Autistic Burnout? My 13yr old ASD son (very smart and social) has suffered from anxiety and depression the last 3yrs. He has just started his 6th medication (Zoloft), all previous ones have not helped, so far this one isn’t either but it is early days on it yet. He was always very overwhelmed after school after masking all day. Recently he had a couple of days off ‘sick’, since then he has refused to go back to school. That was almost 2 weeks ago now. I’m worried the longer he has off the harder it will be to go back. He says he is too anxious and depressed to go back. The school have been great and have given him a lot of options he can choose such as part days, not going to the classroom, listening to music in class, dropping a subject to allow more break time and less pressure (not that academics is an issue at all). Should I be focusing on getting him back (and keeping in touch with his friends at school) or should I be letting him have more time off? We have two weeks to go before a two week school holiday break. (Just to add - we are not in a position to homeschool) He won’t do anything all day at home, he sits there watching tv/his phone all day. He has no motivation to do anything else, says he feels sick at the thought of even getting up. Today I wanted him to return to school for a couple of hours (supported) but he refused. I took all electronics off him during school hours hoping it would at least motivate him to do something else, even go out to the backyard and get some fresh air and sunshine…. All he did was lay in bed under the covers or yell at me and tell me he wanted to kill himself (not the first time he has said this). He refuses to speak to a psychologist, he is under the care of a psychiatrist. What am I supposed to do? I’m totally lost and cry all the time.

Posted by NicoleE at 2023-04-03 12:33:58 UTC