r/AutisticBurnout

my therapist sent me a workbook with tips for recovery from burnout, but most of the suggestions are some form of "reduce demands on yourself and rest". but what if that isn't gonna work for me? first of all im a college dropout living at home with no job, im barely doing anything all day anyway (yeah i know im really privileged for that, sorry to be complaining anyway /gen). and second, ive already been depressed for a long time and it gets so much worse when im chronically bored (like i have been for months now). so to recover from burnout I'm supposed to rest, but to pull myself out of depression i know i need to start doing something productive with my time again. i have absolutely NO IDEA how im supposed to balance two directly conflicting needs and im totally stuck :(

I’m 29F recently diagnosed adhd and suspected autism and am waiting to get into testing. I have gone through many burn out cycles in my life and never knew what is was just thought I sucked at life and was lazy/not good enough.

This last month or so I’ve fallen into the biggest baddest burnout I’ve experienced and I think it was just compounding from the numerous times I’ve burnt out and “pulled myself up by my bootstraps” best i could. This time that’s not even possible. I can’t keep up with regular life things. I only work a few times a week and that has gotten very hard to force myself to do and everything outside of that has fallen to the wayside.

How do you recover and prevent burn out? I feel like I keep seeing people saying things like focus on hobbies, eat healthy, etc and i just can’t get myself to even do that. I wake up and stay in a fight or flight like state most of the day and do nothing. I eat horribly because i can’t get myself to make meals, I can’t socialize like I used to, and I don’t feel comfortable moving my body like I usually do.

Would love to know if this is anyone else’s experience? What has helped?

Hello, I am a 21 year old experiencing severe burnout. I was a Computer Science major at a liberal arts college before dropping out due to mental health reasons. Then, I tried attending university online, but I failed two courses and ended with a 1.92 GPA. I recently took the burnout questionnaire, and I had a score of 55 on it. I just cannot imagine my life without school. Without school, I worry that I will become a failure in life, and that I will never amount to anything at all. I saw a lot of my old high school friends finally finish university recently, and it pains me because I wanted that to be me. I wanted to feel like I could be successful. I have no hobbies or interests outside of tech, I am not creative at all, I have no certifications or skills to lean back on. What do I do? Should I get IT certifications? Should I just not do school for the rest of my life? I am extremely confused.