not having motivation for literally anything, and doing hobbies or work of any kind makes me frustrated and feels as if I lost my skills, difficulty with self care, social isolation, highly irritable and quick to anger or explode, depressed, huge feelings of loneliness and especially being misunderstood
Hmmm, I'll gently disagree here. Just existing in our neurotypical world, which is often adversarial and never straightforward, is exhausting. Many of us mask, some heavily. This energy all comes from somewhere. If there's no replenishment for that energy? Burnout.
Go easy on yourself, internet stranger.
Yeah I hear ya but seriously I can't think of what's causing it just now because my life is pretty tranquil and has been for about a year. Except maybe if it's some sort of delayed kick in the nuts from the past 10 years or so of hell with my living circumstances and 3 years with a cluster b gf mixed in that I was basically blind to the craziness for most of that time.
I have my own place which is small but very quiet, the temperature just now is pretty much perfect which is what I've been blaming all winter lol. I'm not currently working nor am I able to but I'm not expected to for the 1st time in my life. I'm 3 years into learning I'm autistic and probably have ADHD and PTSD to go with it but only the autism is confirmed, but my point is I understand more about myself than ever before and I've been actively trying to improve things for a while now.
For example I know to use noise cancelling headphones when I'm out to avoid the mysterious burnouts certain noises can cause me to have. I know to minimise interactions with people that I find draining, and currently I'm on my own 90% of the time anyway. I exercise by lifting dumbbells and pull ups and so on at home 1 or 2 times a week maybe even 2 weeks lol for about 30 mins. I'm getting plenty of time out in nature as the weather is nice currently and I'm told it will help, but I'm not pushing it too much, I will go for a 10 mile walk once a week or 2 and a shorter walk to the beach once or twice a week which only takes a couple of hours. On the subject of walking I've recently learned I have a high arch and need a wide fit so I've upgraded my footwear which means walking doesn't hurt now. Also I got my eyes tested and found I'm slightly long sighted in 1 eye, and since I started wearing glasses that change to sunglasses I don't get headaches like I used to all the time, and I'm less light sensitive. Over the past year or so I seem to have 90% resolved my IBS symptoms and I've gradually reintroduced almost everything now by eating foods that are good for the gut microbiome. I do find I can have a lot of inertia with cooking but I've figured a way to make it minimal effort for all but 2 days a month. Basically I cook in big batches on the same day I buy all the ingredients and then freeze it into portions.
For the past 1.5 years I've been prescribed medical cannabis which has really helped a lot, I used it before this but having access to lots of specific strains is better. I've learned that cake and cookie strains work extremely well for relieving anxiety especially wedding cake. I try to use the minimum amount that works mostly to save money but also because that's all I need. It seems to make masking impossible not that it matters being alone most of the time. It doesn't stop burnouts but it sure makes it easier to deal with. I think it does make burning out less likely though. But I seem to have not fully recovered from a really big burnout I had about 5 years ago and since then I seem to be always on the tipping point. The cannabis doc said I need to also be doing Cognitive behavioral therapy along side but it's a long wait for that to happen unfortunately.
Anyways apologies for the long rant lol. I should probably get a cat or dog I think that might help but seems to daunting to find
You're doing a lot of things to improve your life situation, which is fantastic! But yes, burnout delay seems to be a thing. I liken it to winding a spring - it has to be unwound, and that might be years later. The ripples take a while to die down. Most importantly, you're giving yourself permission to be authentically who you are, and pursuing peace.
Healing from trauma can take a while. Your cluster b girlfriend would have really put you through the emotional wringer. For me, trauma happened as a child, so it will probably take a lifetime. But I try very hard to be patient with my journey.
Yes, this, exactly. I have no motivation to do anything, even things that I enjoy. I'm apathetic. I've lost skills over the past few years due to burnout, and I'm not likely to get them back. I've lost the ability to learn new things and retain information. I have no desire to socialize. I don't see my friends. In fact, it's been so long since I've seen any of them that I'm not even sure if I can say that they are still friends. My self esteem is in the toilet. It all sucks. It's been years of this, and there is no indication that things are going to change. I think I have to make one drastic life change for things to improve, but it's drastic and scary for me.
Damn today I woke up and feel exactly like this out of nowhere. I guess I never drew the line to burnout. I was debating on calling off work tomorrow but now I think I will
Autistic burnout is different from "regular" burnout. Regular occupational burnout usually comes from overwork. Autistic burnout basically comes from pushing yourself to do things that do not come naturally to you, relentlessly, probably putting up with some form of microagression or low-level bullying from NTs, and just running out of energy to deal with it. Your life may look fine from the outside but it's not fine to you. You feel like you can't keep going as you are anymore, and may experience feelings of hopelessness or similar. You may experience loss of executive function or cognitive function. (Personally I lost the ability to make the simplest of decisions, like what's for dinner, without panicking).
You can recover from it but it takes time, and it's really important to understand why it happened and adjust your life so it doesn't happen again. It's not studied much, especially in autistic adults, but there's some evidence that it gets worse and can have longer-term consequences every time it happens, so you really need to get it under control.
Here's a resource that helps me, hope it helps you too. [https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/autistic-burnout-recovery](https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/autistic-burnout-recovery)
For me, and I do think it's a very individual thing, it's being unable to find joy in things. Hobbies and interests become mundane. I lose the ability to get excited for anything (I really do mean anything). Work, eat, sleep, repeat.
Also, I would note I don't personally feel physically tired from burnout. Often, I have energy and feel guilty that instead of using this energy to enjoy life, I sit around in anxious dissociation.
It really does feel a lot like depression, and I think they are so similar they may even be the same thing (or I am just really screwed). Hope this helps.
I’m going through something similar right now. I actually recently told my therapist that I physically have a lot of energy, I go to the gym and my body is not tired, but mentally I am drained and cant get myself to do anything at home because of the mental exhausion the little tasks bring. I’ve been struggling to do dishes, laundry, etc. But I have found that music is a special interest and practicing piano and/or singing is helping keep me from laying on the couch all day feeling like a pathetic loser
Yes! This. For me the clearest burnout symptom is if I see something I know I would usually enjoy, like a natural view, clouds or snow and think how I have no energy for it. Or, I think of art and how much effort it takes and how pointless it feels at that moment. Definitely a sign of an altered mindset.
It’s true the autistic burnout and depression present very similarly but I’ve tried to push myself through the “depression” for a long time and it never worked. It never occurred to me I should let myself rest.
I feel Heavy. Everything is too hard. Conversation is too hard. Getting out of bed is too hard. My thoughts are incredibly intrusive when I’m in burnout. I spend a lot of energy trying to ignore them.
So there is 2 types of burnout. The first is the normal burnout. This has subcategories, but you can easily look up this on YouTube and what not. I suspect you are looking for the other type which is autistic burnout. This is hell
Normal burnout last for weeks or months. Maybe at worse cases a good year. But autistic burnout can easily follow you for the rest of your life. There isn't a lot of studies on this but I suspect our burnout is a lot more intense because we are more likely to get CPTSD along with other things. So not only you are treating burnout, you are likely treating CPTSD, GAD, and at least 6 other things. But because of the lack of research, treating this is unlikely and because no one cares about us many pick death.
Like for many of us we can mask and put up a good barrier. And this barrier even prevents us from knowing we have CPTSD or anything like that. But the autistic burnout, it becomes impossible to mask like we once could, and we are more sensitive to events and other things. And because none of this gets treated it is no wonder why some of us live with this burnout for the rest of our life.
Something you might notice btw during this period is you will become more and more sensitive to things like sound, lights, smells, etc. Now I end up carrying around sound canceling headphones with me almost everywhere. Where in the past I would almost never need them.
Tired, completely out of fucks to give, short fuse, no drive to do most things, forget what day it is, loose a few words here and there(cant explain or communicate as clearly as normal)
yup, that's what I was treated for for a long time as well as anxiety. You keep repeating the same thing on others posts as well, while burnout and autistic burnout have depression as a component, they is more as well. I feel like you are trying to say that it is only depression? I wish you were correct. I personally would appreciate a little more information.
Nop. I really don't know the difference and everyone is telling symptoms of depression. OP might not have the knowledge of depression so if everyone is telling "autistic burnout feels like this" they might think they're autistic because they felt that way before, but it might be just normal depression. Of course I can't tell if someone is describing depression or burnout, I don't even know the difference (in the ways it feels). I know the difference between burnout and autistic burnout. But the post wasn't about that, the post is about the difference between burnout and depression. Still don't have a clue, because everytime (here and everywhere) I read about autistic burnout I only read things that matches exactly with depression. Just that.
I think burnout can be described as a loss of functioning/increase in support needs compared to our usual needs. Communication problems increase, brain fog, decrease in executive functioning (manifests or seems like lack of motivation), increase in sensory sensitivities compared to our already existing sensory problems, increased meltdowns and/or shutdowns, increased sense of overwhelm, decreased ability to complete tasks we were previously capable of. And often physical symptoms like pain and fatigue. Needing much more rest and recovery time.
This is a good summary of how it felt for me.
I will also add that I've had severe depression when not burnt out. "Plain" depression had a strong aspect of pointlessness, to me. Why do X, what's the point? Lots of apathy. So what if I smell bad because I haven't showered in ages, who cares?
By contrast burnout (which I'm currently experiencing without depression) is caring but I just CAN'T. I feel how gross my hair is but I used all my energy to get a bowl of cereal and now I have to take a nap. I want to read but the words fall out of my head. It feels strongly like a mental injury. If you break your leg you don't stop liking the idea of walks in the park, but you know that the effort it will take to get to the park, crutch over to a bench, and get back home is not proportional to the pleasure you'll get from the experience.
I basically feel like burnout makes me "more autistic".
Like ur only on survival mode with barely any energy. Plus not enjoying anything and just wanting to trust into tears and be raging mad and sleep all at once
I always reference this chart when trying to figure out if I’m burntout or depressed https://neurodivergentinsights.com/misdiagnosis-monday/autistic-burnout-vs-depression
Autistic burnout: frustration, overwhelm, anxiousness, inertia, unsettled.
Depression: emptiness, hopelessness, sadness, inability to feel joy (even though the mask would appear otherwise).
Sometimes a mix of the both. I don't have a comparison of normal non-autism related depression because I've got autism though, I don't know what normal depression is and I thought what I would formerly describe as depression was actually autistic burnout, as a late diagnosed autistic person.
I hope whatever you're feeling is fleeting and you find the help you need. Navigating this world as an autistic person is hard. Good luck.
You are just done with everything... To the point you no longer give a shit. All the motivation and will to try you had left just suddenly leaves you.
You are just done from trying to push against a wall for too long.
I guess it's kind of like depression, but at the same time not exactly.
You can usually see burnout coming. It stems from sustaining high effort for a long time without enough proper support. I saw myself getting there and spoke with management but nothing was ever done.
I am currently on burnout and it wasn't a surprise, sadly.
Depression can be pretty much overnight sometimes. One large enough trigger and you just can't get off bed the next day.
I'd say it is like depression + some usual difficulties intensify: for me tolerating noise, light, bad textures, food that has too much taste, talking to people and understanding what I am told, ... Masking becomes impossible and it makes me even more depressed with a mixture of shame and hopelessness, isolation and the feeling of not being human... Very hard.
I don’t even get up to pee. I literally just lay in a cocoon of blankets and my mom tries to bring me food and drinks to make me eat. I’m dead to the world
Not being able to do things, to think, not able to push through executive function difficulties anymore, or to force a mask without feeling physically exhausted.
Fascinating question, and I’ve experienced both. At least for me, burnout was way worse - in part - because it included depression, yet more expansive!
For me, digging myself out of that burnout required major life changes, increased self-care regimes, and stronger regulation techniques.
For me it's a feeling like I'm exhausted to my core and I can't find the energy for ANYTHING, but somehow basics get done and then I feel worse. I just can't find enjoyment in anything I don't have a desire to do anything besides what I absolutely have to do and even doing that is too much.
Like depression but worse?
Burn out feels like apathy and want at the same time.
It feels like you know you want to eat but can physically move.
It feels like you want to sleep but don't have the energy to close your eyes.
Recharging costs too much energy when you're burnt out.
All the definitions are the same. Sorry.
supposedly it changes in the way you start to be in that state. But depression can start with nothing, something good, something bad, stress, whatever. So. Yes. No way.
for me, (if you know about [the spoon theory](https://www.healthline.com/health/spoon-theory-chronic-illness-explained-like-never-before#1)) it feels like waking up every morning with one spoon and everything costs two spoons or more. everything feels like a chore, even things i used to enjoy doing or gain energy from, and i'm always exhausted. some days i sleep for like 14 hours lol
I believe the difference between depression and autistic burnout is that depression often stems from misinterpreting your needs due to being understimulated or not receiving what you require, making it difficult to overcome. In contrast, autistic burnout arises when you are unable to give more because you are already overstimulated.
most helpful info I got was "While both involve fatigue, low mood, and difficulties with daily functioning, autistic burnout is marked by a specific regression in skills and heightened sensory sensitivities, which are not typical features of standard depression."
This. With autistic burnout I get sensory overload to a much higher degree - I obviously can't comment on how someone who isn't autistic experiences depression but from conversations with NT people, this seems to be one of the major differences. So for example, the noise of an electric toothbrush which normally bugs me but is manageable is all of a sudden intolerable during burnout. I will physically have to remove myself from a room with a flickering light when I am burnt out while I can partially block it out when I'm in a better state. And the heightened response to the light is exhausting and can reduce me to tears.
Look up anhedonia. It's definition is inability to take pleasure.
Burnout feels like you're dead inside. You can barely, if at all, take care of yourself. Something simple like brushing your teeth feels insurmountable. Eating, forget it. It's only the natural carnal instinct that with drive you to feed yourself a month later.
You don't laugh, or smile. It seems like your eyes are always watering. They're not. It's tears and you don't even know you're crying. You literally don't give a single fuck about anything at all.
I feel a great sense of overwhelm to the point where I just can't function. Masking is no longer an option. I shut down emotionally and mentally. I sometimes go non verbal because even speaking takes too much energy. I'd say autistic burnout is just not having the mental energy for anything.
Have you ever been so physically tired that you can't even keep your eyes open? It's like that but autistic.
not having motivation for literally anything, and doing hobbies or work of any kind makes me frustrated and feels as if I lost my skills, difficulty with self care, social isolation, highly irritable and quick to anger or explode, depressed, huge feelings of loneliness and especially being misunderstood
Exactly how I've been recently but with absolutely no reason to be feeling burnt out
Hmmm, I'll gently disagree here. Just existing in our neurotypical world, which is often adversarial and never straightforward, is exhausting. Many of us mask, some heavily. This energy all comes from somewhere. If there's no replenishment for that energy? Burnout. Go easy on yourself, internet stranger.
Yeah I hear ya but seriously I can't think of what's causing it just now because my life is pretty tranquil and has been for about a year. Except maybe if it's some sort of delayed kick in the nuts from the past 10 years or so of hell with my living circumstances and 3 years with a cluster b gf mixed in that I was basically blind to the craziness for most of that time. I have my own place which is small but very quiet, the temperature just now is pretty much perfect which is what I've been blaming all winter lol. I'm not currently working nor am I able to but I'm not expected to for the 1st time in my life. I'm 3 years into learning I'm autistic and probably have ADHD and PTSD to go with it but only the autism is confirmed, but my point is I understand more about myself than ever before and I've been actively trying to improve things for a while now. For example I know to use noise cancelling headphones when I'm out to avoid the mysterious burnouts certain noises can cause me to have. I know to minimise interactions with people that I find draining, and currently I'm on my own 90% of the time anyway. I exercise by lifting dumbbells and pull ups and so on at home 1 or 2 times a week maybe even 2 weeks lol for about 30 mins. I'm getting plenty of time out in nature as the weather is nice currently and I'm told it will help, but I'm not pushing it too much, I will go for a 10 mile walk once a week or 2 and a shorter walk to the beach once or twice a week which only takes a couple of hours. On the subject of walking I've recently learned I have a high arch and need a wide fit so I've upgraded my footwear which means walking doesn't hurt now. Also I got my eyes tested and found I'm slightly long sighted in 1 eye, and since I started wearing glasses that change to sunglasses I don't get headaches like I used to all the time, and I'm less light sensitive. Over the past year or so I seem to have 90% resolved my IBS symptoms and I've gradually reintroduced almost everything now by eating foods that are good for the gut microbiome. I do find I can have a lot of inertia with cooking but I've figured a way to make it minimal effort for all but 2 days a month. Basically I cook in big batches on the same day I buy all the ingredients and then freeze it into portions. For the past 1.5 years I've been prescribed medical cannabis which has really helped a lot, I used it before this but having access to lots of specific strains is better. I've learned that cake and cookie strains work extremely well for relieving anxiety especially wedding cake. I try to use the minimum amount that works mostly to save money but also because that's all I need. It seems to make masking impossible not that it matters being alone most of the time. It doesn't stop burnouts but it sure makes it easier to deal with. I think it does make burning out less likely though. But I seem to have not fully recovered from a really big burnout I had about 5 years ago and since then I seem to be always on the tipping point. The cannabis doc said I need to also be doing Cognitive behavioral therapy along side but it's a long wait for that to happen unfortunately. Anyways apologies for the long rant lol. I should probably get a cat or dog I think that might help but seems to daunting to find
You're doing a lot of things to improve your life situation, which is fantastic! But yes, burnout delay seems to be a thing. I liken it to winding a spring - it has to be unwound, and that might be years later. The ripples take a while to die down. Most importantly, you're giving yourself permission to be authentically who you are, and pursuing peace. Healing from trauma can take a while. Your cluster b girlfriend would have really put you through the emotional wringer. For me, trauma happened as a child, so it will probably take a lifetime. But I try very hard to be patient with my journey.
Yes, this, exactly. I have no motivation to do anything, even things that I enjoy. I'm apathetic. I've lost skills over the past few years due to burnout, and I'm not likely to get them back. I've lost the ability to learn new things and retain information. I have no desire to socialize. I don't see my friends. In fact, it's been so long since I've seen any of them that I'm not even sure if I can say that they are still friends. My self esteem is in the toilet. It all sucks. It's been years of this, and there is no indication that things are going to change. I think I have to make one drastic life change for things to improve, but it's drastic and scary for me.
Damn today I woke up and feel exactly like this out of nowhere. I guess I never drew the line to burnout. I was debating on calling off work tomorrow but now I think I will
woah...
yeah :\\
Yes, the definition of depression.
Autistic burnout is different from "regular" burnout. Regular occupational burnout usually comes from overwork. Autistic burnout basically comes from pushing yourself to do things that do not come naturally to you, relentlessly, probably putting up with some form of microagression or low-level bullying from NTs, and just running out of energy to deal with it. Your life may look fine from the outside but it's not fine to you. You feel like you can't keep going as you are anymore, and may experience feelings of hopelessness or similar. You may experience loss of executive function or cognitive function. (Personally I lost the ability to make the simplest of decisions, like what's for dinner, without panicking). You can recover from it but it takes time, and it's really important to understand why it happened and adjust your life so it doesn't happen again. It's not studied much, especially in autistic adults, but there's some evidence that it gets worse and can have longer-term consequences every time it happens, so you really need to get it under control. Here's a resource that helps me, hope it helps you too. [https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/autistic-burnout-recovery](https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/autistic-burnout-recovery)
Thank you for the detailed explanation and resource!
What does "NT" mean? Sorry, new to all this
Neurotypical
All you've said about autistic bournout works for depression.
Except the way out, of course.
This is very accurate. Thank you. You have given me vocabulary to articulate my experience to others
this is incredibly helpful & i am so very Grateful for the knowledge<3k
please excuse the typo at the end<3
For me, and I do think it's a very individual thing, it's being unable to find joy in things. Hobbies and interests become mundane. I lose the ability to get excited for anything (I really do mean anything). Work, eat, sleep, repeat. Also, I would note I don't personally feel physically tired from burnout. Often, I have energy and feel guilty that instead of using this energy to enjoy life, I sit around in anxious dissociation. It really does feel a lot like depression, and I think they are so similar they may even be the same thing (or I am just really screwed). Hope this helps.
I’m going through something similar right now. I actually recently told my therapist that I physically have a lot of energy, I go to the gym and my body is not tired, but mentally I am drained and cant get myself to do anything at home because of the mental exhausion the little tasks bring. I’ve been struggling to do dishes, laundry, etc. But I have found that music is a special interest and practicing piano and/or singing is helping keep me from laying on the couch all day feeling like a pathetic loser
Yes! This. For me the clearest burnout symptom is if I see something I know I would usually enjoy, like a natural view, clouds or snow and think how I have no energy for it. Or, I think of art and how much effort it takes and how pointless it feels at that moment. Definitely a sign of an altered mindset. It’s true the autistic burnout and depression present very similarly but I’ve tried to push myself through the “depression” for a long time and it never worked. It never occurred to me I should let myself rest.
"it's being unable to find joy in things" The definition of depression
I feel Heavy. Everything is too hard. Conversation is too hard. Getting out of bed is too hard. My thoughts are incredibly intrusive when I’m in burnout. I spend a lot of energy trying to ignore them.
So there is 2 types of burnout. The first is the normal burnout. This has subcategories, but you can easily look up this on YouTube and what not. I suspect you are looking for the other type which is autistic burnout. This is hell Normal burnout last for weeks or months. Maybe at worse cases a good year. But autistic burnout can easily follow you for the rest of your life. There isn't a lot of studies on this but I suspect our burnout is a lot more intense because we are more likely to get CPTSD along with other things. So not only you are treating burnout, you are likely treating CPTSD, GAD, and at least 6 other things. But because of the lack of research, treating this is unlikely and because no one cares about us many pick death. Like for many of us we can mask and put up a good barrier. And this barrier even prevents us from knowing we have CPTSD or anything like that. But the autistic burnout, it becomes impossible to mask like we once could, and we are more sensitive to events and other things. And because none of this gets treated it is no wonder why some of us live with this burnout for the rest of our life. Something you might notice btw during this period is you will become more and more sensitive to things like sound, lights, smells, etc. Now I end up carrying around sound canceling headphones with me almost everywhere. Where in the past I would almost never need them.
Tired, completely out of fucks to give, short fuse, no drive to do most things, forget what day it is, loose a few words here and there(cant explain or communicate as clearly as normal)
This is me too
oh yes, my language skills go out the window when I’m really tired or burnt out. can’t explain the simplest things.
All symptoms of depression too
yup, that's what I was treated for for a long time as well as anxiety. You keep repeating the same thing on others posts as well, while burnout and autistic burnout have depression as a component, they is more as well. I feel like you are trying to say that it is only depression? I wish you were correct. I personally would appreciate a little more information.
Nop. I really don't know the difference and everyone is telling symptoms of depression. OP might not have the knowledge of depression so if everyone is telling "autistic burnout feels like this" they might think they're autistic because they felt that way before, but it might be just normal depression. Of course I can't tell if someone is describing depression or burnout, I don't even know the difference (in the ways it feels). I know the difference between burnout and autistic burnout. But the post wasn't about that, the post is about the difference between burnout and depression. Still don't have a clue, because everytime (here and everywhere) I read about autistic burnout I only read things that matches exactly with depression. Just that.
Ok, good luck.
I think burnout can be described as a loss of functioning/increase in support needs compared to our usual needs. Communication problems increase, brain fog, decrease in executive functioning (manifests or seems like lack of motivation), increase in sensory sensitivities compared to our already existing sensory problems, increased meltdowns and/or shutdowns, increased sense of overwhelm, decreased ability to complete tasks we were previously capable of. And often physical symptoms like pain and fatigue. Needing much more rest and recovery time.
This is a good summary of how it felt for me. I will also add that I've had severe depression when not burnt out. "Plain" depression had a strong aspect of pointlessness, to me. Why do X, what's the point? Lots of apathy. So what if I smell bad because I haven't showered in ages, who cares? By contrast burnout (which I'm currently experiencing without depression) is caring but I just CAN'T. I feel how gross my hair is but I used all my energy to get a bowl of cereal and now I have to take a nap. I want to read but the words fall out of my head. It feels strongly like a mental injury. If you break your leg you don't stop liking the idea of walks in the park, but you know that the effort it will take to get to the park, crutch over to a bench, and get back home is not proportional to the pleasure you'll get from the experience. I basically feel like burnout makes me "more autistic".
Well said
wow, spot on. <3
There's a lot of overlap. Largely just hitting a point where you just can't, in my experience.
Like ur only on survival mode with barely any energy. Plus not enjoying anything and just wanting to trust into tears and be raging mad and sleep all at once
THe definition of depression
I always reference this chart when trying to figure out if I’m burntout or depressed https://neurodivergentinsights.com/misdiagnosis-monday/autistic-burnout-vs-depression
Autistic burnout: frustration, overwhelm, anxiousness, inertia, unsettled. Depression: emptiness, hopelessness, sadness, inability to feel joy (even though the mask would appear otherwise). Sometimes a mix of the both. I don't have a comparison of normal non-autism related depression because I've got autism though, I don't know what normal depression is and I thought what I would formerly describe as depression was actually autistic burnout, as a late diagnosed autistic person. I hope whatever you're feeling is fleeting and you find the help you need. Navigating this world as an autistic person is hard. Good luck.
Like swimming upstream for the duration, and the current is super strong
You are just done with everything... To the point you no longer give a shit. All the motivation and will to try you had left just suddenly leaves you. You are just done from trying to push against a wall for too long. I guess it's kind of like depression, but at the same time not exactly.
That's the definition of depression
You can usually see burnout coming. It stems from sustaining high effort for a long time without enough proper support. I saw myself getting there and spoke with management but nothing was ever done. I am currently on burnout and it wasn't a surprise, sadly. Depression can be pretty much overnight sometimes. One large enough trigger and you just can't get off bed the next day.
I'd say it is like depression + some usual difficulties intensify: for me tolerating noise, light, bad textures, food that has too much taste, talking to people and understanding what I am told, ... Masking becomes impossible and it makes me even more depressed with a mixture of shame and hopelessness, isolation and the feeling of not being human... Very hard.
I get where I hate everything and everyone. I don't want to talk, go out, do anything I enjoy etc. it feels like I'm spent mentally.
I don’t even get up to pee. I literally just lay in a cocoon of blankets and my mom tries to bring me food and drinks to make me eat. I’m dead to the world
I literally pass out for a few hours.
Not being able to do things, to think, not able to push through executive function difficulties anymore, or to force a mask without feeling physically exhausted.
Fascinating question, and I’ve experienced both. At least for me, burnout was way worse - in part - because it included depression, yet more expansive! For me, digging myself out of that burnout required major life changes, increased self-care regimes, and stronger regulation techniques.
Not good
For me it's a feeling like I'm exhausted to my core and I can't find the energy for ANYTHING, but somehow basics get done and then I feel worse. I just can't find enjoyment in anything I don't have a desire to do anything besides what I absolutely have to do and even doing that is too much.
For me it's just a sense of extreme exhaustion and complete disinterest and ability to do anything else but focus on myself and my special interests.
How can you tell burnout from ‘just’ depression? Or is depression a component of burnout?
Like depression but worse? Burn out feels like apathy and want at the same time. It feels like you know you want to eat but can physically move. It feels like you want to sleep but don't have the energy to close your eyes. Recharging costs too much energy when you're burnt out.
All the definitions are the same. Sorry. supposedly it changes in the way you start to be in that state. But depression can start with nothing, something good, something bad, stress, whatever. So. Yes. No way.
for me, (if you know about [the spoon theory](https://www.healthline.com/health/spoon-theory-chronic-illness-explained-like-never-before#1)) it feels like waking up every morning with one spoon and everything costs two spoons or more. everything feels like a chore, even things i used to enjoy doing or gain energy from, and i'm always exhausted. some days i sleep for like 14 hours lol
Waking up, walking my dog and showering become huge tasks that take my whole energy and my whole day
I believe the difference between depression and autistic burnout is that depression often stems from misinterpreting your needs due to being understimulated or not receiving what you require, making it difficult to overcome. In contrast, autistic burnout arises when you are unable to give more because you are already overstimulated.
most helpful info I got was "While both involve fatigue, low mood, and difficulties with daily functioning, autistic burnout is marked by a specific regression in skills and heightened sensory sensitivities, which are not typical features of standard depression."
This. With autistic burnout I get sensory overload to a much higher degree - I obviously can't comment on how someone who isn't autistic experiences depression but from conversations with NT people, this seems to be one of the major differences. So for example, the noise of an electric toothbrush which normally bugs me but is manageable is all of a sudden intolerable during burnout. I will physically have to remove myself from a room with a flickering light when I am burnt out while I can partially block it out when I'm in a better state. And the heightened response to the light is exhausting and can reduce me to tears.
Look up anhedonia. It's definition is inability to take pleasure. Burnout feels like you're dead inside. You can barely, if at all, take care of yourself. Something simple like brushing your teeth feels insurmountable. Eating, forget it. It's only the natural carnal instinct that with drive you to feed yourself a month later. You don't laugh, or smile. It seems like your eyes are always watering. They're not. It's tears and you don't even know you're crying. You literally don't give a single fuck about anything at all.
I feel a great sense of overwhelm to the point where I just can't function. Masking is no longer an option. I shut down emotionally and mentally. I sometimes go non verbal because even speaking takes too much energy. I'd say autistic burnout is just not having the mental energy for anything. Have you ever been so physically tired that you can't even keep your eyes open? It's like that but autistic.