Do you experience "social burnout?"

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Very much so.

Being in any kind of social setting tires me out and I can't wait to get back home. But if the social setting is INSIDE my own home I feel suffocated.

When I go to visit my mum (which is often), I feel suffocated by hearing people's voices first thing in the morning. I'm terrified of someone knocking on my door or asking me questions. I don't want to have to answer questions or interact with people first thing in the morning.

I only talk to people if I need something. I only go out with someone else if I need something from them or if I can't go out on my own (ie support workers). I don't socialise. Meeting up someone "for a chat over a coffee" would never happen in my world.

When I burn out I either get a migraine or my brain refuses to tackle tasks/interactions that are not one of my special interests. I have learned that it is completely useless to attempt to force myself to do certain activities that "need to be done" if I am in a state of burn out. My body won't cooperate.

I need alone time with one of my special interests to refuel before further social interaction.

I have learned to take social energy burn rate into account when planning my activities for the coming month/week/day. I associate different social energy burn rates with different people, organisations, and places. As a rule of thumb, interacting with two people at the same time is roughly twice as taxing as interacting with a single person. Additionally the social energy burn rate I associate with specific individuals varies by at least a factor of 10. Hence I am very selective about the people I spend time with.

I can relate to that. It is worthwhile to consider physically relocating to a community that operates on the fringe of society. Artists and eccentrics tend to cluster in certain communities, and it is worthwhile seeking out such places. In contrast, staying put in a social environment that has little tolerance for diversity in human behaviour, in the hope that one will be accepted over time, only leads to further disillusion and frustrations.

You know how people get hangover when they say they have been out drinking?.

Thats what i get from being outside and away from home.

I literally wake up with hangover the next day, unaceptable to even the simplest thoughts together, headache. dizzy. and such. Its absolutely horrible.

My brain is just totally zapped and drained for energy, only think that helps is just to go to bed and sleep another 10 hours to let it do clean up.

Its funny that our brain is supposed to adapt and get better, one thing i tried most of my life, was to see if it would get better, but infact for me it only gets worse.

Is there an Aspie who doesn't experience social burnout?

As an extremely introverted autistic, I would say that I probably experience social burnout to some degree almost daily (unless I opt not to leave the house for the day). When I do reach burnout I pretty much just shut down and become a walking zombie and my thoughts just get really foggy until I can go home and recover. It's definitely gotten a lot worse for me in the last couple of years... probably because I've had a lot of added social pressures from school/work.

Yes that's exactly what it's like, like a hangover.

I haven't experienced it in a while. I just get tired at the end of the day regardless. I find when I push myself to act unnaturally in social situations, I get very anxious and then that causes me burnout, but I don't do this self-pushing often.

I've been questioning whether I'm on the spectrum but then people question my questioning. Take this as you shall. I have undergone a very detailed assessment and will be getting my results soon. I seem to have all ASD-related characteristics except for the social anxiety/burnout/avoidance thing; whether it's to a clinical extent remains to be seen.

Edit: I must say I actually love socializing and being around people. My communication skills have become excellent as a result of experience, with lots of practice, although I was always quite verbal to begin with.

Yes, especially during the holidays. After three days of constantly hanging around relatives, I HAVE to take some time for myself.

Yes, but it often takes a few hours