What is Autistic Burnout?
When an autistic brain gets pushed too far, it pushes back.
Being autistic is a mixed bag. While I love and am grateful for many of my autistic traits, there are many aspects that are just plain symptoms; like sensory sensitivities, exhaustion, and executive dysfunction that limit my ability to participate in life.
And sometimes those unwanted autistic bits, the symptoms, shoot to completely unworkable levels due to overexertion — this is called autistic burnout.
In 2020, a study supported by the National Institute for Mental Health and conducted by AASPIRE finally provided a formal definition:
Autistic burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic life stress and a mismatch of expectations and abilities without adequate supports. It is characterized by pervasive, long-term (typically 3+ months) exhaustion, loss of function, and reduced tolerance to stimulus.
While the more commonly used meaning of burnout refers to occupational burnout, work-sourced depletion resulting in less ability to do it; autistic burnout is specific to Autists and comes from life demanding more than we can deliver without support (and support can be very hard to come by, especially for autistic adults).
