Currently I’m preferring to spend a lot of time on my own, which most people would say is unhealthy but I have the opposite view on the situation.
I work in a busy, loud, bright environment so I don’t want to spend my spare time in a busy, loud, bright environment. I want to go home, put on my pjs and read before having an early night.
I decided to go bowling with work friends for our after-Christmas party because I had the weekend off to relax and recharge before going so I didn’t see the harm. I actually really enjoyed it, laughed a lot and still only stayed out for around 3 hours. While being out I felt fine, had a couple of drinks, ate some food and talked a lot.
I didn’t expect to feel like I had been hit with a sledgehammer once I was home though.
I was fine when I got in. I got into my onesie and had a cup of tea but half an hour later my whole body was in distress. I couldn’t stand the feel of my onesie, it felt too constricting, I didn’t want to keep my eyes open because the light was too bright and the taste of tea in my mouth was too much to handle. I was lucky that I was out for the evening rather than earlier or I would have been in a worse condition. I was able to get myself upstairs, brush my teeth, change into looser pjs and get into my bed in the dark. I immediately started to feel much better and woke up feeling fine again after a good nights sleep.
This is the first time I have experienced a social hangover and known what it was and how to cope with it. I spent many years pushing myself to be a normal, out going person and it just made me ill for a long time. Having more knowledge about what causes how I am and how I react has meant I’m able to notice when something starts changing and can deal with it on my own.
Adult With Autism 