[novok]

You linking depression and exhaustion to this dysregulation state and the cure being sleep related sounds like your describing a really bad case of sleep deprivation. But I also get the sense that it is not that? And somehow related to autism and you can recognize people in that kind of state based on their word choice? Like if they could sleep a lot and go camping in nature with not many people and not many expectations for a month and avoid overstimulation, would a lot of these problems clear then?

[AussieWog93]

I think you're not 100% wrong - it was chronic sleep deprivation.

Where the Autism comes in, though, is that a young person on the spectrum won't know how to recognise internal signs that they need to sleep, possibly won't even understand that they need to sleep (unless they've explicitly read/been told about sleep health/hygeine), and likely have difficulty sleeping as is.

The net result is, where a neurotypical person would just realise the early warning signs and slow down/go to bed earlier, the Autistic person can literally continue to ruin their mental health for a decade or more without ever putting two and two together.

The reason I specifically mentioned the Autism rather than the sleep deprivation is that this failing to meet needs can occur in many aspects of one's life and present itself in weird ways. You might see Autistics socially isolate themselves for years on end, then assume that the reason they're plagued with depression and anxiety is because they're not getting laid.

> Like if they could sleep a lot and go camping in nature with not many people and not many expectations for a month and avoid overstimulation, would a lot of these problems clear then?

Do you have a kid in a situation like this? Getting away from technology would probably be an effective treatment temporarily, but you'd need to follow it up with solid, rigorous information about sleep hygeine and its importance.

[marginalia_nu]

Stress can also be a factor in this.

Poor sleep leads to worse stress regulation (also in neurotypical people), and chronic stress leads to difficulties in situational and bodily awareness, which leads to poor sleep hygiene, which reinforces the stress regulation problems, rinse and repeat until your life is in ruins.

[novok]

I personally don't have a kid or know of one with ASD, but I was putting a bunch of previous info in my head plus what you describe as a potential solution. AFAIK ASD often comes with sensory processing issues, within and without as you described.

So by putting someone in nature, which can be sensorily calming for some, along with the social expectations and such, and nature being known to help people's sleep I would put it all together with what I suggested.

For me it would more be a debugging thing. Like if sleep in nature worked, then that is a hint, if it didn't and an indoor equivalent didn't work, since for some the nature stuff can be anxiety provoking for other reasons, then it's something else, etc.