The importance of sleep

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I spend a great deal of my life managing my autism. After repeated job failures, I dropped out of formal employment completely to pursue intellectual interests. In the years that followed, I learned that one of the most important parts of managing my autism is to get a good night’s rest. All sorts of weird and terrible things start to happen when I do not sleep enough.

For instance, my mind races through all the humiliations that I have suffered in the past. Even though I have made peace with what I have been through, there are times when I find myself involuntarily thinking and reliving those debilitating experiences. This happens when I fail to sleep enough or the quality of sleep is poor and I fail to achieve the REM type sleep that my brain needs for its daily healing.

Sometimes I may even become more violent in my orientation towards the world and that can frighten me. My temper flares up easily and it feels as if control is slipping from my grasp.

When I do get a good night’s sleep, my brain does recover and I achieve a peaceful and even happy state of mind. The past becomes irrelevant and I find my present simple lifestyle conducive to peaceful contemplation. The contrast between my earlier periods of emotional and mental turmoil when sleep deprived is like Jekyll and Hyde. The whole thing puzzles me and it points to the possibility of some real structural or neurochemical causality for autism. How much does science understand about the sleep process? What sort of changes happen to the brain when we sleep? Do others go through the same thing that I do?

How do you do it?

Lately I've been getting up about 9 am every day, but still can't manage to sleep until about 4-5 am, even when I get to bed earlier it doesn't work, my mind won't stop racing... The nights I have managed to sleep earlier, involved me overstressing myself to the point of exhaustion and simply collapsing....

This might sound silly but when I sleep regularly I get unhappy, I feel unfulfilled, because I spend my daytime hours studying and working, and night time hours chilling, thinking, with brief intervals of socialising and sex.. I feel like I don't have time for much sleep... When I'm alone plenty its fine, when I'm around people more often I need to sleep more and don't feel as unhappy about it.


Hmmn..

I combine mental with physical activity. This may seem surprising to you, but sex and the much sought after orgasm actually disturbs my balance. Unlike most NTs, I do not sleep better after an orgasm. A good massage on the other hand, is a very good thing.

To avoid the kind of melt downs and even mini melt downs and potential melt downs that are a constant threat when my mind races, I make sure to build in enough exercise in my life. Too much is bad too as I find the physical stress actually activates my brain the wrong way and I suffer an immune reaction that I believe is caused entirely by the wrong neural signals being fired to the immune system. When that happens, I cannot exercise as my heart rate become irregular and as a result, I sleep badly, which leads to the racing mind problem.

Mental activity is needed too. Not only do I need stimulation, I also need to expend the energy that I have. To do so, I read voraciously and think as much as I can. But if I push it too far, it becomes like physical over-exertion, except that I do not suffer an immune reaction but just a mental exhaustion that would then require great deal of sleep to “work off”.

My life has become one long meditation since I have embraced my autism. On most days, I live in a cocoon of silence in an attempt to insulate myself from the social interactions that have been so painful in the past. That means no sex! Not even paying for it. I do think that the fragility of my mind may mean that celibacy is the best choice for me. By this I mean that the neurochemical reactions that stem from an orgasm does strange things to me. It’s weird I know. But I will do anything to achieve mental and emotional harmony. If it means giving up sex, then so be it!

I find that after eight to ten hours of solid sleep, that I'm more focussed and I'm more likely to eat healthy Food Choices. I'm also happier and I'm less likely to have one of my "Secret Meltdowns" in which I whinge about wishing I was in London, riding my Heritage Buses.

I still can't do it, sometimes I want to sleep 8 hours, but I just can't stop it racing, if I medicate I tend to just float around lieing in bed for hours, if I'm totally sober I tend to think, and think and THINK.

For me 4 hours sleep is average, and 6-7 is a beautiful rarity, the only way I get more is if I over-do it in one way or another.. I guess we're all different in how we actually sleep, and what rest actually does for our well being.. Granted sleep is beneficial I know that, but for me sometimes just lieing and letting my mind rest while awake is just as good.. It seems when I lie down, in the dark, without some sort of numbing stimulation (I'm a late night cartoon obsessionist) it starts to wander and I can't stop it!

I think lack of sleep is a big part of everybodies problems with cognitive and emotional difficulties.It is probably more evident with AS when some of these areas take more "energy" just to function.The most frustrating thing for me, when I have lack of sleep, is that all my traits are amplified.My problems with memory are worse and "little thing" irritate me.I think that is true with NT's as well but since I am starting with a deficit in these areas it is more pronounced when it happens to me.

Another factor ,which I am dealing with at the moment,is function levels when I am sick.I have broncitus at the moment and am having more sensory and concentration problems.I dont like being any where near people when I am sick.I overload very quickly and have less ability to "control"my reactions.

/me needs sleep.

/me has been awake to long

hahah same its 3.43 am and I'm not even able to close my eyes just yet.

The lack of sleep was a major reason why I functioned so poorly in previous jobs. As has been noted on other threads, Aspies tend to go into this brain freeze mode. Different things set it off and I find that the main thing that sets off the melt down is not sleeping enough. Like most other people on this forum, when I do not melt down, I am actually perfectly normal, charming almost. But when I do melt down, then my brain races itself into exhaustion. It is like the computer hangs and it needs to be rebooted before it will work again. Problem is, you do not get to reboot unless you are in some place private.

My life actually revolves around making sure that I can sleep well. I exercise practically every day for 1-2 hours. That I have discovered is the main secret to getting good quality sleep. Low impact but extended exercise is best in getting those 8 hours of bliss. When you wake up, you will feel like your mind is on solid footing and you are ready to face the world.

my brain often goes into loops when i'm under stress. i flare up easily, i am unable to make decisions, even simple arithmetic like calculating the change owed to me is a problem. it feels almost as if i've gone into an infinite loop, or my OS 'hangs'.

sleep resets almost everything for me. i could be totally freaking out but once i realise i am, or am simply too exhausted from all the crying/panic attacks, my mind wants to go into 'sleep mode'. i used to get frequent blackouts during the worst moments of my life.

therapy taught me to be more aware of my behaviour. i was never diagnosed for AS, but had been undergoing therapy for bipolarism and bpd. the trick is to condition myself, learning new 'reflexes' to certain reactions/behaviour. i am now able to spot an imminent meltdown, and i head straight for bed. i might have horrible nightmares, but as long as i allow my brain to 'reboot', it would be as if the stressful incident had never occurred.

exercise did wonders for me too. and lots of water. i changed my eating habits to include more fruits and vegetables. and ensure that i take regular meals. i have a huge problem remembering to eat. i lose track of time too easily.

glad to find another Singaporean in here. Hi!

I've started going to bed at 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. during the week. It REALLY has made a difference to get that quality sleep. I no longer feel dragged out in the morning. I used to think I was a night person because I seemed to have more energy at night than in the day. With a good night's sleep I have energy all day.

It's like the difference between wearing a pair of shoes all day that hurt, or a comfortable pair of shoes. The difference is that big.

when i worked from home, i fared so much better at night. but i realised that it was because it was quieter, and my family members weren't constantly intruding on me. when i got myself a 9-6 job, i'd function very well if i had a minimum of 8 hours of sleep.



i've given up on looking for comfortable shoes. i now wear slippers. Teva slippers are the best!

Well look here! I had about given up finding another Singaporean Aspie. The annoying people at the Autism Resource Center seem to think that Asperger Syndrome is not really autism at all. Apparently, if you can hold a conversation, you cannot possibly be autistic.

It is not that I want to lean on autism as a disability, but I have found that trying to pretend that I was not autistic caused me so much harm and pain that it only really makes sense to embrace my autism head on.

When I acknowledged that I am autistic, certain things start to take priority. For instance, my life no longer revolves around trying to get a better paying or more prestigious job, nor are my efforts focused on bedding the prettiest girl; instead, I spend my time taking care of my mind. As an autistic, I was born with a fragile mind. But if I take care of it, my brain can actually do some wonderful things.

Let me give you an example. I am 33 going on 34. 3 years ago, after I was brutally fired from my last job for a meltdown that my colleagues instigated, I embarked on a self study program to learn Chinese. After 2 years of study, I read the 4 major works of classical Chinese literature in the original classical text and now speak Mandarin Chinese with an accent that does not scream out “Singaporean!” Chinese is something that most Singaporean kids have to study in school. But like the Spanish that American kids are required study, very few every master the language and the whole thing becomes a badly scripted joke. I put my ability to learn to near native fluency a language like Chinese to my autistic mind. I actually speak it so well that when I went to China to live, people could not tell that I was not born there. I also speak English with a perfect and totally natural American accent. When I graduated from college, I worked on Wall Street in New York as an investment banker in an analyst program before getting fired just towards the end of my tenure.

Getting fired, that is just so typical for people with autism huh?

What I wanted to share is that Aspies must start to learn how to cope with themselves. Getting enough sleep is a major thing for me. Every time I got fired was because the people I worked with forced so much work on me that I could not get the sleep which I needed. Part of it was due to job requirements; part of it was due to the scummy people I had to work with. Knowing my own needs, I would probably have chosen quite different if I had a chance to do it all over again.

I find that I suffer more because of too much sleep rather than too little, but I may be the only one here like that.

For the Vulcans in here (aka everyone) I cant help but recommend meditating.. You create your energy from within so meditation is perfect, it should help you ease your mind (one of the points).. Even better, since meditating is more restorative then sleep, you may not require as much.. Although, I normally meditate a 30-60 minutes, I coincidentally get the less amount of sleep.. Normally 7-8 hours is what I get.. I dont dream as often anymore, though..

there's an autism resource centre here?? *incredulous look* heh heh

i'm undiagnosed! but i'm only learning new things and behaviours about myself from my two best friends (one of whom is a cousin i grew up with), my brother and my boyfriend.

they all agree i appear very 'nonchalant' and 'neutral', that i do not modulate and have always been a loner. best friend even went so far as to say "WEIRD" when asked how i was like in secondary school! i asked them why they never pointed it out to me. majority of them shrugged it off with a "i guess i got used to it.".

finding this place made me so happy, and relieved.

i think in our society it's easier to fly under the radar. i wonder how NS was for you.



i could not get the sleep i needed not directly due to the workload, but because i would be so anxious about handling the next day's work that i would get nightmares, or insomnia. i find myself overworked because i am so bad at designating work, which in turn led to me picking jobs far beneath my capabilities or to minimize contact with people in order to 'cope'.

which meant:

1) i got bored often and wouldn't last long in any job
2) i quit once i get a promotion/added responsibilities

i've yet to be fired from a job, probably because i haven't stayed on long enough for that to happen!



ah yes. i get really sluggish if i sleep too much. if i nap when i shouldn't, (like if i'm so bored i try to sleep to 'pass time') i get migraines, horrid nightmares and nausea.

i find that i function best when i have had just -enough- sleep. that's about 7 hours a day(if i'm unemployed). also i find that keeping to a circadian rhythm benefits me most. so as Zeno stated, i had to exercise almost daily, just enough to tire myself out come a pre-allocated bed-time.

the biggest culprit of my irregular cycle is anxiety. i often have to mentally prepare myself if i have to run errands, socialize, etc. it can get so bad i often wind up not sleeping. which then screws me over for the weeks after.