How ADHD Complicates Autistic Burnout Recovery
When I first learned about Autistic burnout, I thought I was just Autistic. I deep-dived into the research, wrote about it and pretty much absorbed it as part of my story.
Burnout is still part of my story, although these days I’m happy to say I’m avoiding it more than succumbing to it. It’s not because I’ve got better at managing it. I’m simply no longer capable of living the life I used to live and it’s a lot different now.
The story became more complex when I was diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago. When viewed purely through the prism of autism, burnout is caused by the effects of masking and cognitive and sensory overwhelm of neurotypical environments.
But when you factor in ADHD, it can be driven as much by what is going on internally.
I couldn’t figure out why it was just so hard to recover from burnout despite eliminating a bunch of stressful things from my life. I left a demanding job, cut toxic people out of my life and laid out boundaries all around me.
But I just couldn’t relax. I couldn’t let myself sink into the stillness that I thought I needed to recover. I thought that resting and doing the bare minimum was what would…
