Is silence always a sign of avoidance or an unwillingness to express ourselves? Or can it play an important role in healthy relationships? — The silent treatment. You don’t even need to hear an explanation to know exactly what it means. It’s almost like we’re conditioned to assume that silence in our relationships is used as a weapon at best, or a major red flag of deeper underlying problems at worst. We worry that…

We’ve all heard the old adage: if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it. But could this mindset combined with a reluctance to share the cost of therapy sessions be causing more harm than good? — In recent years, we’ve seen a rise in online services offering ‘more affordable’ therapy sessions. With companies like Better Help offering to connect you with a therapist for regular sessions for £40 to £70 a week, in many ways, it’s great to start seeing companies making the cost of therapy…

Hands up if you’ve ever been called a picky eater. For those of us on the autistic spectrum, ‘picky eating’ can be a sign of something more serious — and more likely to be misunderstood. — I’ve been labelled as a picky eater since I was a child. My family liked to say I stopped trying new foods overnight and refused to eat any fruit and the majority of vegetables since. From my perspective, food textures have always been a challenge. I have a limited range…

Opening your inbox to find messages about writing shouldn’t be causing this much anxiety… — I’m not exactly what you would call a social butterfly at the best of times, but when it comes to social media? I dread getting personal/direct messages. Whether it’s Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or the occasional Instagram message, I know that if someone is reaching out to me, they’re going to…

Sometimes, it’s hard to tell the difference when you’re in the midst of feeling low — For me personally, 2022 has been a long year. Heck, for all of us collectively, it’s been a trying couple of years — it’s no wonder so many of us aren’t even sure if what we are feeling is stress or just the new normal. An eye-watering 74% of us…

Is autistic burnout different from neurotypical burnout? We share more about the signs, symptoms, and what you can do if you think you may be heading towards burnout. — A relatively recent area of study, the concept of autistic burnout, also known as autistic fatigue, was first brought to researchers' attention through having discussions with autistic individuals in-person and online. While research is still new, some are equating it to autistic meltdowns, where an individual may temporarily lose their…