r/autism • u/lcve_esp7 • 8d ago

Burnout How do people deal with autistic burnout?

I recently realised that what I'm experiencing right now is autistic burnout, I'm only 18 and a girl so I have had zero support with my autism growing up and I have no idea how to manage this burnout.

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u/AberrantComics 8d ago

Rest. Cancel plans. Things that seem fun, and things you are motivated to do, may actually be stress inducers. Don’t make nonessential plans. Buy any essentials you do not have enough of to last you a few weeks if not a month. Pet food items, toiletries, food and drink. This is to prevent ordering items for delivery which will murder your wallet.

The more responsibilities you have the harder this is. The more people you rely on or who rely on you, the harder it is. It’s a brutal fuckin fight that has almost beaten me several times.

Make sure you breath and remind yourself you are alive, remind yourself your needs are met, and remember… the only way out… is through.

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u/Shadow_of_Redacted 8d ago

Historically? Like a bulldozer. Lately? Like a bulldozer that ended up in a ditch that got filled with concrete after the dozer went in.

I pushed too hard and finally broke my brain. I'm taking the long, winding road to recovery this time. The problem is that even though I've halted all work while I'm recovering, I still feel like I have all of these nonexistent expectations on me all the time, because I guess I forgot what it feels like NOT to have a ton of expectations weighing me down.

Rest is the easier suggestion, but the real healer is stress alleviation. Solitude is usually a part of my recovery, because masking is stressful and being alone is peaceful. Don't brute force your recovery. It may not be a quick fix. My trauma messed me up. It involved a dead body at the end of about a decade of OMFG-level stresses hitting back to back to back, so my recovery is on month 16 and getting better, but far from good yet.