Hi There,
I'm a doctor but I'm also a mum of 2 with a neurodivergent family ourselves. So I can tell you from both personal and years of professional experience that if you are neurodivergent, certain times of year can be tricky.
Especially if you also have another chronic health condition like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, anxiety or depression (or a combo of a few of these things like many of my patients!!) the transition into the autumn and especially during the month of October can come with a lot worsening health symptoms like:
For kids, it can look like:
Neurodiversity and the 'October Slide'
There is this phenomenon known as the 'October slide' ie where your health starts to 'slide' downwards with this particular seasonal change each year.
Changes in family routines, level of general busyness and the return to a hectic school or work day schedule can contribute.
If you are an adult, the October slide can worsen what are known as your boom-bust cycles, where you push too hard and then end up feeling less resilient, more fatigued and more symptomatic and need more rest time but instead of resting completely, you resume breakneck speed after you are only slightly better, leading to a fall further down the 'slide' again.
As far as biological mechanisms contributing to the October slide and burnout spike, things like barometric pressure changes leading to slight swelling in tendons/tissues (relevant if you have any sort of chronic pain condition!), less vitamin D and sunlight (which affects mood and energy), rushing more with meals and eating on the go more due to returning to hectic schedules (affecting the microbiome and brain-gut axis) and less physical outdoor activity and more time spent indoor with indoor air pollutants (like hidden mould in the home/workplace/school for example) may all contribute.
5 Strategies to Help Break the Boom-Bust Cycle
1. Pace Yourself Consistently-even on your good days
You can use the energy envelope technique to tune into pacing yourself, EVEN ON YOUR ‘BOOM’ DAYS WHEN YOU FEEL BEST. This means spreading out activities and rest periods evenly throughout the day and week as much as you can. Try to divide tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks and avoid trying to complete everything at once. If school or work days are particularly busy, try to leave room for more downtime at home. This is especially true if you’re sensory sensitive-your nervous system needs more downtime to calm back to a calm baseline and avoid chronic hyperarousal and high cortisol states.
2. Listen to Your Body
Learning to tune in to your body's signals is crucial. If you start to feel tired, achy, or mentally drained, it’s essential to rest before your symptoms escalate. It’s important to remember that rest is not a sign of weakness or being ‘selfish’ it’s taking care of yourself. If you are neurodivergent, you likely need more rest than other people and that’s ok!
Over time, you can expand your energy envelope to do gradually more as you recover but be gentle with yourself and patient with your progress. It has taken years to get to this stage and it may take months to get there but you CAN get better.
I find adding a biofeedback device to help with meditation/relaxation sessions is super helpful and something we do in our family at home. We also use an infrared sauna and breathing exercises in our family at home, just like I prescribe to patients.
3. Set Small Goals
Setting realistic and achievable goals for where you are at right now is important in avoiding overexertion. Instead of aiming to complete all your tasks in one go, focus on setting priorities and achieving small wins. This might mean revising your to-do list and recognizing that it's okay if some tasks need to wait. Set 2 priority tasks a day, 3 maximum and even one is a win on a not so good day. They can be small things, like going for a 5 minute walk or doing a breathing exercise or a small house or work related task that can be done in an hour or less.
For Kids & families, this may mean having less demands after school and leaving space for rest on the weekends by fitting less in, to have more 'lazy time' at home (which is not actually being lazy it's rejuvenating for the nervous systems of everyone in the family). We tend to prioritise endless productivity as a culture, it's something i really struggle with myself but I've learned that slowing down on the weekends as a family and personally is the way to keep everyone sane, happy and healthy as the colder darker days approach.
Many neurodivergent people can experience rejection sensitivity dysmorphia and an element of demand avoidance or PDA, which are both things that can make too many demands (from ourselves and from others) overwhelming for our brains, leading to shutdowns, meltdowns and more fatigue and avoidance.
4. Create a Scaled-Back Routine thats’ Stick-to-able
Establishing a daily routine that balances activity and rest can help your body adjust to a more consistent energy output. Try to avoid overly complex routines or have a ‘scaled back’ routine you can still stick to when you have a ‘bust’ day to avoid overwhelm and then feeling like you have ‘failed.’
Consistency in your routine including the time you turn off screens, get to bed and wake up, eating times and relaxation time can help maintain a more stable level of energy both mentally and physically. If you fall off the wagon, it’s ok it means you are HUMAN! Your brain learns each time you get back onto your routine and you can recover quicker each time. If you are neurodivergent, you probably tend to
5. Accept Help
Accepting help in whatever form it comes your way is an important part of breaking the boom bust cycle and managing an October slide. Having compassion for ourselves is often much harder than having compassion for others, and accepting help can feel hard at first. But we cannot heal and recover in isolation.
Help may also look like using tools like relaxation and vagal tone balancing devices, listening to music to get into a different state or getting a meal delivery service for a few meals a weeks to help conserve energy while still eating healthily (I'm a fan of Field Doctor meal delivery if you are in the UK!).
Partnering with a doctor who understands these conditions to create a personalised plan to avoid the boom-bust cycle can also make a huge difference. This might include a combination of novel medicines, supplements, nutritional medicine, holistic medication management, mindbody practices, and functional medicine to remove the roadblocks to healing and getting caught in prolonged ‘busts.’
Although there is SO much information online, sifting through it and coaching yourself is pretty tough/next to impossible without support and knowing when to do what and for how long so you are not constantly guessing AND trying to manage your health while also trying to heal.
Start Breaking the Cycle Now
If you are curious about or looking for 1-1 support and care to help break out of boom-bust cycles and recover from chronic illness or autistic burnout, we are here to help.
I look forward to sharing more about how we can help you improve your quality of life and find relief. I'm glad you're here!
Best wishes,
Dani x
Dr. Dani Gordon MD
Founder & Medical Director
The London Resilience Clinic