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Autistic burnout is a prolonged state of intense fatigue, decreased executive functioning or life skills, and increased sensory processing sensitivity experienced by autistic people. Autistic burnout is thought to be caused by stress arising from masking or living in a neurotypical environment that does not accommodate needs of autistic people.

Definition

Autistic burnout is defined as a syndrome of exhaustion, skill loss/regression, and sensory hypersensitivity or intensification of other autistic features that endures for at least 3 months.[1] Autistic individuals commonly describe autistic burnout to be caused by prolonged overexertion of one's abilities to cope with life stressors, including lack of accommodations for one's support needs, which tax an autistic person's mental, emotional, physical, and/or social resources.[2][3] Autistic masking has also been proposed as a cause of autistic burnout.[4] Autistic burnout may be chronic and/or recurrent. Extended periods of autistic burnout can significantly impair an individual's ability to maintain employment, schooling, independent living, and general quality of life. It may also contribute to increased prevalence of comorbid depression, anxiety, and suicidality among autistic people.[1][5]

Autistic burnout shares some features with occupational burnout and clinical depression such as fatigue and limited functioning in work or social contexts.[3] However, autistic burnout can occur independently of employment and is distinct from occupational burnout occurring in an autistic employee,[6] which can also occur.[7]: 245  Depressive symptoms such as anhedonia or sleep disturbances are observed less frequently in autistic burnout.[1]

Research

The term "autistic burnout" is believed to have emerged by the late 2000s among autistic communities such as Wrong Planet and has continued to grow among social media users of the #ActuallyAutistic or #AutisticBurnout hashtags on platforms such as Twitter.[8] Throughout the 2010s, autistic burnout gained traction among autism researchers as a construct with ecological validity[9] alongside concepts like neurodiversity proposed by the autism rights movement.[6] It is often discussed in conjunction with autistic masking/camouflage, compensation, or "passing."[9] The phenomenonology of autistic burnout may be related to that of autistic meltdowns.[2] Ongoing research is largely qualitative in nature.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Raymaker, Dora M.; Teo, Alan R.; Steckler, Nicole A.; Lentz, Brandy; Scharer, Mirah; Delos Santos, Austin; Kapp, Steven K.; Hunter, Morrigan; Joyce, Andee; Nicolaidis, Christina (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. doi:10.1089/aut.2019.0079. PMC 7313636. PMID 32851204.
  2. ^ a b Deweerdt, Sarah (2020-03-30). "Autistic burnout, explained". Spectrum. Simons Foundation. doi:10.53053/bpzp2355. S2CID 251634477. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  3. ^ a b Winegarner, Beth (2021-09-03). "'The Battery's Dead': Burnout Looks Different in Autistic Adults". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  4. ^ Pearson A, Rose K (2021). "A Conceptual Analysis of Autistic Masking: Understanding the Narrative of Stigma and the Illusion of Choice". Autism Adulthood. 3 (1): 52–60. doi:10.1089/aut.2020.0043. PMC 8992880. PMID 36601266.
  5. ^ Hull L, Levy L, Lai MC, Petrides KV, Baron-Cohen S, Allison C; et al. (2021). "Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?". Mol Autism. 12 (1): 13. doi:10.1186/s13229-021-00421-1. PMID 33593423.((cite journal)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b Tomczak MT, Kulikowski K (2023). "Toward an understanding of occupational burnout among employees with autism - the Job Demands-Resources theory perspective". Curr Psychol: 1–13. doi:10.1007/s12144-023-04428-0. PMC 9958323. PMID 37359683.
  7. ^ Bury SM, Spoor JR, Hayward SM, Hedley D (2022-06-30). "Supporting the mental health and well-being of autistic and other neurodivergent employees in the work environment". In Bruyere SM, Colella A (ed.). Neurodiversity in the workplace: Interests, issues, and opportunities. Routledge. pp. 241–266. doi:10.4324/9781003023616. ISBN 9781003023616.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Mantzalas, Jane; Richdale, Amanda L.; Adikari, Achini; Lowe, Jennifer; Dissanayake, Cheryl (2022). "What Is Autistic Burnout? A Thematic Analysis of Posts on Two Online Platforms". Autism in Adulthood. 4 (1): 52–65. doi:10.1089/aut.2021.0021. PMC 8992925. PMID 36605565.
  9. ^ a b Libsack EJ, Keenan EG, Freden CE, Mirmina J, Iskhakov N, Krishnathasan D; et al. (2021). "A Systematic Review of Passing as Non-autistic in Autism Spectrum Disorder". Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 24 (4): 783–812. doi:10.1007/s10567-021-00365-1. PMC 10613328. PMID 34505231.((cite journal)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Øverland E, Hauge ÅL, Orm S, Pellicano E, Øie MG, Skogli EW; et al. (2022). "Exploring life with autism: Quality of Life, daily functioning and compensatory strategies from childhood to emerging adulthood: A qualitative study protocol". Front Psychiatry. 13: 1058601. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1058601. PMC 9732257. PMID 36506426.((cite journal)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Mantzalas J, Richdale AL, Dissanayake C (2023). "Examining subjective understandings of autistic burnout using Q methodology: A study protocol". PLOS ONE. 18 (5): e0285578. Bibcode:2023PLoSO..1885578M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0285578. PMC 10198508. PMID 37205659.((cite journal)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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