March 27, 2026
What is Burnout?
There is a lot of complexity within burnout, especially for neurodiverse people, because it can look different for everyone. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but burnout, as with everything related to being a human and neurodivergent, is a highly individualized experience.
Simply, burnout is a prolonged period of extreme exhaustion following intense or long-term stress, sensory overload, masking, etc. Within this simple definition, there is a lot of variation for how “extreme exhaustion” can look. Common symptoms of neurodivergent burnout include:
- Chronic fatigue
- Increased sensory sensitivities
- Skill regression or temporary loss of skills
- Heightened emotions/emotional dysregulation
- Engagement in more “neurodivergent behaviors”
Neurodivergent burnout does not affect only one type of neurodivergence or group of neurodivergent people. Whether you have high support needs, low support needs, are high masking, etc., ND burnout can affect you, but the symptoms you experience will likely differ from someone else’s experience.
Signs You’re in Burnout
We listed the common symptoms above, but let’s take a deeper look into them!
1. Chronic Fatigue
This is often persistent and doesn’t simply go away with extra sleep, resting more, or taking a vacation. This level of exhaustion typically lasts the duration of neurodivergent burnout and requires alleviation of other burnout symptoms, in addition to rest, before a reduction in fatigue is seen.
2. Increased Sensory Sensitivity
This symptom is fairly self-explanatory, but it is characterized by a lower tolerance to all or certain noises/volumes, lights, visual clutter, textures (especially food and clothing), scents, taste, etc. There aren’t specific sensory sensitivities for ND burnout because this is different person to person.
3. Skill Regression/Loss of Skills
Oftentimes, these skills are linked to executive functioning. In ND burnout, executive dysfunction creeps its way in, which is why we see skill loss and regression in areas of self-care, planning, memory, emotion regulation, focus, starting and/or completing everyday tasks, and impulsivity. Skill regression is often criticised by neurotypical people because the ND person “could do these things before” ND burnout. Plus, skill regression is not a symptom of neurotypical burnout and is, therefore, easily misunderstood by those that have not experienced it. Skill regression is not a lack of will or motivation but is truly a loss of that skill, which is why this symptom of ND burnout is so frustrating. Neurodiverse people often wish they could engage in the activity or task but are truly unable to, don’t remember how, or are struggling to get started.
4. Heightened Emotions/Emotional Dysregulation
Emotional regulation is tied to executive functioning skills, so it makes complete sense that the ability to regulate emotions goes out the window when ND burnout shows up. Emotional dysregulation is often criticized as being “too emotional” or “too sensitive” because the person in ND burnout is quicker to respond to stimuli with an emotional response, especially responses that are more intense than the person would display in a similar situation. This symptom can also look like emotional outbursts, easily-triggered shutdowns, or meltdowns.
5. Engagement in More “Neurodivergent Behaviors”
During ND burnout, others may note that the person in burnout is “acting more neurodivergent.” However, this isn’t an act. When in ND burnout, the ability to mask decreases, and therefore, traits/behaviors that exist but have been masked are more prevalent. This may include behaviors such as stimming, seeking or avoiding sensory experiences, greater rigidity to routines/dysregulation when they’re disrupted, lower capacity for socializing, utilizing more “comfort items/routines” (e.g., rewatching the same movie/show, eating the same foods, etc.), and more. This is not an exhaustive list, and we are, by no means, implying that displaying more ND traits is wrong or a bad thing. In fact, we discussed the importance of safely unmasking to help avoid burnout in our previous blog. Click here to check it out.
As you can see, neurodivergent burnout takes a huge toll on the entirety of our bodies and shows up in all areas of life. This is a key difference between neurodivergent burnout and neurotypical burnout.
Neurodivergent Burnout vs Neurotypical Burnout
Neurotypical (NT) burnout may develop similarly to neurodivergent (ND) burnout in that intense or long-term stress or being/feeling overworked leads to extreme fatigue and heightened emotions, especially irritability. However, with NT burnout, these symptoms can typically be attributed to one or just a few areas of the person’s life that have felt stressful and overwhelming. This may not always be the case, but when those areas are identified by the NT person, then they can typically make a plan for how to reduce stress in those areas or how to prioritize the stressful areas and reduce efforts in less important areas. Additionally, NT burnout often reduces with rest or the reduction of stress.
As we discussed above, this is pretty different from ND burnout because symptoms of ND burnout do not diminish with rest or stress reduction alone. They require basically a whole body reset for the ND person to regain functioning and feel a sense of normalcy again. Additionally, ND burnout affects almost all areas of the ND person’s life rather than just a few.
What Triggers Neurodivergent Burnout?
Throughout this blog, we have briefly discussed some of the contributors to neurodivergent burnout, but I do want to make sure these get their own moment in the spotlight because recognizing your triggers towards burnout is a key piece towards preventing it. Common triggers include:
1. Long-Term Stress
Admittedly, “stress” is a bit of a catch-all category because there are so many things that can cause stress or be considered a stressor. This may include life changes, financial issues, environmental changes, and so so much more. “Stress” also includes some of the following triggers below.
2. Sensory Overload
Sensory overload is really what it sounds like, prolonged or quick, intense exposure to unpleasant sensory stimuli. The impact these stimuli have really depend on the person’s tolerance and whether other triggers are at play too. However, examples of sensory stimuli that can lead to sensory overload include: working in loud or bright environments, constant, new noises at home or safe places, needing to wear uncomfortable or different clothes, food changes, and more. This is not exhaustive but just covers some examples.
3. Life Demands Exceeding Capabilities
There is a lot that goes into this category, but it is a huge contributor to burnout! Sometimes this excess occurs because we are simply trying to do too many tasks even if they are relatively small ones that we know how to do. Trying to balance school/work, self-care tasks, cleaning, cooking, caring for children or pets, etc. AND constantly transitioning between these tasks or planning for them requires a lot of executive functioning. If these demands increase or remain too high for too long, then we may become fatigued and see a decrease in our executive functioning. As that decreases, then demands feel more strenuous, executive functioning decreases further, and we find ourselves in a positive feedback loop leading to burnout!
Other times, life demands are just outside of what we know how to do. Burnout may occur if we try to push ourselves to figure out these tasks or feel pressured by others to do so. Even if we are not actively working on these tasks, just knowing that the demand exists and that it is something we need to complete can utilize and drain our executive functioning and lead to burnout.
4. Masking
As we discuss in our previous blog, masking is essentially hiding parts of yourself and/or behaving in ways you think others want you to. By masking, we are basically forcing ourselves to “perform,” and as you can imagine, that takes a lot of mental, physical, and emotional energy. If we are constantly masking or in situations where we need to mask more than usual, our energy is quickly draining, which impacts our ability to engage in executive functioning skills, handle stressors, or tolerate bothersome sensory stimuli. Additionally, prolonged masking can inhibit the development of our “sense of self,” meaning we may not know what we like, dislike, or what can help us avoid or get out of burnout.
5. Low or Missing Access to Appropriate Supports
Again, there is a lot that goes into this category. In this blog, we refer to appropriate support as receiving the accommodations we individually need to successfully navigate our everyday life and demands in work/school and social situations. I highlight the individual piece because “appropriate support” does not include the general accommodations offered to everyone or based on a diagnosis. Accommodations should be individualized to account for the fact that everyone is different!
Anyway, I’m stepping off my soap box now. We may not receive appropriate support for many reasons. For some high-masking folks or those with lower support needs, others may not acknowledge our need or requests for accommodations because we seem “fine” due to masking, they don’t see the extra time or effort we need to produce the same results, or we need less accommodations in other areas. Even for individuals with higher support needs, their need for accommodations may be recognized but they still don’t receive appropriate accommodations, especially if they do not have a sufficient or reliable way to communicate their needs. When our struggles and need for accommodations are diminished, it can lead to feelings of isolation and, especially, lead to burnout if we are pushing ourselves to complete tasks without accommodations, as mentioned in #3.
As you can, hopefully, see, the many triggers that lead to burnout are incredibly intertwined, and avoiding burnout is a delicate process. That is not to say that avoiding burnout is impossible, but it is so important to recognize your own triggers and symptoms that indicate burnout is approaching in order to best avoid it
How to Best Avoid Neurodivergent Burnout?
Now that we know more about what neurodivergent burnout is and how it can be triggered, let’s talk about what we can do to decrease the chances we find ourselves in it.
A common misconception spread by well-intentioned people is that self-care requires “adding.” They may suggest getting your hair or nails done or going to a spa if you’re feeling stressed or down. I’m sure we’ve all heard that we just need to make a system that we can stick to and our problems will be solved. Inherently, these suggestions aren’t bad or wrong, and they may even be helpful for some people, especially neurotypical people. The issue for people in ND burnout is that we already have too much of everything, and adding to our executive functioning demands will only exacerbate burnout.
But Erin, how does a spa day add to your demands? That’s a great question! In theory, a spa day is relaxing, but getting to the spa day requires planning a day and time, calling to make a reservation, budgeting for the services, stopping for a cash tip (maybe this is outdated), and getting yourself there. Then, even when your spa day starts, you are likely to experience a lot of new sensory experiences, such as someone touching you for a massage, different smells in the air or products, the texture of products touching you, new sounds, etc. Unless you are an avid spa-goer, you are encountering a lot of new sensory stimuli, which can feel like a nightmare if you’re already in sensory overload. I may be a little biased because spas don’t really seem like my type of thing, so if you think a spa day would help you, I don’t mean to discourage it!
Even with creating a new system, that still requires assessing what’s not working, thinking of ways to fix it, implementing these changes, and sticking to them. Again, not inherently bad, but it may feel like more work than help when you’re in burnout. So what do we need to do to avoid burnout?
1. Remove or Delegate Unnecessary Tasks
If you are feeling the pressure of too many demands, it is important to determine which ones require your energy immediately or in the near future. If you have any non-urgent tasks on your to-do list, get rid of them! Or at least add them to your schedule for a later date. Your energy is valuable, and in order to avoid burnout, it needs to be conserved. I started writing some examples of demands that can be removed or pushed back, but again, it really depends on the person. For me, I may feel pressured to stay on top of vacuuming my couch, but if I’m feeling stressed and life is throwing too much at me, that is a task I can easily wait to do until life slows down a bit. For someone else, they may have 10 pets they are allergic to, so staying on top of vacuuming is crucial for their well-being.
Another option is to delegate urgent tasks. If you work or live with other people and have tasks that you don’t need to complete, delegation is a great tool! I emphasize “need” because I understand preferring tasks to be done a certain way and feeling like you’re the only one that can do it right, BUT if you’re approaching burnout and want to avoid it, it’s okay to let others help even if it’s not the exact way you’d do it. If I have a million things to do, a dishwasher loaded differently than how I do it is better than trying to do it all on my own.
Delegating tasks can be great, but it is also important to at least consider the consequences of others doing the task and the skill level of the person you are asking. For example, if you have a report due for school, you can’t necessarily delegate the report to someone else because that’s plagiarism, but you could ask for help with cooking or cleaning so you can do the report on your own. If you need to meet a work deadline and someone offers to help finish the task, it may help to consider if their help will be distracting or if they will produce the best product. If you have cleaning tasks at home, will a 5-year-old have the skillset to adequately mop without making a bigger mess for you to deal with, or should they clean something else? There is definitely a level of trust required to delegate tasks, and this is not to deter you from delegating. Rather, I want to offer simple considerations for picking the right person and the right tasks to delegate because once you’ve figured that out, others can be so helpful!
2. Adjust Tasks to Work for You
When completing tasks, it is really easy to let societal pressure or norms creep in and control how you check off your to-do list. However, these “norms” are just made up at the end of the day. If they aren’t working for you, then don’t follow them!
For example, a friend once explained to me how she was very consistent with remembering to brush her teeth in the morning, but she really struggled to do it before bed. She was feeling very stressed about forgetting to brush her teeth for a second time at night, so her solution was to start brushing her teeth when she got home from work because that’s when she remembered to do it. In an ideal world, would it probably be best for our dental hygiene to brush our teeth right before bed to remove the food and grime of the day? Yes. But is consistently brushing your teeth twice per day better than only once because you forget at night? Absolutely! She was feeling the executive functioning fatigue and found a solution.
As a personal example, cleaning and reducing visual clutter on common surfaces is important to me but also easily leaves me feeling stressed if I fall behind. Recently, I have felt that I am on the brink of burnout, and as I see my business, personal, and cleaning tasks pile up faster than I can complete them, I am feeling more and more stressed. To keep the looming burnout at bay, I am doing my best to adjust tasks to work for me, especially cleaning. I would love to do a true “spring cleaning,” but right now, I only have the energy to put items away as they pile up, to wipe down counters/tables, and clean visible dirt. Again, I’d love to do more, but I am allowing myself to accept these smaller ways of cleaning instead of pushing myself to clean beyond what I can do right now.
3. Self-Care
Caring for yourself is vital for avoiding burnout! However, it is not just taking a bubble bath and face masks. It can include that, but true self care means eating enough nourishing food, drinking water, completing hygiene tasks, sleeping enough, etc. Sometimes, these tasks can feel really difficult, especially if you’re in or close to burnout, but properly caring for your body will ensure you have enough energy to complete other tasks properly! If necessary, reduce or delegate tasks to prioritize self-care, or you can even delegate tasks that encourage self-care. Maybe you need food delivered or cooked for you to ensure you have the energy to eat or do other tasks. Others may be able to help you set up reminders for these tasks, adjust phone settings to encourage sleep, or have ideas for how to accommodate your needs.
4. Engage in Special Interests or Preferred Activities
When demands pile up, enjoyable activities are often the first things to be booted from our priority list. However, for neurodiverse folks, engaging with our special interests or hyperfixations is really important for our overall well-being, so it is especially important when avoiding or recovering from burnout. The way you engage with these activities may look different when we have low energy or too many demands, but even spending just a little bit of time with these activities can help restore our energy and reduce stress. Maybe instead of intensely researching new information about your special interest, you rewrite the notes you already have on it. Perhaps you organize your crafting materials instead of diving into a new project. If you feel up to full engagement, go for it! There isn’t a right or wrong way to engage in your preferred activities, but it is important to prioritize spending some time with them.
5. Minimize Masking
As we mentioned, masking requires a lot of energy, so when possible, safely unmasking can greatly conserve energy, allow you to focus on important tasks, and even just offer relief from feeling the need to hide. Check out our blog on masking for more tips on how to unmask and reconnect with yourself.
6. Say “No!”
Finally, if you are feeling overwhelmed by the demands already on your plate, that feeling is not going to go away by adding more demands. While it is easier said than done, prioritize your well-being and capacity by saying “no” to tasks you cannot easily take on. If you are at your absolute max, say “no” to basically all tasks, even if you think you can easily take them on. Even if you are not feeling close to burnout, it is important to evaluate which tasks are necessary for you to take on AND within your skill set. Plus, if you can practice saying “no” when you are far from burnout, it will help you feel more confident saying “no” when you have more going on.
Finally, if you are feeling overwhelmed by the demands already on your plate, that feeling is not going to go away by adding more demands. While it is easier said than done, prioritize your well-being and capacity by saying “no” to tasks you cannot easily take on. If you are at your absolute max, say “no” to basically all tasks, even if you think you can easily take them on. Even if you are not feeling close to burnout, it is important to evaluate which tasks are necessary for you to take on AND within your skill set. Plus, if you can practice saying “no” when you are far from burnout, it will help you feel more confident saying “no” when you have more going on.
As you can see, the common theme for avoiding burnout as it feels imminent is prioritizing yourself and your needs. It can feel challenging, especially if you are not used to doing so, but burnout is your body’s way of saying it is in survival mode. In order to get back to a spot where you can tackle harder tasks or help others, you need to prioritize your body’s needs!
Burnout Recovery
I’m going to keep repeating this because it is so important, but to avoid or recover from burnout, you have to prioritize your own needs. Truthfully, I don’t know what that is for you because…all together now… it depends on the person and triggers that lead to burnout.
The tips for avoiding burnout are also relevant for recovering from burnout. You don’t need to add a bunch, or any, things to your list of demands to “cure burnout.” All we need is to listen to our bodies and take care of ourselves. This may require help and extra accommodations from others, and that is okay! It may feel uncomfortable to accept, but help from others will only reduce the strain on your executive functioning.
It may help to create a plan for when you are in or approaching burnout. We can’t always predict how burnout will look or feel each time, but a simple plan could remind you to ask for help and accommodations and help others know the best way to help you.
Another way to help your burnout recovery is to listen to your sensory needs. Lean into the activities you are already doing that feel good or find ways to weave them in. Caring for our sensory needs helps our bodies come out of survival mode, which in turn, increases our capacity for demands, helps us better process stress and sensory input, and increases executive functioning. There are so many ways you can attend to your sensory needs, and we discuss some of them in our blog on sensory-safe spaces that you can check out here. Maybe you like relaxing in a bath to decompress, so you can take a bath instead of a shower to attend to sensory and hygiene needs. Maybe you just need some extra time with fidgets, a weighted blanket, or engaging in structured movements (e.g., exercise, dancing, swinging, etc.). Or maybe you need almost total sensory deprivation.
Another way to support burnout recovery and sensory needs is wearing sensory-safe clothing or using items with sensory-safe materials. The Mentally Elsewhere Club has specifically selected our apparel with sensory needs in mind because we understand the importance of feeling comfortable and safe in your clothes to feel comfortable and safe overall. Our t-shirts are created with heavyweight, 100% cotton material to provide some weight for sensory input, a loose fit, and soft material that gets softer with each wash. Our sweatshirts are made with a 50/50 cotton and polyester blend, which creates a soft, non-itchy, and low-pill fabric, and they come as tagless or easily removable tags to avoid that sensory nightmare. Click here to check out our Etsy shop! Yes, I am doing a bit of a product plug but wearing clothes that make you feel good is so important for burnout recovery. When you feel good inside and out, again, your body starts to transition out of survival mode and get you back to living life.
Final Thoughts
While not an enjoyable experience, burnout is a common experience for neurospicy humans. You’re not alone in this experience, and this community is here to help you avoid or recover from burnout. We are so proud of you, and you got this!
Thank you all for reading this blog! We are so grateful for your support of The Mentally Elsewhere Club! We would love to hear from you! If you have any simple or unhinged recovery tips, we would love to hear them. Just send us an e-mail at egaeta@thementallyelsewhereclub.com or DM us on our socials.
