Burnout

I recognised I was getting "stressed", but didn't realise the physical symptoms were related too. Got bad sciatica and other pains/injuries, chronic nausea, bad insomnia, exhaustion, rages, horribly intense sensory issues etc. Couldn't deal with getting a doctor's appointment because they used a system called Total Triage (I think) which required me to complete a self diagnosis "describe the medical problem" and tell them what I'd done to self treat and how I wanted them to help me. In midst of burnout I just couldn't cope with completing it... so I struggled on and on.

Luckily I'm bipolar and the bipolar part of my brain took the decision to make me manic. That enabled me to deal with the doctor because "bipolar" is easy to write on the form and led to me getting diagnosed as autistic too. Mania caused it's own problems, but only took c.3 months to feed through. 

Now I'm in a "skills loss" phase of burnout. Problems with executive function, speech fluency, concentration and fluctuations in energy levels. I'm off work and trying to "cocoon". Safe spaces, pretty lights, special interests and no diary commitments. Seems to be helping :)

The last part sounds similar to me with skills loss, communication, executive function and energy / sleep problems. I have also been diagnosed with depression and it feels like the depression is feeding off the burnout and vice versa. 

I took time off work last year following a bereavement but since returning it's been a constant struggle. I like my job, it's so interesting, but it does make me tired having to constantly mask when I speak to people  and I'm worried about taking more time off work. I think the worst and worry I will lose my job. I also reduced my hours when I returned and I am only just making enough to balance my outgoings now. It's a difficult one. 

I like the idea of no diary commitments , I hope these all work out well for you & thank you for sharing your experience with me

The last part sounds similar to me with skills loss, communication, executive function and energy / sleep problems. I have also been diagnosed with depression and it feels like the depression is feeding off the burnout and vice versa. 

I took time off work last year following a bereavement but since returning it's been a constant struggle. I like my job, it's so interesting, but it does make me tired having to constantly mask when I speak to people  and I'm worried about taking more time off work. I think the worst and worry I will lose my job. I also reduced my hours when I returned and I am only just making enough to balance my outgoings now. It's a difficult one. 

I like the idea of no diary commitments , I hope these all work out well for you & thank you for sharing your experience with me

I hope you feel better soon. Depression is a very nasty thing. It's a good idea to flag autism and burnout to any health care professionals to make sure they don't just default you down a standard depression playbook as that can be bad for burnout. 

I'm fortunate that my company has income protection insurance which I topped up, so time off to recover should be economically viable. Assuming they accept my claim!

There can be interesting bits to my job and sometimes the challenges are exciting and rewarding to triumph over. However, taken overall, work for me is a major negative. It is the biggest and most sustained source of stress in my life and literally makes me ill on a semi-regular basis. I have various adjustments to make it more bearable and this time around will again re-write my job profile and pitch it to my manager before I agree to go back. Hopefully he'll accept a decent % of my "new role" ideas and it'll be a few years before I start getting ill again.

I'm looking forward to retirement!