Autistic people commonly live with complex trauma. The reasons Autistic people develop complex trauma are incredibly nuanced, however the purpose of this writing is to explain how Autistic people living with complex trauma can contribute to complications in being able to meet complex needs when Autistic burnout occurs. 

Complex trauma impacts every aspect of a survivors life. Structure (as in a job to go to 5 days a week) provides an area of focus for most of our waking hours. It requires planning, focus, concentration, goal setting, etc. which can keep us occupied and from ruminating on the past or re-experiencing traumatic events (for the most part). All of this is to explain how without structure in our daily lives, a person living with complex trauma can be more intensely affected by the impact of our complex trauma. 

Autistic burnout complicates this need for structure with complex trauma as generally, an Autistic person experiencing burnout will have far more difficulty accessing the ability to maintain a structured daily routine.

Please Note: Autistic people are also highly likely to be ADHDers so the routine and structure mentioned here  may be entirely different from a rigid structure folks often imagine when thinking about the definition of each term.

Complex Trauma and the Need for Structure

In this writing, “complex trauma” is used to mean the complex rewiring a persons brain and body experiences after living through prolonged traumatic experiences. Complex trauma is known to be experienced differently by those who live it from those living with trauma from single incidents or whose minds and bodies did not respond as intensely to prolonged experiences with traumatic situations.

One of the reasons we believe people living with complex trauma need structure is the need to know what to expect coupled with the need to have an area of focus so we are not pulled into our past traumatic experiences mentally, emotionally or physically. 

When a person living with complex trauma has an extended break from any sort of regular structure in their daily lives, it can bring on unprocessed traumatic reactions which can be difficult to support while in burnout. 

Autistic Need for Structure 

Autistic people need routine and structure due to needing to be prepared to adjust and adapt to the different tasks our brains need to switch cognitive sets to accomplish/access as well as to prepare for any known sensory changes and more.

One of the challenges experiences as an Autistic person living with complex trauma is how we can experience “living triggered” which is a term for when we experience heightened hypervigilance and other trauma reactions and responses for a period of several days to weeks at a time. This puts undue stress on an already overwhelmed Autistic mind and body…which can then contribute to a higher probability of experiencing burnout.

Autistic people living with complex trauma experience are also more like to experience Autistic burnout. Autistic people operating in a world not made to meet our needs can be enough to cause a bout of burnout, yet add on complex trauma and the whole system is more hyperwired and primed for exhaustion. 

Autistic burnout alone often benefits from rest and recovery time. Complex trauma can become more overwhelming to work through with time to think and feel without any structure to focus on or pull us out of our so-called “trauma reverie”. 

Complication of Supporting Complex Trauma and Autistic Burnout Needs

When we know we are experiencing both: a complex trauma reaction to a lack of structure as well as Autistic burnout need for rest and recovery, it can help to recognize what counts as rest and recovery for each individual (as this does differ and being activated by complex trauma reactions is neither restful nor supportive of recovery).

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More on how to assess for and support someone experiencing both Autistic burnout and complex trauma reactions to come in future blog posts.