As a Clinical Psychologist specialising in Autistic Burnout I’m always writing about things that help people in Autistic Burnout, I base this on the limited research evidence, the experiences of my previous and current clients, myself and things that we know from the research evidence might help Autistic people more generally.
I thought it was time for a change so last week I asked my mailing list community if they would be happy to share what has helped or is helping them to recover from Autistic Burnout.
I received 40 responses to my email, and have organised them (imperfectly) by theme for you to read here, I have preserved the writers’ language and style of writing and have only removed details that might potentially make the person individually identifiable.
I know that as a community we have a very diverse set of needs and experiences so what helps one person may well not help another, however, I hope that reading this will inspire you to think about what would help you personally to recover from or avoid Autistic Burnout.
There is alot of data here, so please feel free to skim the key themes and only read what feels helpful to dive into right now.
To summarise, the most frequently cited strategies were sensory regulation, sleep, therapy, and self-compassion. Nature and gentle activities were often mentioned and feature in multiple themes. Boundaries, energy accounting, and reducing demands were consistently mentioned across lifestyle and work adjustments.
Theme 1: Rest & Downtime
Sub-theme: Sleep
“I also had to sleep a hell of a lot, listen to my body and lay down when I felt the last of my energy drain.”
“Sleeping a lot”
“Sleep really helped me recover a lot! Unfortunately that’s hard for some people to find enough time for that, but it was so important to my recovery. This included getting 9-11 hours a night plus naps during the day. And not naps where you lie in bed for half the time playing on your phone, but actual honest-to-goodness full-on sleeping during the day time for 1-2 hours at a time. Adding a weighted blanket and a sleep mask to my sleep routine also helped me feel comforted and safe.”
“Getting the sleep i need, eating healthy and exercising”
“Getting good quality sleep and rest, getting enough of it too, sometimes it might mean I need 10-12 hours if I’m in Autistic Burnout and struggling to process everything about the world.”
Sub-theme: Downtime / Doing Less
“Saying no to all social interactions. Restricting interactions to WhatsApp and professional work.”
“Being on sick leave. I could never accomplish anything if I had been forced to keep working. I really needed to be cut loose from my work in order to start the road towards recovery.”
“Having no responsibilities. I was in the privileged position where I could come home from university for a 6-month-summer and live with my parents. I didn’t have a job, nor university to attend, nor many responsibilities in my personal life (such as cooking, and doing daily tasks like cleaning or washing) to attend to. Whilst this was really weird, it was definitely necessary for the recovery as I needed deep rest. I highly doubt I would have recovered – even partially – from my severe physical symptoms without this.”
“I was given the advice of surrendering to the burnout process rather than trying to get better. This really helped me as I think giving myself permission to do absolutely nothing stopped the stress response and I slowly but surely started to recover naturally.”
“Scheduling a week off to just be a potato.”
“Self compassion allows me to deeply rest, let go of the relentless slave master that is perfectionism – otherwise the internalised hyperactivity will start making to do lists like crazy if “there’s nothing to do”.”
Sub-theme: Quiet / Solitude
“Silence and rain sounds whenever I find time.”
“I did a silent retreat. I found a place run by nuns, so it was relatively inexpensive. There were about five rustic cabins in the woods. They were spaced far enough away from each other that I did not see anyone else the entire time. There was no television, no radio, and no Internet connection. The cabin had a screened porch where I could sit and listen to the wind in the leaves and the birds. There were walking paths through the woods, and I saw deer each day. When I arrived, I turned my phone off and locked it in the trunk of the car. I brought a stack of books and food that was easy to prepare with little work. I spent my days drinking tea, walking in the woods, listening to the birds, and reading late into the night. I spent three nights and four days there. It was the break I needed. When I got home, I found my concentration, memory, and ability to interact with others were all greatly improved.”
“Being in an online community of others who get it and remind me to rest and share in the grief of having to rest in an ableist world that can view rest as lazy.”
“Mostly, I have to be patient. And that’s very hard. I don’t have a remedy for my own but I feel they have helped assuage some discomfort and acuity. And in burnout, that’s good enough.”
“I constantly try and attend to my sensory needs, I have my toolkit written on a post-it note and I always try and have at least 1 thing present in my environment: for example a hot water bottle, a hot tea, my weighted blanket, a song I like on repeat, a candle making a pleasant smell etc.”
Theme 2: Sensory Regulation & Environment
Sub-theme: Lighting / Visual Input
“Switching off the ghastly white tube light in my workspace and using dimmed lights or darkness.”
“I also keep the lights as dim as possible, if I can’t see all the details in the room my brain has less input to process.”
Sub-theme: Sound / Auditory Input
“Silence and rain sounds whenever I find time.”
“I used to always have a background music, but I realized it was an extra thing my brain needed to process, making it more tired. I deleted my Playlist and now I enjoy the silence.”
“Reading in absolute silence (pretty acute auditory sensory issues).”
“I put music in my ears, sink back in the comfy chair in our conservatory, shut my eyes and let my brain transport itself to it’s happy place where it can rest and recuperate. I’ve been doing this on a daily basis for about 3 years now and it seems to have a ‘preventative’ effect in terms of being a daily treatment to avoid any future burnout.”
Sub-theme: Physical Sensory Input
“Cold water showers and massage.”
“Fresh air and breath work.”
“Introducing sensory accommodations for the first time in my life. Whilst I have had some mild sensory sensitivities my whole life, I rarely noticed them pre-burnout. Over the last 4 years, I started to notice them becoming issues, and they were worse than ever last year. I started using loop earplugs, fidget tools, weighted items, and tinted glasses filters. Even dressing in a more sensory-friendly way helped/helps me to get through tougher days without tipping too far into overwhelm and exhaustion. I still use these routinely, even though my sensory threshold has improved a bit.”
“Listening to a lot of music if I can remember because it helps me feel something which seems to make me feel a bit better. Even just for a little while.”
Theme 3: Self-Compassion & Acceptance
Sub-theme: Self-Compassion
“What is helping me recover from autistic burnout is a lot of self compassion and radical acceptance which gave me the space to acknowledge how I’m actually doing and do the brave thing — asking for help + making small changes that are creating a more sustainable life for me.”
“Self compassion allows me to deeply rest, let go of the relentless slave master that is perfectionism – otherwise the internalised hyperactivity will start making to do lists like crazy if “there’s nothing to do”.”
“Self compassion when I feel guilt and shame for not meeting my own expectations.”
- “Medication. When my emotional symptoms were at their worst, I started a small dose of Citalopram. This helped massively with my constant state of overwhelm, numbness, and anxiety. It helped take the edge off of my already pretty significant collection of symptoms. It was not a magic cure, but it certainly helped make things a tad more manageable when I had to keep pushing through my burnout in order to finish year 1 of university”
Sub-theme: Acceptance of Limitations
“Reducing expectations of myself and demands on myself.”
“Acknowledging my limitations e.g. going for an easy craft project instead of beating myself up about leaving aside the intricate one I don’t have the internal resources for. The joy from the easy one is more accessible right now.”
“Learning about the different types of energy capacities I have (social, physical, cognitive). Coming to accept my current energy capacities are just how they are in this moment and this will fluctuate and change.”
“Ultimately it’s about being honest with yourself that you need to step away from life, if you can, to heal and understand how to recover from your own autistic burnout. Each individual is unique on the spectrum of neurodivergence and therefore what may work for one person may not be the same for another.”
Sub-theme: Radical Acceptance of Burnout
“You’ve talked about this before, but one thing that helped was when I realized that it WAS burnout. Understanding that it was burnout, reading a bit about the biochemistry of burnout, realizing that it could end, having some understanding of how recovery could happen. This removed the terrible anxiety of wondering what on earth was happening to me – anxiety that only made everything worse and recovery harder.”
“I was given the advice of surrendering to the burnout process rather than trying to get better. This really helped me as I think giving myself permission to do absolutely nothing stopped the stress response and I slowly but surely started to recover naturally.”
Theme 4: Support & Therapy
Sub-theme: Professional Support
“What helps me recovering from burn-out (helps instead of helped because I’m still very much in burn-out), is my coach. She is specialised in autism and autism burnouts and I’m so very lucky to have her. She has helped me by making an overview of my life up till now. Which helped me realize how I burned out (years and years of masking, trying to fit in by living at the pace of everyone around me). And she helps me to notice what signals my body gives, that I should pay attention to (elevated heartrate, shortness of breath, sense of urgency). I know better now when to take a break. And I’m slowly learning to trust myself and my own judgement and to not care too much about other people their opinions. The most important thing I learned has been this: because my brain thinks associatively, I tend to mix things up when I’m tired or emotional. For example, when I feel sad about the passing of a loved one, this can quickly spiral to thinking I have no one left who loves me and I’ll be forever alone. I now recognize when this happens and can look at it from a ‘meta’ perspective: “oh, here I go again”. Which helps me to take the feeling seriously but to not give it too much importance to get swept up in it.”
“Finding a TRE practitioner really helped me. I only needed one session, which seemed to reset my nervous system which had got stuck in fight or flight, and since then it’s something I’ve been able to do on my own, although the effect is not as strong when doing it on my own and the practitioner said that is quite often the case. Just a word of caution – if you’re hypermobile it is worth mentioning this to a TRE practitioner, as you may find the shaking an issue. I have noticed back pain and stiffness sometimes afterwards.”
“I’ve also been doing things to help my nervous system and the vagus nerve – EMDR, EFT, humming bee breath for 10 minutes a day, meditation and mindfulness, being in nature, ditching Instagram.”
- “Reaching out for support. Since my diagnosis and seeing the extent of damage that burnout could do to me, I looked for support anywhere and everywhere I could. This was weird for me because it felt super unfamiliar (as I have always been ‘high functioning’ and never needed support before), but it has been so rewarding. This has taken all kinds of forms; from applying for DSA (which provided me with helpful software and mentoring services for university), to purchasing a sunflower lanyard, to reaching out to key individuals to inform them of my diagnosis and burnout (e.g. lecturers, doctors, friends, etc), to accessing private therapy. I would not have felt able to return to university this year without many of these supports”
“Acceptance can only come with time and a good therapist, and acceptance is key. It’s not easy though when we’re in a world surrounded by messages telling us there is one way of being, but that way doesn’t work for us neurodivergent folk. I’m getting there, but it’s a slow process.”
“Being referred to a psychiatrist who listened and found a plan that has taken my anxiety down just a notch has given me that little extra bandwidth and ability to function.”
“Regular acupuncture, counselling and taking my time to express what’s going on internally with people I feel safe with and who I know will listen and understand.”
“Medication. When my emotional symptoms were at their worst, I started a small dose of Citalopram. This helped massively with my constant state of overwhelm, numbness, and anxiety. It helped take the edge off of my already pretty significant collection of symptoms. It was not a magic cure, but it certainly helped make things a tad more manageable when I had to keep pushing through my burnout in order to finish year 1 of university.”
Sub-theme: Peer / Community Support
“Being in an online community of others who get it and remind me to rest and share in the grief of having to rest in an ableist world that can view rest as lazy.”
“Joining an online community like Authenticity – this made me feel less alone and also like I wasn’t losing my mind because I didn’t know any other neurodivergent adults IRL apart from my therapist whom I meet online weekly. Seeing real adults post about being in autistic burnout and expressing their struggles didn’t only validate my experiences but it also gave me the confidence that I was on the right track to recover and to trust in the process.l, even when things felt teh opposite on some days.”
“Connecting with other AuDHDers”
“Finding places where you feel alive and where you feel you belong and where you don’t feel you need to explain all the time or change who you are, finding your people, a support network.”
“Leaning on the support of loved ones (family and friends) and trusted colleagues – being on honest on my struggles and what they can do to support. Since I live overseas, I was unable to get in person support from my loved ones. My request for support was to be less in contact for a while or reply periodically instead of instantly to text messages.”
- “Understanding and accepting that connection with others doesn’t have to be face-to-face”
Sub-theme: Mentorship / Coaching
“My coach. She is specialised in autism and autism burnouts and I’m so very lucky to have her. She has helped me by making an overview of my life up till now. Which helped me realize how I burned out (years and years of masking, trying to fit in by living at the pace of everyone around me). And she helps me to notice what signals my body gives, that I should pay attention to (elevated heartrate, shortness of breath, sense of urgency). I know better now when to take a break. And I’m slowly learning to trust myself and my own judgement and to not care too much about other people their opinions.”
Theme 5: Lifestyle & Boundaries
Sub-theme: Reducing Demands / Slowing Down
“Reducing demands: stopping work for 4 months, getting help with tasks”
“Slowing down. I did everything quickly, efficiently, whether I wanted or not. I was told that I had to learn to behave like a 90 year old lady (I am 60). To do things slowly, calmly, deliberately. It was a huge challenge: to walk the dog slowly, to clean out the dishwasher without being efficient, to clean the house without a hurry. I was so programmed to do things efficiently, in order to… to what? Save time? Even when I was on sick leave and had no work, with no obligations? It took me more than 3 months to finally come to a slower pace when “doing” things.”
“Continually lowering my expectations until I can meet them. E.g. the housework simply stays undone until my husband does it or I happen to have the energy and motivation to do something. This violates my own standards of how clean my house should be, but it’s how things have to be until I get better. I’ve also allowed myself to be isolated, which normally I never would, as social interactions are far too draining and I have to save my energy for unavoidable, required interactions.”
Sub-theme: Energy Management / Self-Monitoring
“Managing my energy levels by getting real about my limits.”
- “Ensuring I have routines in place for returning to university. Last year, I had no routine and my life felt chronically overwhelming and like chaos. This year, I knew more what to expect and therefore could intentionally plan to introduce routines. Now I have a morning routine to get me to university on time every day, a house timetable with my housemates for cooking meals, and weekly designated ‘days’ for tasks like food shopping, cleaning, washing, etc. I know my work time/leisure time rhythm much more. This has made all the difference in making my life feel manageable. Whilst I was not in a position to enforce this last year, when my cognitive skills had pretty much vanished; it has saved me in returning to every-day-life. I also recognise that my housemates (and friends) have been amazing in making this happen”
“Applying the principles of energy accounting (I’m lucky to be familiar with this as I sometimes work with people with neurological conditions such as stroke on fatigue management, but you’ve helped me consider how to apply this to my own life e.g. scheduling rest before and after tiring activities)”
“Understanding and accepting that connection with others doesn’t have to be face-to-face”
“Learning about the different types of energy capacities I have (social, physical, cognitive). Coming to accept my current energy capacities are just how they are in this moment and this will fluctuate and change.”
“Trying to make life more sustainable by working out what is depleting me and pushing me beyond my limits time and time again and what needs to change and then working on little changes towards a more sustainable life that’s accessible and works for me.”
- “Resting. Even when I was able to leave the house and do things, or go on a few short trips during the summer, I made sure I had time to rest. I have never been big on napping (or rest, for that matter), but I simply could not have coped with days out or events – or even spending time on hobbies at home – if I didn’t allow myself to lay down in between, before, and after tasks. Just laying in a dark room with some familiar music playing worked wonders, especially in the earlier days of (more severe) burnout when even watching tv could feel overwhelming”
Sub-theme: Boundaries
“Having good boundaries to be able to maintain these things and not worrying about other people’s judgements of what I “should ” be doing.”
“Eradicating harmful people from my life, people who don’t have my best interests at heart, who think I need to be ‘fixed’, ‘cured’ or ‘changed’, who are not willing to acknowledge my support needs or diagnosis.”
“Working on unmasking as much as possible around safe people and having safe places where I’m able to unmask even if it’s not around other people at the moment.”
“Not being afraid to use the aids that make my life easier or meet my sensory needs”
- “It’s been both an interesting and challenging journey. I have experienced fallouts in friendships including one rupture. I’m still learning a lot about myself and how to live more authentically in my newly discovered identity as an adult autistic person. This includes knowing what I am willing to accept in a relationship vs what my non-negotiables, like no longer sacrificing my own needs to support others (something I constantly did in the last because I thought it that’s what a good friend is supposed to do)”
Theme 6: Work & Life Changes
Sub-theme: Job / Career Adjustments
“Leaving my office job after pushing through for 25 years”
“Changing jobs to work for a neurodivergent boss.”
“Reducing my work hours to less than I ever thought I would, and accepting the financial limits that places on me.”
“Taking time off from work to recuperate – I was incapable of functioning at any capacity and was constantly having unexpected meltdowns from sensory overload.”
“Letter from my therapist advising that I was in autistic burnout and what kind of support from my employers would help – this enabled me to the time off I needed.”
“Firstly, me and my husband decided to have our own separate bedrooms. It works so well! I now have my own perfect environment to retreat into. I also sleep much better now which I think helps with the burnout too. Secondly, I quit my job! I was working in hospitality. I left, and now work from home part-time. I’m very lucky that I am able to do this, and appreciate it’s not possible for everyone.”
Sub-theme: Micro Life Adjustments
“Change, in general, can be quite hard to embrace for any autistic person. However, one of the many things that I have been doing to try and help myself is to change something small in order to bring myself out of the oppressive feeling of burnout. For example, whilst driving to work I would always listen to the radio – I have done so for the past 25 years! I would arrive at work and struggle to recall some of the music that I had just listened to for the last 50 minutes – it would just become part of my morning routine. I have changed this by putting together a playlist and being a bit more selective about the sounds that I would allow myself to hear and I have noticed a small change in my mood. It might be in acknowledgement that I am taking control of the situation – but either way, I have found that I am enjoying (and allowing myself to enjoy) my journeys to and from work. I don’t ever think that there is one thing that you can do and find that you are out of the burnout situation… but this micro changes are allowing me to see what happens – and if it is not good, they are not too difficult to put back to how they were before.”
“Negotiating kitchen duties with my sibling so we both get to do things we like better. Which reduces stress around meals and cleaning.”
“Asking a friend or hiring a service for home / work tasks I can’t do alone or need support doing.”
“Choosing meals that are quick to make (or ordering takeout)”
“Scheduling a week off to just be a potato.”
- “Rarely using my energy on going to the supermarket; getting groceries (including very quick and ready meals) delivered”
“Reducing the number of days I work and using Mondays for ‘life admin’ and appointments; avoiding scheduling more than one appointment a week wherever possible”
Theme 7: Special Interests & Activities
Sub-theme: Hyperfocus / Enjoyable Activities
“Doing things I enjoy like stimming, listening to audiobooks, watching movies.”
- “Ive been struggling with Burnout for a while now, and I’ve found that returning to old hyperfixations has really helped – for me this is usually gaming. Having that escapism really helps with the anxiety of ‘I should be feeling better, so much time has passed’. I’ve also recently gotten into knitting with my mum, and having something repetitive to do whilst talking about anxieties or just random topics helps a lot as well”
“Throwing myself into my special interests”
“Finding the right balance between being stimulated enough and keeping my brain busy that I’m not bored which is physically painful and not becoming overstimulated with too much information to process that I’m beyond exhausted, overwhelmed and distressed”
“Spending time on special interests, things that give me Autistic joy and make me come alive.”
“Hyperfocus on things I enjoy (video games, books, Netflix) that don’t take much mental energy. I have had to scale down and switch from games that are too intensive (like my favorite MMORPG with real-time combat) to simpler mobile games, and from books with complex plots to ones that are straightforward and easy to read.”
“Diving into activism on a topic I am passionate about. I was worried whether I’d have the energy for it, but it gives me purpose.”
- “Doing something by myself in a creative space – I have taken up woodworking”
Sub-theme: Low-Energy or Gentle Activities
“Yoga Nidra”
“Yin Yoga and Yoga Nidra. By doing yoga, I became aware how tensed I was, especially my hands, always clutched, making fists instead of relaxing my hands and fingers. I became aware that I was clutching my jaws while trying to fall asleep. I became much more aware of my body, telling me how tensed I was, without realising this. By being aware I could deliberately relax my body. And if the tension crept back after 3 minutes, I relaxed again, and again, and again. Now I almost automatically check my body and relax those parts that are tensed.”
“Gentle ‘mindful’ Yoga and other movement. This helps me learn to listen to, appreciate and love my body instead of trying force it through exhaustion and dysregulation”
“Spending time on low-energy hobbies where I had the capacity. They kept me occupied during the long 6 months of summer of physical symptoms and slow recovery.”
“Because movement and connection to physical self is so critical to the overall wellbeing of audhders, I will heartily recommend the Vagal Toning Yoga Practices offered by Dr Arielle Schwartz. (Check out her Youtube Channel!) Dr Schwartz is a world renowned therapist, yoga teacher and writer in the field of complex trauma and recovery. The practices have deeply helped me. The movements are gentle but deeply effective. You learn the wisdom your body has for you, rather than your body being an enemy that constantly contributes to psychological discomfort. I think that learning about Poly Vagal theory and how it relates to the complex trauma of late audhd diagnosis is an important step in managing burnout, especially so if it is chronic burnout that has been happening for years”
“My favourite recovery is to do jigsaw puzzles while drinking lots of cups of peppermint tea. When I start to yawn I have a nap and then return to my puzzle. For me it’s single focus and reduced social demands.”
Sub-theme: Nature / Outdoors
“Fresh air and breath work.”
“I go to the forest and lie down in the ground for quite a long time. I think it’s called forest bathing? It helps so much for my regulation.”
“I find unmasking with family and close friends essential. I’ve then got out with the dogs to national trust properties to re-connect with nature.”
“What helps me is to walk by myself for 2-3 hours in the woods or along the bay near my home. I listen for birds or the wind in the trees, and enjoy talking briefly with others who are out exercising their friendly dogs. It doesn’t matter to me what the weather is like. Then I am truly hungry for a big sandwich and salty crisps and they taste so good.”
“Walking for 30 minutes. I tried to do it every day, but mostly it was something like 2 or 3 times a week. It was a way to leave the house, when I really didn’t want to go outdoors. It was a way to move, to exercise my body again, when I was so tired that I spend a lot of time in my bed or sleeping. Of course my walk was always the same, and I knew exactly how long it would take me. I can’t say I really enjoyed it, but it was a way to (literally) move myself, to step out of lethargy.”
“Exercise, specifically anything that gets the heart rate rite up. Possibly prolonged sessions might hinder my burnout symptoms but sessions of up to an hour seem to definitely help provided that in the same 24 hrs I get enough quality sleep.”
- “Exercise (>30 mins intense cardio)”
“Walking near water”
Theme 8: Knowledge & Understanding
Sub-theme: Understanding Autism & Burnout
“Realising I was autistic and learning my autistic needs”
“Information, being reassured that I’m not a crazy lazy malingerer has been instrumental in self acceptance and recovery”
- “Honestly, just getting an autism diagnosis fueled me. It gave me extra strength and joy; I felt so empowered and encouraged. At the age of 47!”
- “As we know autistic burnout is not depression and despite there being plenty of overlap in causes and symptoms I for one feel that it ought not be treated as such, and getting off antidepressants has helped me a lot. As does anything that lifts the spirit and or soothes the nerves, such as time pursuing special interests, time with my dog, quietude and as much as practicable having something beautiful in the immediate environment, even if it’s just a single flower in an improvised vase”
- “Given I had only discovered my autistic burnout at the worst state, I had no choice but to take drastic measures to save myself. Having a formal diagnosis and reasonable adjustments letter (ironically, I realised I could be in autistic burnout about 2 weeks into receiving my formal diagnosis but having this piece of information and documentation truly helped in validating my experiences and empowering me to seek accommodations at work)”
“Understanding and accepting that connection with others doesn’t have to be face-to-face”
“Researching about Burnout has helped as well, because not only does my brain understand what’s happening; it puts how I’ve been feeling into a different, more logical context.”
“Applying what I have learned from these resources to myself like strategic withdrawal, reducing demands, energy checks and ensuring rest is priority etc.”
“Applying the principles of energy accounting (I’m lucky to be familiar with this as I sometimes work with people with neurological conditions such as stroke on fatigue management, but you’ve helped me consider how to apply this to my own life e.g. scheduling rest before and after tiring activities)”
- “Reading up resources (physical books, audiobooks, blogs etc) or listening to podcasts on autism and everything on autistic burnout from credible sources especially autistic mental health professionals like yourself, Dr Megan Anna Neff, Dr Devon Price, The Neurodivergent Women Podcast etc. Applying what I have learned from these resources to myself like strategic withdrawal, reducing demands, energy checks and ensuring rest is priority etc”
- “Reading your emails, becoming more aware of my own burnout”
Sub-theme: Self-Knowledge & Body Awareness
“I’ve worked hard to be kind to myself and give myself permission to not do things I know will drain me. The hardest part has been to learn what my body is trying to tell me. Now I have more energy, I find engaging in activities I really enjoy help give me more energy.”
“I now recognize when [associative spiraling] happens and can look at it from a ‘meta’ perspective: “oh, here I go again”. Which helps me to take the feeling seriously but to not give it too much importance to get swept up in it.”
“Listening to my body and mind, and honouring what it needs like practising the different forms of rest depending on the type of tired I am and being very intentional about it. For example, meditating and journaling when I need to provided have the capacity for it unlike in the past where I would ‘force’ myself to do these things when I don’t have the latter.”
“Working on understanding myself more, understanding what Autism and ADHD means for me, understanding what strategies work for me through trial and error.”
Theme 9: Emotional Processing & Reflection
Sub-theme: Therapy & Emotional Work
“Regular therapy sessions.”
“Acceptance can only come with time and a good therapist, and acceptance is key. It’s not easy though when we’re in a world surrounded by messages telling us there is one way of being, but that way doesn’t work for us neurodivergent folk. I’m getting there, but it’s a slow process.”
“Working on myself and some of the things I struggle with in therapy, finding better healthy coping mechanisms and ways to express difficult emotions.”
“Letter from my therapist advising that I was in autistic burnout and what kind of support from my employers would help – this enabled me to the time off I needed.”
Sub-theme: Journaling, Reflection & Mindfulness
“Silence and rain sounds whenever I find time.”
“I put music in my ears, sink back in the comfy chair in our conservatory, shut my eyes and let my brain transport itself to it’s happy place where it can rest and recuperate.”
“Listening to my body and taking my time to express what’s going on internally with people I feel safe with and who I know will listen and understand.”
“Meditation and mindfulness”
“Being very intentional about different forms of rest depending on the type of tired I am”
Sub-theme: Processing Grief & Change
“Living for nearly 4 decades (unknowingly) as a neurotypical had done a lot of damages to my overall wellbeing. Taking time to process the grief of realising I am autistic and what that means – not just how I’m wired differently but that it also means that I have an invisible disability and therefore limits compared to neurotypicals. This meant learning new ways to live my life while unlearning years of living in misalignment with my own needs.”
“The catalyst for me starting to heal from the worst part of my burnout though was honestly my entire family going away for 2 weeks and leaving me fully alone at home. Once they returned I had been able to climb out of the worst part of my burnout. I really needed zero human contact or demands or masking for that solid period of time.”
“What broke me right out of my 16-month burnout was, dramatically enough, separating from my spouse. I hadn’t realized how much that relationship and her presence in my life had been driving the burnout until I had space and time to myself to process.”
Theme 10: Faith / Spirituality / Mindset
Sub-theme: Faith & Prayer
“Prayer”
Sub-theme: Mindset / Perspective
“Tricking my brain. I have a lot of guilt and shame around being in burnout or being at a lower capacity. I literally have to trick my brain into rest. I tell it that resting (the leading recommendation for burnout) isn’t about losing productivity, but ensuring it in future. That while I may not be able to do something now, resting means I will be able to do it later. Capitalism and the work ethic thing really has a hold on me. So once I’ve convinced myself that I need rest, I schedule it in. I treat it like any other item on my to do list. I take it seriously.”
“The most important thing I learned has been this: because my brain thinks associatively, I tend to mix things up when I’m tired or emotional. For example, when I feel sad about the passing of a loved one, this can quickly spiral to thinking I have no one left who loves me and I’ll be forever alone. I now recognize when this happens and can look at it from a ‘meta’ perspective: “oh, here I go again”. Which helps me to take the feeling seriously but to not give it too much importance to get swept up in it.”
“Acceptance can only come with time and a good therapist, and acceptance is key. It’s not easy though when we’re in a world surrounded by messages telling us there is one way of being, but that way doesn’t work for us neurodivergent folk. I’m getting there, but it’s a slow process.”
I hope reading these responses helps you to think about what might help you in your recovery from Autistic Burnout.
We regularly have supportive conversations about working out what might help people in Authenticity Basecamp and Authenticity: The course and community. You would be very welcome to join us.
I am an Autistic Clinical Psychologist specialising in Autistic Burnout if you would like to know more about my work please check out my:
- Mailing list community for people who want to receive helpful information and resources about Autistic Burnout.
- Free short course on How to Break the Cycle of Autistic Burnout (link goes straight to registration page)
- Authenticity Basecamp: A 90 day support programme for people in the early stages of recovering from Autistic Burnout who want to get calmer, clearer and more supported.
- Authenticity: The Course and Community: For late-realised, high-masking Autistic adults who want to build more sustainable, authentic lives and break free of the cycle of Autistic Burnout for good.
