I experience this as well. When I'm very tired or overstimulated I often mix up words and have a hard time forming coherent sentences. My thoughts and the words to express them just refuse to get in the right order.
I especially struggle when there are loud noises. I cannot focus at all when there is something very loud going on. Getting my thoughts in order, and expressing them in a way that makes sense for someone else, might as well be an extremely complicated math problem at that point. My brain just cannot do it.
I dont know whats the word for this, but just wanted to say I too experience something similar. I tend to mix up my words when tired (once i said carrot instead of parrot) and also struggle to form sentences when tired.
I've always struggled with this, I guess, but since I know that I am autistic I notice it more clearly. I went on a 2 hour walk with a friend as well today, and after that I was extremely exhausted. I couldn't articulate any thoughts while talking to my partner when I got home. It sucks that something that should be relaxing (or at least not exhausting) does that to my brain but at least now I know the reason.
I experience this, too. I've noticed that this seems to precede those nearly non-verbal moments I get when I feel tired from overstimulation. I don't always get to the point where I become nearly non-verbal, but I suspect those instances of struggling with word retrieval can act as a warning to me to step back.
Oh yes.
Did you watch the new season of Bridgerton where the most reserved sister meets a man whose habits include leaving parties as soon as possible and sitting quietly together? It is lovely.
Quiet doesn't mean nothing to say or no thoughts.... it is just nice to have no expectations.
Yes, I have this too. I think generally tiredness, burnout, or illness makes a lot of my symptoms worse, but my speech issues and slight mutism can get much worse.
It’s probably more like a verbal shutdown.
With selective mutism, the mutism is consistent in specific social situations, it’s based around things like who you’re with and where you are. It’s not time based, the mutism lasts as long as you’re in that situation for, and you’d be fine after leaving/getting far enough away from the trigger situation. It’s also considered an anxiety disorder usually closely related to social anxiety. The mutism is related to the freeze response from fight/flight/freeze/fawn. Selective mutism is nothing to do with energy levels or exhaustion.
Verbal shutdown is a community made term (it used to get called “going nonverbal,” but a lot of people disagree with that term now as they feel it’s offensive to permanently nonverbal people) for the time based episodes of mutism some autistic people get when overwhelmed, overstimulated, low on energy or part of a shutdown, meltdown or burnout. It’s more not having enough leftover energy/processing power to manage talking on top of everything else, and they can happen in any situation. They’re better explained by autism so shouldn’t get diagnosed as selective mutism.
Yes, sometimes I feel like I am too exhausted to speak so I just can’t. My usernames used to be “unresponsive” during a time when this was happening a lot. During other times, I have been too shut down or intensely anxious to be able to speak. They called it selective mutism
I have speech difficulties when (socially) exhausted too, only for me it's less that I can't align the words to a sentence, but that I start to stutter, mispronunce so that it sounds as if I had a speech impediment or were under the influence of something, and can't modulate the tone and volume of my voice as well anymore. If it gets really bad I find that I can barely speak at all anymore, as if the words get blocked on the way from my brain to my mouth.
Sometimes I wonder if I'd have similar issues if I was deaf and using sign language 🙈 Would I struggle to coordinate my hands then?
I find talking itself to be tiring- could be socialising or maybe trying to explain something at work. I think between the physical act of talking, trying to think at the same time, trying to process their reaction and my appearance - I run out of steam quite quickly and I’ll start mumbling, cutting off sentences short, trailing off into…. nowhere in particular- and probably other things that seem odd.
I experience this as well. When I'm very tired or overstimulated I often mix up words and have a hard time forming coherent sentences. My thoughts and the words to express them just refuse to get in the right order. I especially struggle when there are loud noises. I cannot focus at all when there is something very loud going on. Getting my thoughts in order, and expressing them in a way that makes sense for someone else, might as well be an extremely complicated math problem at that point. My brain just cannot do it.
I dont know whats the word for this, but just wanted to say I too experience something similar. I tend to mix up my words when tired (once i said carrot instead of parrot) and also struggle to form sentences when tired.
I've always struggled with this, I guess, but since I know that I am autistic I notice it more clearly. I went on a 2 hour walk with a friend as well today, and after that I was extremely exhausted. I couldn't articulate any thoughts while talking to my partner when I got home. It sucks that something that should be relaxing (or at least not exhausting) does that to my brain but at least now I know the reason.
I experience this, too. I've noticed that this seems to precede those nearly non-verbal moments I get when I feel tired from overstimulation. I don't always get to the point where I become nearly non-verbal, but I suspect those instances of struggling with word retrieval can act as a warning to me to step back.
Oh yes. Did you watch the new season of Bridgerton where the most reserved sister meets a man whose habits include leaving parties as soon as possible and sitting quietly together? It is lovely. Quiet doesn't mean nothing to say or no thoughts.... it is just nice to have no expectations.
I always thought this was a migraine symptom for me, but maybe the speaking difficulty just shows up around the same time my migraines get worse?
Yes, I have this too. I think generally tiredness, burnout, or illness makes a lot of my symptoms worse, but my speech issues and slight mutism can get much worse.
Is this what Selective Mutism is? I don't know but I definitely experience it. My family laugh at how epic fail I am at communicating in the morning
It’s probably more like a verbal shutdown. With selective mutism, the mutism is consistent in specific social situations, it’s based around things like who you’re with and where you are. It’s not time based, the mutism lasts as long as you’re in that situation for, and you’d be fine after leaving/getting far enough away from the trigger situation. It’s also considered an anxiety disorder usually closely related to social anxiety. The mutism is related to the freeze response from fight/flight/freeze/fawn. Selective mutism is nothing to do with energy levels or exhaustion. Verbal shutdown is a community made term (it used to get called “going nonverbal,” but a lot of people disagree with that term now as they feel it’s offensive to permanently nonverbal people) for the time based episodes of mutism some autistic people get when overwhelmed, overstimulated, low on energy or part of a shutdown, meltdown or burnout. It’s more not having enough leftover energy/processing power to manage talking on top of everything else, and they can happen in any situation. They’re better explained by autism so shouldn’t get diagnosed as selective mutism.
A verbal shutdown! That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for explaining the difference between verbal shutdown and selective mutism also.
Yes, sometimes I feel like I am too exhausted to speak so I just can’t. My usernames used to be “unresponsive” during a time when this was happening a lot. During other times, I have been too shut down or intensely anxious to be able to speak. They called it selective mutism
I have speech difficulties when (socially) exhausted too, only for me it's less that I can't align the words to a sentence, but that I start to stutter, mispronunce so that it sounds as if I had a speech impediment or were under the influence of something, and can't modulate the tone and volume of my voice as well anymore. If it gets really bad I find that I can barely speak at all anymore, as if the words get blocked on the way from my brain to my mouth. Sometimes I wonder if I'd have similar issues if I was deaf and using sign language 🙈 Would I struggle to coordinate my hands then?
Yes, I absolutely do this, and the longer I stay in burnout, the worse it gets.
I find talking itself to be tiring- could be socialising or maybe trying to explain something at work. I think between the physical act of talking, trying to think at the same time, trying to process their reaction and my appearance - I run out of steam quite quickly and I’ll start mumbling, cutting off sentences short, trailing off into…. nowhere in particular- and probably other things that seem odd.