Originally posted as a Twitter thread yesterday in response to the following post:

I wish more people understood that if you don’t stop and slow down when you need to, your body is eventually going to force you to slow down, and it might not let you go back to how you were before.

- Briana Mills (@theBrianaMills)


In my early twenties I was blazing fast at logical puzzles and coding. I loved my work and often worked overtime just because it was better than sitting home alone. I was undiagnosed and hit #autistic #burnout at least twice that I can identify now.

Then I got migraines.

It took a little over a year to reach the new normal with medication, and until then it was every other day, mild (for a migraine) but persistent. I got an MRI of my brain at some point early on during that process and the doctor pointed out the half dozen dark spots on it.

Each one, he told me, was the result of a series of migraines, or possibly one or two bad ones. They were places where a cluster of neurons literally burned themselves out, causing all the pain and other symptoms I felt.

Given that was early on, there are closer to a dozen now.

A dozen little dark spots in my brain where no activity happens anymore.

When I came out from under the migraines, I was… different. It took a while to really understand how and how much, but I was slower. All the same skills and knowledge and drive, but everything took longer.

I started from a higher bar than many, and am aided by my #autistic special interests and processing differences, so it is hard for other people to tell.

But I can tell.

Even ten years later, I can feel how much slower my brain works. It affects me every minute of my working day.

I don’t know if I could have prevented this by slowing down in that first job. But I didn’t, and it happened. And all I can say is:

Take it easy.

Don’t push yourself. Have a balanced life, and plan for the long game rather than quick wins. Because the consequences are real.


For more reading on the topic of Mental Health: click here


Interesting pattern I just noticed:

This is the third month in a row I posted on the 28th, and second month in a row that was my only post.

Take it easy.