Struggling with and Recovering From Autistic Burnout as a 20-Something

For the past several weeks I’ve been struggling with “autistic burnout.”

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The National Autistic society defines Autistic burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic life stress and a mismatch of expectations and abilities without adequate support. It is characterized by pervasive, long-term (typically 3+ months) exhaustion, loss of function, and reduced tolerance to stimulus,” (Source).

This can be, but is usually not, associated with work burnout. In fact, in my case, my work has nothing to do with my burnout at all. It’s everything else.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich

All of the Things

When I wake up in the morning I think of everything that has to be done in order to “get to work.” Mind you, I work from home, but I still have to:

• Get breakfast
• Decide what to wear
• Shower
• Brush my teeth
• Make the bed
• And so on,

until I can get to sitting at my desk with my laptop. All of this, while considered normal and easy tasks for neurotypicals, can be challenging…