How did you come out of burnout?
I’m late diagnosed 24F and for the last 6 months have been quietly horrified that I’d lost some skills entirely: speaking, writing, short term memory, having any sort of curiosity or enthusiasm, attention span, spontaneity, self confidence. I thankfully have an easy job but still called in sick for a week to spiral in bed and not be perceived. I’ve avoided friends for months because at any conversation my mind just draws a blank.
A quick search led me to find out these are classic symptoms of autistic burnout. But I’ve been experiencing skill regression for nearly 3 years now since diagnosis, and an extreme low (burnout) for the last 6 months.
Is this normal? It feels like every day I remain in burnout, the farther down I walk a flight of basement stairs, and the light at the top of the door recedes ever further. It doesn’t feel like I’m getting anywhere close to recovery.
I feel totally unrecognizable today. The enthusiasm and optimism and empathy I was known for seems to have been replaced with a stoic, tired, apathetic shell of myself. I miss the old me and the life she had, but I know the solution is not to revert to an old self but to grow with this, burnout and all.
For those who’ve been here, how was the experience for you? And more importantly what got you back on your feet?