Welcome to the second part of my series on Autistic Burnout. If you’re just joining us, I highly recommend starting this series from the beginning. For those who have been following along, thank you for continuing this journey with me. Today, we will dive into the early signs of Autistic burnout and how to recognize them.
Autistic burnout is a state of chronic exhaustion, loss of skills, and reduced tolerance to sensory input, often resulting from prolonged stress and overstimulation. Identifying the early signs can help you take proactive steps to manage and mitigate the impact, promoting long-term well-being.
What is Autistic Burnout
My biggest “aha” moment in my journey to figuring out I was Autistic was learning about masking. However, my biggest “aha” moment in figuring out what to do about it was learning about Autistic burnout and that I’d already experienced it a few times in my life.
Autistic burnout is a relatively new concept, although it’s been around for as long as people have been Autistic. According to Google Trends, searches for “Autistic burnout” began showing up around 2014, but started to increase steadily from June 2020 onward.
Two things happened around June of 2020. You can probably guess the first. We had a lot of people with a lot of time on their hands who were in a high state of stress but were wondering why everyone was so upset by social distancing and they weren’t. This same group of people probably, for the first time in their lives, also had relief from social pressures and neurotypical expectations. And this particular group of people have a strong drive to research and understand and to go deep to find answers. We had perfect research conditions with a very clear “before” and “after,” and the time we needed to figure it all out.
The second thing that happened in June of 2020 was a significant contribution to the understanding of the Autistic experience in the form of a qualitative study published by Dora Raymaker, co-founder of the Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE), and her team. This team conducted interviews with Autistics, they reviewed several blog posts by Autistics, and reviewed #AutisticBurnout on Twitter.
Based on their findings, they grouped the experience of Autistic burnout into three categories:
- Chronic exhausion
- Loss of skills
- Reduced tolerance to stimulus
They also found that Autistic burnout tends to occur when a certain set of conditions are met. For everyone, life stressors have a cumulative effect; when one stressor builds on another builds on another, you have an exponential increase in the effects of each stressor. That exponential increase for Autistics, however, is higher. And we often have fewer supports and respite from our stressors.
Let’s say I have a long, high-traffic commute to work, I mask all day at my job, despite my best efforts I still sometimes say or do the wrong thing, I’m the primary person responsible for my household’s labor, my friends call me every day to vent but don’t have time to listen to my problems, my budget runs $150 short every month, and I don’t ever have time to myself.
Let’s say I have a budget of 200 stress points and that each one of these things cost 50 stress points. On the surface, I’ve got 7 things that add up to 350 stress points.
Commute (50 points) + masking (50 points) + making mistakes (50 points) + household labor (50 points) + take and no give from friends (50 points) + money problems (50 points) + no time to recharge (50 points) = 350 stress points
I’m in a stress point deficit of 150 points.
However, each additional stressor isn’t just an extra 50 points.
My first stressor is 50 points. My second stressor by itself is 50 points. But when you add them together, you get extra points.
Because it’s cumulative, the very act of being an additional stressor multiplies its effect. So the equation looks more like this:
Commute (50 points) + masking (50 points x 1.25) + making mistakes (50 points x 1.50) + household labor (50 points x 1.75) + take and no give from friends (50 points x 2.0) + money problems (50 points x 2.25) + no time to recharge (50 points x 2.50) = I don’t even want to know
If we had some amount of support or relief from any of these stressors, that would reduce the multiplication factor of the burden. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have this support or aren’t aware that relief is even (sometimes) possible.
The next article in this series will look at what Autistic burnout feels like, but I’ll be honest with you, just looking at that cumulative stress model is giving me a pretty solid feel for what the experience of Autistic burnout might be.
So let me leave you with this. There is hope. I think the worst part of Autistic burnout is feeling like there’s no way out, there are no alternatives, this is our life and we just have to push through.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that we don’t have to push through.
If Autistic burnout is a common experience, that also means that healing from Autistic burnout is a common experience. We know it’s possible because many Autistics have shared their stories about Autistic burnout and how they have healed from it.
Stick around. There is hope. I promise.
Takeaways:
- Autistic burnout is characterized by chronic exhaustion, loss of skills, and increased sensitivity to sensory input
- The Autistic community has long talked about Autistic burnout, but the first formal research was published in 2020
- Stressors that lead to burnout have a cumulative effect
- Healing from Autistic burnout is possible
- You don’t have to push through
Tell us in the comments: When you think about your cumulative stressors, what is the one stressor that, if you could remove it or get support or accommodation for it, would make the biggest improvement in your well-being? If you’ve experienced Autistic burnout, what does it feel like for you?
Living Fully Neurodivergent 
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