Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Flight Crew Private; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 22; Flight Crew Total 517; Flight Crew Type 82
Distraction; Fatigue; Human-Machine Interface; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Human Factors; Weather
I believe there was an escalating chain of events that began on the morning of this Flight:1)	Being a little tired departing despite having 7.5 hours of sleep the night before;2)	The adrenaline of an earlier missed approach at destination because the ceiling was less than the reported 300 feet;3)	Rushing the approach to the KMQY alternate rather than remaining in the hold to properly program and brief the new approach;4)	Departing KMQY after a two hour rest;5)	Putting the autopilot in heading mode during the climb out in IMC and trimming the aircraft for the climb;6)	Likely an accidental disconnect of the autopilot to acknowledge cleared direct; although at the time; I thought the autopilot was acting erratically;7)	Getting distracted by my inability to comply with ATC's instructions to the point of nearly forgetting to fly the plane.The aircraft's Push To Talk switch is immediately above the autopilot disconnect switch on the left side of the yoke. The distraction could have ended really badly since it was solid IMC and I was only about 2400 feet AGL. About the only thing I did right was recovering from unusual attitudes in IMC. I was quite rattled after that; used PIC emergency authority in response to the controller's question; and was vectored back to KMQY Runway 19. KMQY emergency services personnel checked me out after the landing. I phoned ATC as requested by the ground controller and offered my sincere thanks to the controller who vectored me back to the airport.The avionics shop checked out the autopilot the next day and confirmed that it was working. Phone calls to pilot friends helped me to think about what happened; and I agreed there was likely an accidental disconnect of the autopilot. I resumed my journey to after a day's rest while waiting for severe weather to pass to the east; as well as to wait for the ceiling to increase. The remaining flights were completed without any deviations. I resolve not to fly in IMC when even slightly tired. This experience was a never to be forgotten lesson about the importance of flying the plane above all else; and the additional risks inherent in departures with low ceilings.
C182 pilot reported a loss of aircraft control in IMC; low altitude and fatigued state. Pilot recognized autopilot mismanagement; failure to aviate first in IMC; and created emergency situation.