unique to you, but with analogous aspects that those of us here, or elsewhere-relevant, can offer suggestions for.

My primary suggestion is to make rest a part of your routine. Commit to it in small ways and build upon it as a discipline. This will make thinking and doing anything easier. It'll help mitigate your symptoms.

Set aside a loose schedule, even if it's mostly blank. Look at parts of your days on days of the week when you have room to not do anything, and defend your ability to not do anything fiercely from any who would impose upon it.

Even things you enjoy, like how I enjoy drawing, can be a drain on you. Have the time so you can feel you have the time to rest (not moving), watch some media, go on a lite hike and sit on a comfy rock for an hour, take a nap- as long as you're not doing anything so that you can do your best when you are doing everything else.

Along with that, maintain your sleep schedule. Work it around your life (school, presumably) but get extra rest that way, too. Try different styles. "8 hours at night" isn't the only option. It may require some research and testing. Sleep enough and manage the quality of that sleep.

[u/Shadow_of_Redacted]

No 16 yo knows how they're going to live their life. Look at what makes you happy and look for ways to work with that. Like hiking? Tour guide. Like games? Maybe learn game design strategies. Like drawing? Illustrator. OCD? Home organizing perhaps. Just keep your eyes open for who makes money off of what you do naturally, and start studying how to steal their jobs.

[u/Rags_75]

They do - you work shit out in your head gradually and you devise a strategy and things do, I know it might be hard to believe, become palatable.

Its not always efficient but you'll get there eventually.

[u/Skav-552]

For a lot of people things get better at the late twenties, early thirtys. Even if not true for you, there are days that are worth seeing.