What does Burnout feel like ?

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Hi

I was curious to find out what ASD burnout feels like.

I think I may have had it over the years, but can't be sure.

I would welcome all personal experiences.

like anything on the autism spectrum it varies from person to person

it kind of mimics depression for me. i won't have the desire to talk to anyone or do anything productive until i start to feel better. it could come from working a 70 hour week, but 90% of the time, it comes from being overly social. after a party, or a long day with friends, or even a date, i just want to go crawl into my apartment and hide away from everyone for a few days.

it's really unpleasant, honestly. as long as i'm left alone, i usually get through it.

For me it was paralysis in a sense that I wanted to get things done and had little ability to start. More easily distracted and focus on special interests instead of things I needed to get done. Inability to think beyound the exact moment I was in. Very tired all the time yet I still stayed up all night persuing special interests.

^this is a very good description. If you don't know what it is, you can beat yourself up for your moral failings in being burnt out. And you can get depressed about that. Once you understand what's going on, you can just take care of yourself until you have recharged enough to deal with things again.

I don't think this term has a defined meaning and it is also used to describe a deeper burn out that comes later in life after years of enormous effort trying to compensate for autistic traits--there is a thread about this in the in-depth adult life forum. I find this somewhat terrifying.

How do you recharge and heal from burnout?

And if your executive function gets worse, how
to catch up?

I feel as if there's a downward spiral with times of burnout, cognitive, practical, social,
mood...entropy

It takes a good deal of wisdom to keep oneself healthy, especially with challenges, whether they be diabetes, minority status, or any sort of mental limitations.

Adult burnout is where you slowly become unable to perform up to your ability. It's a diminishment in motivation, planning, initiating action, energy, and so on. Sometimes it's a complete loss of function but more often it's partial.

How you turn it around is take much better care of your mental, emotional, physical, and social well-being. It means shedding toxic relationships and situations. Sometimes it involves completely dropping out of a career or a family for a while. Not everybody can come back from burnout, but some can It's better to avoid getting there in the first place.

Thanks BeaArthur

If the burnout was caused by not bieng oneself over an extended period of time unless real harm is occuring letting your autistic brain heal the way it needs to is the way to go. In some cases the real person has been buried so long a search for who you really are is needed. Another words it in many cases will take time.

Is there a difference between severe depression and a serious burnout.

Now I am questioning if I had a major depression or a major burnout.

It lasted over a year, during which time I became hyper focussed on my pc, spending upto 20 hours at a time
online chatting as if my life was wonderful at the same time as crying without realising I was crying.My hair was falling out and i couldnt care less. I stopped answering the door mostly and stopped answering the phone. I also stopped opening letters,

If I had to deal with outside people i could throw on a mask briefly and hide the turmoil.

I used to stay awake roughly 24 hours before I could sleep. At one point I stayed awake 3 days before sleeping.

I would have the odd functional day and sometimes a few functional days, but generally I was engrossed online.
Once my son run away with the modem so I called his school and had him sent home so I could have it. Another time I chased him up the street to get it from him and would of promised him anything. He was trying to snap me out of it.

When the washing piled up i threw out all the clothes and sheets and towels and got new ones.
When the dishes and pots piled up i threw them out too and bought paper plates and new pots.
At the time I felt this was perfectly fine.
Looking back I can laugh about it, and how insane it was.

When I did begin coming through the other end It took years to feel I was functioning normally.

After this time i would find myself exhausted every couple of months, and would take a few days to recover, sometimes
longer.

I read on my sons social workers paper that I had possible Bi Polar after telling her about the tiredness.
I have NEVER been tested for anything more than depression in my late 20s.

That really pissed me off that a social worker felt she could label me when the only problem I had was tiredness every couple of months.

Now i find myself getting more anxious these days but think thats something to do with the peri menopause, although
since considering lately that I may be on the ASD spectrum I feel anxious and tired and generally blah

Who thinks it was burnout and who thinks it was depression. I have no idea

I also would like to say that after this time in my life , I did feel much lighter and almost like a new person that I liked.
I spent a few years recovering from it with no outside help whatsoever.

Noura4eva, I'm unable to determine if it was one versus the other, any reason it couldn't be both?

The crying, social withdrawal, and sleep disturbance certainly sound like depression. The throwing out dishes and buying disposable ones, and weird interactions with your son about the modem, maybe more like burnout. I'm not sure it's necessary to decide which it was, you recognize now that that was no way to live.

With really good medical supports, possibly you would have healed faster than you did. I'm a person who probably has to take antidepressants the rest of my life. I have had good therapists too, although right now I'm debating if I need to replace the one who recently retired.

Thanks Bea,

I don't suppose it matters what it was. Either one or the other, brings me to where i am now.

And I am glad I get away from that dark place everyday.

Their are people in much worse places and much worse off.

I will go to my doctors on Monday and ask to be referred for an ASD assesment.

It feels like exhaustion and that I am relieved of finally getting a break. I am then able to begin recharging, only to enter burnout again, usually repeats over and over again after a day of school.