Why Jet Lag Feels Like Chaos to Autistic and/or ADHDers
And what to do about it so you can enjoy your travels!
I just took a trip from Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) to Berlin (GER) and got officially rocked by some gnarly jet lag. I expected to feel simple exhaustion as I have on other overseas travel in the past, but this was the furthest time zone from my home that I had visited as an adult and what I experienced for my first two days after landing in Berlin felt more like extreme exhaustion met with dysregulation and discombobulation.
At one point during the first night in Berlin, I woke up from a long sleep and was standing in the middle of my hotel room desperately confused and trying to figure out if I was tired/awake/needed to use the bathroom/hungry/thirsty/needed a walk?! This continued for a couple of days, terrifying me in the moment and sparking my curiosity as I began to regain my bearings.
I decided to dig into why my experience with jet lag was so intense and how this may connect to my neurocompexity (and WTF to do about it next time!).