The other day, I experienced what is often referred to as “hangry.” It is when you have not nourished yourself and therefore you can become irritated This can be more complicated when as an autistic individual you are unable to recognize internal signals of the need to nourish yourself and after many hours of letting it go until it becomes too late, and irritability sets in.

There is no doubt that I do acknowledge that I understand the factors of interoception as being autistic. However, as it was the other day, it can be a struggle when I do not adequately plan my day out to be properly nourished due to a bout of robust activity and as such it the scenario as being what is referred to as “hangry” settles in.

At this point, there can be no sense of rationality. Irritable emotions can settle in and while there is a need to find nourishment, it can only be done when it is feasible and as such things can be expressed and communicated that are not who we can really be as autistic people.

As much as I know the importance of making sure that I nourish myself on a regular schedule, there are times when there are other focuses harnessed in my brain and taking the time to nourish myself is not the top priority is not what is directly on my mind. As much as I know that it is a necessity to eat, I can be more attached to something that is more interesting to me than eating or making something to eat because of the steps involved.

However, there is a reality that eventually the negativity within us as autistic individuals will appear, and it can be something that has the potential to have irreversible effects because of the actions that are conducted by us. Not recognizing the need to take care of us as in anyone can lead yourself down a path that you may not have wanted to go down and while it may have been inconvenient to do something that you may have felt was not enjoyable, eventually it will pay off in dividends by you being well enough to get through the day in a proper fashion.

As hard as it can be as autistic individuals to be cognizant of our internal signals, it is ever more important to be sure that you are adequately taking care of yourself, including the need to properly nourish yourself at various intervals in to protect your emotional state and be the best that you can be.