Autistic burnout

Do you feel exhausted to do anything after the office hours are over but you still pick up that vacuum cleaner or run that last piece of code until you are completely numb? Lii Brooke, autistic therapist and data analyst, explains the perils of autistic masking and how to safely return to your genuine self.

Does the pressure to participate in social occasions really get to you? Organising for Christmas seems to take a long time, months of awkwardness and anxiety. You might feel like the celebration is "happening to you" with no choice but to tough it out, which can end in spectacular meltdowns. Here are my tips: be aware of what drains your resources, plan in advance and negotiate compromises, communicate why you wish to participate on your terms, create a space to escape to.

Once you're in it, you just know. It takes over. There is the anger and the tiredness. A heavy tiredness. The climb-into-bed-for-days sort. If only you could…There may be responsibilities you have to fulfil whether or not you are utterly depleted.