Introduction
As work days bleed into personal time, burnout is on the rise, and this is particularly true for neurodivergent individuals. Poor work-life balance, combined with executive functioning deficits, communication difficulties, and the exhaustion of masking, creates a perfect storm for burnout.
Burnout Prevention
Burnout manifests differently for everyone. It may include an inability to sleep or sleeping too much, loss of interest in work, agitation, apathy, and chronic fatigue.
For adults with autism or ADHD, this can also include missed deadlines, not paying attention to details, being late to work, or, in contrast, not keeping up with responsibilities or relationships in their personal lives.
Fortunately, there are ways to prevent and correct burnout.
Prevention is considerably easier than correction. For neurodivergent adults, this may include working on executive functioning skills like time management and work-life balance. This may also include asking for accommodations and identifying stressors across environments. As with everyone, work-life balance is important, as is taking regular breaks.
Burnout Correction
Once burnout sets in, the negative consequences may be immediate, but there are ways to correct it.
Taking time off work is usually not possible, and for many neurodivergent people, the change in routine and lack of productivity can worsen the symptoms of burnout.
Instead, restructuring duties, modifying schedules, and delegating tasks may be helpful. Likewise, if specific stressors have not been identified, doing so and changing what is possible is a good step. Lastly, identifying those negative consequences and amending them where possible, while difficult, will help to ease stress.
Burnout Unchecked
The old adage that if you don’t make time, your body will make time for you is true. Burnout, if left unchecked, can lead to job loss, damaged relationships, and loss of financial resources. For neurodivergent adults, coping skills and self-regulation can be difficult, and the signs and symptoms of burnout may be overlooked or mistaken for other neurodivergent symptoms. It is also common for neurodivergent adults to shut down when stressed or overwhelmed, meaning that initiating correction or asking for help may be difficult.
Conclusion
Burnout is becoming more common across fields. At the same time, those identifying as neurodivergent are at an all-time high. Many employers are unaware of how to best accommodate neurodivergent employees, while there are very few supports for these adults as they enter the workforce. While burnout is common, it is not absolute and can be prevented and reversed with the proper resources and effort.
I chose to write about this topic since one of my roles is as a life and executive coach to neurodivergent adults. I have an MS in Behavioral Psychology and am working toward a Ph.D. Burnout prevention is one of my focus areas.
References
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Schoondermark, F., Spencer, A., & Kiep, M. (2025). Evaluating an autistic burnout measurement in women. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55(9), 3328–3342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06438-8
Mantzalas, J., Richdale, A. L., & Dissanayake, C. (2022). A conceptual model of risk and protective factors for autistic burnout. Autism Research, 15(6), 976–987. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2722
Raymaker, D. M., Teo, A. R., Steckler, N. A., Lentz, B., Scharer, M., Delos Santos, A., Kapp, S. K., Hunter, M., Joyce, A., & Nicolaidis, C. (2020). “Having all of your internal resources exhausted beyond measure and being left with no clean-up crew”: Defining autistic burnout. Autism in Adulthood, 2(2), 132–143. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2019.0079
Author Bio
April Vian is a behavior analyst and life and executive coach for neurodivergent adults. She resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and five children, where she is completing her Ph.D. in Applied Psychology. April is an advocate for neurodivergent adults, providing an online community with classes and resources to help bridge the gap in services for adults. April is the author of Navigating Neurodivergency, a series of books providing information and applicable interventions for adults with ASD, ADHD, and other types of neurodivergence.
Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license for mental health awareness with editorial review.