Burnt-out and need a friend!

I contacted a GP about burnout and they jumped straight to depression. 

What type of therapy is it? I'm seeing a person centered therapist. There's an online directory for UK based neurodivergent therapist too.

I had CBT and I struggled for the same reason, I didn't feel like I gained anything from it.

You're always welcome to message me on here if you have any questions about anything you feel could be helpful.

Thank you for the link! Any resources are very helpful 

Yeah, I’ve heard that burnout can last for years in some cases! It’s just very scary :( I already feel like I’m lacking behind in life and this makes me feel so helpless 

Welcome to the community forum

Happy when the sun is shining, reading books and seeing people.

Enjoy doing arrowwords and Japanese puzzles.  Photography, colouring and crafts.

Yes, as HMO25 said, it’s definitely more psychological. I thought I was just depressed but I couldn’t pin point why, and it dawned on me that it’s just burnout. 

Autonomistic said:

Yet there is so little recognition of it outside the autistic community.

I think that NT's presume that a burnout is a "nervous breakdown" (apologies if my 1970's terminology no longer applies.)

I’m glad therapy is helping you :) I’m currently seeing a therapist too but I don’t think they have any knowledge in autism so it’s still very difficult! I just wish there were more people like me nearby so I could have people that understand 

Thank you! I don’t know any neurodivergent adult in real life either. It feels very lonely :(

Welcome to the community.

Autistic burnout can be very debilitating, take years to recover from and in some cases result in permanent regression of abilities. Yet there is so little recognition of it outside the autistic community.

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/autistic-burnout

This link might be helpful for you to know that others understand what you are going through. It is a collection of writings and blog quotes, mainly from autistic people who have been through it. Warning though you can easily get lost in there for many hours, especially if you start exploring further links

https://stimpunks.org/burnout/

Thanks, I understand what you mean now 

I'd say it's more psychological, although physically I feel a bit more drained than I used to be. Not to the point it's massively noticeable though.

Autistic burnout is often mistaken for depression, and while that's somewhat understandable it goes a bit deeper. You lose interest in the things you previously enjoyed, you lose the ability to do things you once did etc.

Allie🖤 said:

with what feels like a constant burnout!

I had 9-12 months of being under a rock (no external interactions, PLENTY of self loathing, NOTHING achieved except aging)......followed by about 5 years of VERY slow recovery back to some vague sense of functionality and reconnection back with the world.

If your burnout is like mine was....then TIME is the big healer...and not much else.  My recovery started with taking a walk everyday....I built from there.

Hiya. Is this burnout a psychological or physical thing for you, or perhaps a combination of both? I’m not familiar with the term but myself have fibromyalgia which the word might describe too. 

Hello. I'm still rather new to understanding burnout too. I know the feeling of just not really wanting to do anything, not really caring and just not having much of an outlook for the future, but it's linked to a clear event. I am undergoing therapy though (with someone who is autistic too) and it has helped massively in terms of processing things, as I don't have to explain how autism works or anything like that.

I would thoroughly recommend that. Structured therapy maybe can work for autistics if it's adapted but I think the general consensus is that it's not really suitable. 

hi, all this is very new to me, however I believe that I have experienced burnout at many periods of my life. It is exhausting. I don’t know anyone in my real life that is a neurodivergent adult, so I also don’t have anyone that knows what it feels like, so if you ever need anyone to chat too, im around :)