Is this feeling related to Autism?

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I constantly feel tired, disconnected and... How should I put this? High. I don't really use drugs, so there is no reason for me to feel this way - but there's always a sense of unreality and dream-likeness to everything. It's extremely demoralising and I feel like I'm going insane. I want to talk to someone about this but I have absolutely no idea what would help. I want my life back, and I want to feel NORMAL again.

Can anybody offer advice or is this just going to be ignored just like everything else I say here?

I often get similar when I've overstretched myself, when I questioned an ASD Specialist on it they said it was a fairly normal shut-down type defense against sensory overload.

Try to figure out what might be overloading you and try to take a break from it.
If it carries on though, or if you are very worried it may be best to see a doctor.

Edit: I agree with the poster below that a lack of sleep may be contributing.

Last edited by crookedfingers on 27 Jul 2012, 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

High? Unreality? That's interesting. That could be any number of things, couldn't it? Like, a severe manic episode, or lack of proper REM sleep. Do you not sleep well? Are you manic-depressive?

I'm not manic depressive. I've gone through a loss recently and this could be grief, but I'm actually not getting upset or thinking about the person I just lost. It's like these feelings are just HAPPENING to me, as if I'm some sort of puppet or toy.

Oh, I missed the point, nvm.

Last edited by Nonperson on 27 Jul 2012, 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

Grief can do some odd things to people, it could be the cause, if so its best to take plenty of time for yourself and let it run it's course.
Of course, it is probably best to keep in contact with someone you can talk to if you can.
Dreamlike would be a good description of my first initial experience of grief. I had to literally be dragged away from work and spent the rest of the time in a daze.

It sounds like depression to me,this winter I started to feel weird,it's hard to explain,I felt really tired and like I was in an altered state like I was slowly drifting away and my consciousness was barely attached and I could barely look or talk to anyone.I've had depressions all my life but this was a monster,it had settled in for the long haul.I was in a fog like state,I could look at a picture of say a horse and my brain would take forever to recognize what that was,like a computer that loads real slow.I thought I must have a brain tumor or a serious illness because why else would I feel so bad.I decided to go back on Lexapro and I'm slowly getting better.I felt like I was at zero and heading toward the negatives.

Sounds like what I refer to as the floaty feeling, except I only get that for a few hours after reading poetry or poetic-style writing.

Before I knew what aspergers was (and, as such, that it was me) I would describe my state of mind (that I knew was somehow different) as pulled back from life, distanced as an observer. I actually embraced it, watching people and learning as much as I could, thinking of it like the levels of khef as described in the original version of The Gunslinger by Stephen King. In the highest levels of khef, it was said that one could watch one's own body wither away with thirst and hunger without feeling it. It's funny how WP has now convinced me that the disconnect from the world is mostly aspergers and taught me that my ability to watch my body become hurt and starved is a facet of terrible interoception xd

I'm like this all the time! expetialy when I have anxiety [I'm almost always in a state of anxiety ] or over stimulated, its driving me mad!

Psychocandy,
There is actually a shock reaction that can happen at times of extreme emotional upset. I forget what it's called but it happened to my husband when he was 12 and his mother died. He said he felt like he was totally detached from reality and like he was walking a foot above the floor. I don't think it lasted very long but maybe this is related to what you are going through.

I get like that often. I've tried to pinpoint what's going on, but by far the best way for me to avoid it is to be mindful of my fluid and food intake. My parents laugh about my stomach telling me it's time for lunch or an afternoon cuppa. But, if I go over the reasonable time period, I start to get moody or feel like I'm in a dream. If I'm still looking for somewhere to get food, while I'm in that state, I start to feel panicky. Maybe I have blood sugar problems (type 2 diabetes runs in my family, among slim folk). I really should get it checked out. I also have cyclical depression (which is becoming more and more obvious to me) and can be 'high' for no reason too. How I react to comedy shows is a tell-tale sign that something is out of whack. I doubt I'm bipolar, as I don't lose touch with reality. It's nothing like the bipolar episodes my auntie had. BTW She had type 2 diabetes and she was skinny.