NightFurySenior Contributor
Neurodivergence and burn out
I posed a couple of questions this week, one to my psychologist and one to @Jynx on another thread, and we thought it would make a ripper of a forums discussion.
I asked my psychologist - how do you manage burn out when you're already in the midst of it? Especially knowing that you still have to work and still have commitments?
I asked @Jynx whether they could speak to their own experiences and share information on neurodivergent burn out.
Just a bit of back story, for those who I haven't connected with before, my story is a long one, but it's been especially challenging since August. In the period between August and now; my grandfather passed away, I was broken into while I was sitting at home in my lounge room, the rental property that I'm living in went on the market and sold, I completed a Graduate Certificate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, I signed a new lease, and then a week later found out that the school I'm working at doesn't have space to offer me a contract for next year. I am currently going through the job search process looking for work for 2026. On top of that, I am in the very early stages of diagnosis for ADHD, I scored high on my screeners for Autism and my psychologist is recommending med review to medicate me for OCD. I have anxiety and experience depression symptoms. I teach a class of 28 Grade 5/6 students. A lot of the time this year, I have struggled with my own regulation while at work - mostly around feeling extremely anxious and experience sensory overwhelm. I mask...with absolutely everyone, and want to desperately drop those masks and be accepted for who I am, but I don't know how to feel safe enough yet to allow that.
Lately, I have been experiencing extreme fatigue - the kind where I can sleep for 10 hours and still wake up exhausted. I don't do well waking up of a morning and getting myself out of bed. My body is fatigued. It feels like this heavy, cumbersome thing that I don't have the energy to pull around. Little things are emotionally overwhelming. I'm forgetting things. I forgot to pay my rent last week and paid it four days later when I checked my bank account and realised. I'm forgetting to take my meds of a morning. I don't want to go anywhere, or do anything and this includes the things I would do to give me a bit of a glimmer, like play my sport, or go to the movies. I'm struggling with doing the things that I enjoy. I get a lot of brain fog, where my thoughts turn to fuzz and I do a lot of rubbing at my eyes and forehead because it all just gets heavy. I forget how to find words to communicate what's going on for me and to offer support to others.
I know that burn out is a thing I've experienced before, and it wasn't pretty, but, this feels all encompassing. I've been wondering if this is my depression sinking it's teeth in again, or if it could be neurodivergent burn out.
So, I would like to pose a few questions to the community...
- Have you experienced neurodivergent burn out before?
- What is your experience with neurodivergent burn out?
- What strategies and supports do you use to help you while you're in it?
This could be a space for you to connect with people who are going through it, or have been through it? Or it could be a space where we work together to share ideas and learnings around burnout from a neurodiverse perspective.
@MissGremlin @tyme @AlwaysMyself @AuntGlow @rav3n please tag some people in here, because I don't really know who to tag.
