ScriptND adults
Burnout recognition — am I experiencing it?
A discussion guide for telling autistic burnout apart from depression and ADHD dysfunction.
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'Is this burnout, depression, or executive dysfunction?' is one of the most-asked and least-answered questions. This thread compares notes.
Five years of masking at work. Now I can't remember basic tasks, I've lost skills, even quiet feels unbearable, and I'm empty. Is this burnout specifically?
Prompts
- What did early burnout feel like for you?
- How do you tell burnout from depression or ADHD dysfunction?
- Did you need to step back from work to recover — and for how long?
- What actually helped, beyond generic 'self-care'?
Validate that burnout is real and serious, and that recovery timelines run in months and years, not weeks.