Things Unseen

woman in a white dress and veil standing in the forest

I thought doing a “challenge” would make me post watered-down stuff. HA. Nope. Thanks to people and life. I even have a gift! What? It’s just a worksheet-type thing. And it’s free and linked down below. Anyhow, here’s day 1 of the November Brain Dump Challenge. 


Regular people don’t dysregulate me anymore. It’s the people who are supposed to help, like doctors and people in charge of resources, who can mess me up. But it’s been less than 48 hours since the bad sleep consult. BUT she wasn’t mean. She just didn’t do her job adequately. She still doesn’t know I have RLS. And that’s kind of important. Guess she can’t handle “complex patients”. Join the doctor crew, just like everyone else. Take a number.

I also shouldn’t have had a late evening appointment. It was at 6 PM, and then I worked at 6 AM the next day. But I didn’t know it would be that traumatic. But really, I should have known. But I let the conventional thinkers mess up my daily experiences. 

When I’m dysregulated, I refuse to do anything hard. If something is harder than it has to be, I just say Oh well. It wasn’t meant to be. It’s like I’m saying, I’m not taking any more of your shit. I’ve been apathetic and not reacting or responding, but now you have gone too far. I’ll be back to taking your crap after my nervous system regulates in 48 hours. 

Most things only last 48 or so because I’m not forced into situations where I have to deal with their crap consistently. It happens once a month, and then I’m home. I wish it didn’t take me so long to “get over it,” though. I still have to work, and maybe I have to leave my house to run an errand.

If I could stay in bed, it would feel better, but it would probably still last 48 hours. It just wouldn’t take up so much energy. I don’t have any, and this takes out every single drop.

So, no, I don’t want to go to your doctor or get assistance because most likely I will deal with them, and then I’m left to deal with 2 days of what they might call, well, they are always wrong, so who cares what they say? It’s a reaction to a traumatic experience. But it’s not prolonged. It’s like a constant state of hyperarousal, and then an event happens, so my whole nervous system is dysregulated. 

I asked AI because my brain cells aren’t working properly. It’s called an acute stress response. Obviously. How could I forget? 

Acute Stress Response (ASR) – This refers to a short-term reaction to a traumatic or highly stressful event, often involving hyperarousal, dissociation, or physiological dysregulation. It tends to resolve within days or weeks once safety and stabilization are re-established.

I’ve a few of those only when I’m forced to be around people. (Not all the time, of course). In other words, I experienced a trauma activation leading to temporary nervous system dysregulation. Sounds fun, right? It is somewhat normal for me (being autistic and all), but I still have the same damn response, so I’m not sure it’s ever normal to my body.

Here’s an Understanding Nervous System Overload “worksheet.” You can view it here or download it for free if you’d like. No frills.

By the way, I got lost at the doctor’s office (because it’s in a huge hospital—NEVER AGAIN). So, my communication wasn’t the best, but at least I wasn’t nervous. LOL. What’s this called? Too stressed to be nervous? But whatever. Another bad doctor experience. No matter how many times it happens, I can’t seem to get used to it. I’ve been too conditioned, I guess.

So, my Halloween sucked. I only survived the past couple of days because I kept reminding myself that at least I’m off from my FT job on Monday. But I still have to work this weekend at my PT job, and since I went to the doctor, I have more work to do before Sunday night. It never ends when you’re not free. It never ends.

NBD Challenge

The November Brain Dump is a challenge I created for myself in 2025 because I’m notoriously bad at documenting things. This will get me to journal either here or in my private journal every day of November. There is no theme. On days when I have nothing to say, I’m tired, or my brain won’t work (common state of mind), I have a random list of prompts to choose from. Enjoy the NBD challenge. It’s no big deal.

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