Published on 12, July, 2020
For me, the two seem effectively the same so its hard to know what I should do when I'm in this state. I've seen a venn diagram online showing the seperate symptoms of each with a few overlapping ones but as someone who finds it impossible to distinguish feelings anyway, that venn diagram isn't all that useful to me. I know I have physical symptoms like wanting to sleep all day, low energy, no motivation to do things or just feeling in general "off", but how do people with the same sort of struggle with identifying emotions know what state they're in to then know what to do?
There is a big overlap. In both cases there is a lack of energy to do things.
The difference with burnout is I feel like I have no energy but I want to do things (my special interests). If I take a week off from work then it all comes back very quickly, and I just need more time. I really want to do my special interests above all else.
With depression, I don't want do do anything, and I wish I was dead and didn't exist. My special interests don't matter, I just wish I was dead.
With autistic burnout, I have been trying really hard, and there is no end. I can't pursue my interests even if I wanted to. I've just been trying so hard to be like everyone else and I reach the point where I can't do it any more. And I have no energy left for things I want to do.