A Question About Exhaustion (social, physical, mental)

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Yet another ongoing area of confusion for me:

I regularly hear about and read about the deep exhaustion that is felt by many of those on the spectrum after a period of socialising. I think I've understood the nature and extent of it, but I'm wondering how it fits in with other things and how to relate to it (if at all).

Basically, I do find social situations hard work. But probably nowhere near as hard as many people on here. I think I understand other people (verbal and non verbal) without much issue at all, but my primary problem is in reciprocation. I often don't want to, I frequently don't know how to, and I feel really wooden at it unless it's with just one or two people who I know really well. I do find it "wearying", but I don't think I have a need to recuperate for days afterwards.

On the other hand that might be because, apart from full-time work, I almost never go out or do anything. I come home, plant myself on the sofa with a laptop and only have my partner and my cat for some quiet company. Could this be my recuperation strategy without me even consciously realising it? How aware are you of your social exhaustion and what needs to be done to redress it?

My final question is, how does this fit with insomnia? I'm sitting typing now, feeling bone weary after a day at work, but my brain is still very much "on". I refuse to go to bed until I've got some excitement out of my system through Googling or enjoying my interests. If I go to bed before I've satiated this sort of mental energy, I know I'll toss and turn all night and have my mind buzzing. And yet, I'm so chronically tired from overwork and endless late nights that I should be able to fall asleep just like that.

I feel like my exhaustion is the sort that leads to chronic ill-health and cancer, not the sort that switches me off or stops me from functioning. Does this make sense to anyone here?

I suffer from exhaustion due to chronic physical illness. But I also find social interaction tiring - during and after.

It's sounds quite possible that you've come up with your own "coping strategy" instinctively. I become aware of exhaustion just because it's so overwhelming it's impossible to miss - but for other people it be a problem to lesser degrees.

I can get a wired feeling after social interaction. Where my mind is racing but physically I'm exhausted. Insomnia can actually feel very tiring, so the two could go together (though social interaction wouldn't cause insomnia for me). You be unable to sleep, but be desperately tired in every other way.

I'm concerned you have this thought: it's extremely unlikely that you can get cancer from exhaustion. You'd have to have major sleep deprivation before it could cause serious health problems. Exhaustion can certainly effect you physically, but more along the lines of making your skin bad, making you feel sluggish, making you lose concentration, affecting your appetite, etc. - not cancer. And these symptoms can be reversed by getting a good night's sleep and reducing the stress of social interaction.

Well, to respond to this first, I don't mean that exhaustion is directly linked to cancer e.g have a really late night and a tumour starts to grow the next morning. What I mean is that, if you experience chronic exhaustion for many years and don't do something about it, then yes I think there's a chance it could contribute to all sorts of health issues. The kind I'm talking about is a physiological exhaustion where the entire metabolism is affected. I sometimes feel like every cell in my body in groaning and yearning for nourishment. Nourishment could be simple rest, but it could also be the nutrients and hydration that fail to find their way around the body as they should if metabolism and circulation are sluggish.

So yes as you say, exhaustion can make your skin bad, but one reason it does this is because, if blood/lymphatic circulation are impacted, toxins will begin to collect in the skin and won't be removed as easily. Likewise, if cells begin to differentiate somewhere, the body might not respond as quickly as it should to correct that. So I agree that it's highly unlikely that exhaustion should cause cancer on its own, but I do feel that it's the slippery slope to ill-health and I think 'chronic' rather than 'major' sleep deprivation could be a factor. Obviously I don't know for sure, but then neither do doctors most of the time. There are still so many unknowns where health and medicine is concerned.

I suppose your recommendation for a good night's sleep and a reduction in social stress would fix everything I've said. And I agree up to a point. I guess I'm talking from the perspective of an intermittent chronic insomniac with as yet unknown solutions to the problem.

Cancer is caused by genetic mutations, either by accident or by exposure to a mutagenic agent.

Lack of sleep can lead to diseases due to weakened immune system, but it's very unlikely it would be cancer.

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As I've understood it, a healthy human (or animal) can have millions of "cancer" cells circulating at any given time and that's normal. The problem occurs when the body fails to detect and destroy these cells.

So maybe I phrased myself badly, but I'm not saying that exhaustion can cause cancer cells to develop in the first place. I believe this happens regardless. What I'm saying is that exhaustion can contribute to the inability of the system to control the production and spread of cancer cells leading to the disease/condition known as cancer. Inevitably, any kind of stress on the body could have an impact since it places a strain on the body's ability to find, use and appropriately allocate resources.

This is presumably precisely why there is such emphasis on healthy diet, exercise, rest, lifestyle attitude etc. as a means of reducing cancer risk.

See here for more info: http://faculty.ccbcmd.edu/courses/bio141/lecguide/unit4/innate/nkcell.html

Not sure where the topic is going but just to add: whenever im in a social situation for longer than an hour, i start to feel strained. After about 2-3 hours im ready to leave.
When i get home from said situation (or even if the social event is IN my home) - i always feel tired afterwards.
Sometimes i even have a nap

Usually feel loads better after though - but have noticed that an hour on a game or with some music on headphones and i feel "energized" again.

But also have had a tendancy to worry about my health in general if im run down for too long - you wonder if its all worth it. And i came to the conclusion that it isnt.

So be warned - if your talking to me and im yawning, chances are your going home sooner than you thought

I didn't mean to imply that this problem is easily solved. Of course exhaustion from social situations is a serious problem - with emotional and social consequences - and not easily fixed. Nor is chronic insomnia. I just meant that the physical health problems resulting from such conditions is almost certainly minor, and reversible.

OP you sound a lot like me.........I also get "exhausted" from social interaction but I also get agitated, nervous energy that keeps me up....I'm over-tired and can't sleep and can't stop replaying parts of the conversation/interaction I've just experienced. I've also worried about having health problems and developing a horrible illness because of lack of sleep. It's such a catch 22- you're anxious so you can't sleep then you're reminded that sleep is necessary for good health, immune system maintenance, memory consolidation etc, and then you worry about having terrible problems because of not sleeping so you're anxious and can't sleep!Anxiety sucks........