I’m not lazy

Amerantin (former member) said:

My employer appointed a “neurodiversity champion”

Yeah that is a ticking a box exercise.  Like that company or gov dept that appointed a man as the female champion the other month.

If you want to avoid burn out and continue working for your current employer, cut your work load.  Either ask your boss to reduce it, as others have stated, or just do the bare minimum required for the job and take no initiative any more.  In the end it's your health at stake, so do what's good for you.

I wish you luck with it all.

Yeah it’s a massive worry isn’t it. You don’t have any control over their response to the information and to you going forward. Maybe test it out with a few people first? Gauge their reaction and then see how you feel. 

I think with work there is so few things you have any control over. For me reducing my hours has given me that little sense of control and feels like I am making my own reasonable adjustments to try and do something to help myself. It’s worth thinking about if it’s an option for you. Or doing something like seeing if you can start later and finish later, or the opposite for whatever would work best for you. 

life is crazy  

Thanks

That's great you work from home, this will help in your recovery from burnout. I've been looking at jobs I could do from home but so far haven't found one suitable for me.

I hope things improve for you soon.

Thanks Dawn. I mostly work from home since the pandemic. Go into the office maybe once a fortnight.

My employer appointed a “neurodiversity champion” several months ago who was supposed to educate the staff and make adjustments for us but nothing seems to have come of it. Probably just lets them tick a diversity box without actually doing anything.

I’m glad you think burnout can eventually easy though. You’ve given me hope!

Already on anti/-depressants 

Get that one!  I've had a lot go on over the past few years and I do feel that I am living life in slow motion with everything taking more energy than I've got.  It's essential not to push yourself too hard, you'll make the burn out worse that way.

Keep a dialogue open with your employer.  I'm sure they'd rather you did less and did it well than burnt out to the point of off sick.  Home working, if you can, might help.  It does for me - eliminates the sensory stressors of the commute and the office, and limits the social to essential meetings - no water cooler small talk and gives me time back to recuperate. It also helps the focus.

Although badly managed burn out can turn into years, it doesn't have to and the good news is they do eventually ease on their own.

As for your colleagues, gossips will be gossips, but perhaps your employer might help with a little "education" for them.

I think if you are open with everyone in work, who is relevant, then you will feel a sense of relief. How they recieve it is up to them. You cant change and you dont need to. I bet you are a valued member of the team. 

its best to cut your effort at work anyway i found.

i was the best worker doing the jobs of 4 people at once better than 4 people themselves, i never got appreciated for it and lazier slower people kept getting awarded and promoted while i kept getting punished and held back. so its really not worth bothering being the best, stay at your so called lazy, it is more cost effective for you.

I think I also need to be really open with everyone at work. It’s just a worry that there may be consequences. 

I also need to seriously consider a reduced work week. I’ve been struggling for three years something needs to change.

It’s amazing how life can just whack you over the head and change everything, isn’t it?

I'm sorry you've had these experiences at work. I was the exact same in the workplace and am now signed off from work under mental health, purely I think because it just exhausted me mentally and physically. Working is so challenging because there's so much going on all at once, so much to process and no time to step back, rest and recover...

You literally have to work, most days and long gruelling hours. It quickly leads to burnout and sometimes other mental health problems, which was my experience.

Amerantin (former member) said:

And how have you managed peoples’ perceptions of your lack of energy?

When i was able to work i didn't manage them.  I took work as being a 6-10 week affair that put money in my bank account.  After that I moved to a different contract.  Most times I wouldn't make it to 10 weeks as I would have either been fired or let go with some BS excuse.  Not all was related to ASD, some was due to other health problems.

Does it ever get better?

The honest answer is no, it never gets better, you just learn to battle it more efficiently.  Burnout happens and your choices are to carry on with the cycle or get off the hamster wheel and find a career/job that is less burnout prone.

As to energy, try Monster Silver.  I am a Monster junkie, but for whatever reason, when I have a can I don't so much get energy, but precision of thought and calmness of mind.  It also affords me the ability to deal with BS working conditions and boring jobs, at least for a while.

Beyond that medication is your best bet.  Something that can numb you to the grind.  My ASD friend liked Prozac.  Said it made life bearable, but he seemed to almost take heroic amounts of it.  Maybe ask your doctor to try anti-depressants.

You might like to work here. https://auticon.com/uk/

4 day week would be good if you can afford it. I know employers should offer reasonable adjustments but i dont know much about it. 

Hey, I literally could have written this. Except my big burnout was 2021 resulting in me being hospitalised. Everyday is a struggle. The littlest things that doesn’t seem to phase anyone else are such big things to me. I’m exhausted both physically and mentally. I keep thinking and saying I feel like I’m getting more and more autistic as time goes on, I’m sure people are massively questioning me and my performance at work. So, no, for me things have not got better overtime and I feel constantly in a state of awareness that I’m going to burnout again and feel myself constantly being pulled in that direction. 

similarly like you it’s just my line manager and a few chosen colleagues that know about my diagnosis. 

I don’t know what to suggest. As I say, I literally could have written this post myself! 

I have just been awarded a request to reduce my hours for a three month period. I felt like I had no other option as felt myself leading towards burnout again and had no work/life balance, as I feel like work is just overtaking everything. Is something like that an option for you? 

I think I probably just need to be really open with everything at work and be like this is me, this is what’s going on, this is what I am struggling with, and this is why I do what I do. But that’s big and scary and once you release it out there into the world you can’t just take it back! 

I really hope you find something that works for you! If you do, let me know, would be keen to know! :) 

I feel worn out, so often, over the past few years. After having big plans for 2020, Lockdown threw everything upside down.

Looking to get back to work, but only locally.

My line manager and some of my colleagues know that I’m autistic and that I’ve been struggling and I think they’ve given me a bit of space, been less demanding. But I also feel I’ve been slightly sidelined as a result because they still need to get things done and I suppose they feel they can’t rely on me as much.

I don’t have family so my whole identity is wrapped up in my job, so this is really hard for me.

I’ve been considering asking to work a 4 day week.

When i worked full time i would need time off sick quite often as i couldnt cope. I realise now that these occasions were burn out. I didnt know that i was autistic. 

It didnt get better for me. I have resigned from good jobs as a result. 

Have you spoken to your employer? Are they able to provide you with any support to help you in some way?