Burnout/shutdown?

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Have I hit a burnout, or is this a shutdown?

I am struggling to interact with people and I am coming closer and closer to going non-verbal again. My voice is more monotone than ever. There is zero expression on my face. I spent three days in my bedroom very recently. I am not depressed as I still enjoy my special interests and I do not feel depressed, although my OCD is bad. My sensory problems are more severe than ever (I had to wear ear defenders while I was in my bedroom and I live with earplugs and dark glasses). I am forgetting the social rules I've learned, so social interaction is extremely challenging. I used to talk to my support worker at uni but now I just sit there barely saying a word.

I have been like this for a week and have undergone a medication alteration for my psychosis/OCD.

I'm not sure if I'm shutting down or burning out.

Also can you suggest anything I could say to people that don't know much, or nothing, about my autism, when they ask what's wrong.

I have also had moments of shutdown/burnout. I do not know you personally, so I cannot say whether or not this is a shut down or burn out for you. In my own opinion though, if you ever get to the point where you do not speak then that would be more of a shut down. It honestly seems like this may be a burn out for you since your special interests haven't worked.

One thing you could say to people if they ask what's wrong is, "I am just going through a really hard time right now". That way you do not have to mention your AS if you don't want to.

You can practice positive thoughts. One thing you should say to yourself is the Serenity Prayer. It goes......

God grant me the

Serenity to accept the things I cannot change

Courage to change the things I can

and the Wisdom to know the difference....

Not sure if you believe in God or a higher power (I am not even sure if I do) but it has a great message. I try to say this to myself over and over and over again. My mom died of cancer almost 3 years ago. I dream of her death almost nightly. I don't have nearly as many nightmares since saying the Serenity Prayer and focusing more on positive thoughts and memories. I still struggle very much with her death and many things in my life, but please know that things do get better. It just takes time.

I hope things get better for you with your meds and everything else.