What is the term for mental energy and its unit?

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I have a certain amount of mental fuel I can expend throughout the day. Sensing, managing emotions, thinking, learning, and actively doing behaviors expends this fuel. Having thoughts that have not been integrated (aka "on hold") also expends enegry. The only way I've seen that refills the fuel is rest with minimal sensory input and emotions. Otherwise, I run out quickly. What's this energy called, and what is the unit of measurement for it?

https://www.goodrx.com/health-topic/men ... oon-theory

Spoon theory can be used for a variety of disabilities, including mental health issues.

I used up lot of spoons yesterday, digging up two roses, going to a garden club meeting, and buying a bag of chocolate with a 40% coupon! I went to bed early yesterday.

It is a very popular theory with lots of web pages.

^ OMG THANK YOUUUUU!! I really needed someone to say this:

There isn't really a standard unit for it in psychology,though our brain runs on glucose, nobody actually measures "mental energy" in grams of sugar or anything.

I agree, it's not an exact science by any means. Mostly my brain is pretty much unstoppable if I'm conscious at all, but I usually know when I'm tired and want to sleep. The brain does run on glucose, but you can't make it work much harder by eating a Mars bar.

The notion of mental energy is very subjective I think, and doesn't really capture what's happening in the mind.

A Mars bar won't do the trick you have to eat a Snickers.

C8H10N4O2 concentration, and the unit is Molarity.

Actually I was wondering what the effect of stimulants would be on the number of available spoons. That would make an interesting study. My guess is that overall, amphetamine would do the trick wonderfully in the short term, but that it would be like borrowing money at a horrendous interest rate. Don't try this at home, folks.

You're not lying. I still remember walking around every day on ADHD stimulants because I was misdiagnosed. My teeth clenched so tightly it made my jaw hurt, and then the withdrawal, wowza.

I have the opposite problem. I can eat stimulants like candy and only barely notice any impact. 100 mgs and I'm still not sure if they're doing much.

Your dealer probably cuts your stimulants with talcum powder. Try Heisenberg if you want a quality stimulant. [that's an obscure joke that you'll only get if you know about Breaking Bad]

My plug is the pharmacist, so I feel like I can trust them.

^
Well if it's from a pharmacist he's probably got mixed up and given you aspirins. Actually that's a cruel exaggeration, but they do make mistakes.

Here is a video that explains spoon theory:

I for one, wish I had a "Social Battery" pin badge:
https://hackaday.io/project/198440-soci ... -pin-badge

Then the energy level could be displayed in nerdy LEDs.

@Participant626
I've struggled with the same exact question and have no full 'one fits all' answer, as with so many things the best answer usually start with "it depends..."
because what each of us refers to when talking about their 'energy reserves' is made up of different components, challenges and advantages for each of us on this hump of rock called earth.

As ASD adults we face extra challenges regarding our introception, combined with the extra energy we require to deal with social situations.
What all of this 'rambling' means for me (as a for instance) is that i see myself as a mind/body dual system and I and some of my close ASD friends have learned ourselves to query our body (most of us identify with our rational thought more than with our lived emotive side) at regular intervals during the day, mainly after finishing a task. But to do this free of judgement free of qualifications of either good, bad, insufficient or sufficient, just humbly ask yourself what is my energy level now. I personally do this by in a quit moment visualizing myself as being in a doctors waiting-room with my body and asking it to rate it's energy level on the smiley-face scale you get in hospitals when you're a kid.
and whatever answer I get I take this to be my truth, without judgement.

please again, note that this is not a one size fits all way of being, its just how I managed to survive and sometimes thrive and sometimes not