I've Been Masking and Dealing with Sensory Overload for Years. 5 Years In, Still in Autistic Burnout.
A lot of people (Neurotypicals especially) assume burnout is mood-related. That we're just having an "off day" and need to "socialize more." That couldn't be further from the truth, and is extremely common and the subconcious opinion most NT's have over us autistic adults who are constantly dealing with sensory overload on a daily basis.
It's a lingering state of severe exhaustion from sensory overload and environmental factors. (Most of which, we simply can't work around, even though most of us tried to already.)
Masking all of the time while at work (And even at home with family) compounds the exhaustion and makes the burnout state I've been in constantly for over 5 years.
What Burnout Actually Looks Like
My tolerance for further sensory input is drastically reduced. Sudden touches or someone shouting regularly causes me to have multiple meltdowns throughout the day. I try to minimize it but stepping to the side if I feel a family member or coworkers wants to engage in small talk about something but it doesn't really help out all that much. I don't have anything against them, I'm just trying to converse as much energy as I possblly.
What becomes nearly impossible:
My cognitive stamina is completely drained. Remembering names, factual information, certain sounds—very tedious.
- Reading texts or long forms of content, such as in books.
- Studying at home
- Any form of Communication
- Enjoyment for things related to my special interests, such as cats and animation. They still do exist but don't have a meaningful upside to my energy as it did before. (with my energy slider scale in mind in context of my app from a scale of 1/10. I'm operating at a 2 or 3 most times, and special interests given a minor boost in my energy such as being able to operate at a 3-4 for a few hours, but usually my "burnout baseline" goes back to normally right after)
The exhausting factor of all of these encourages me to do them less, which naturally leads to skill regression towards all of them, making to do them (Such as social communication) much harder. Responses online or in person especially is usually very direct and straight to the point directly because of this.
My cognitive stamina is significantly drained. Remembering names, factual information, certain sounds—very tedious and I don't even bother doing it most of the time since it's so exhausting.
How Long It Actually Lasts
People also think it's a "spur of the moment" thing. Something that will pass in just a few days.
In reality? For me, I already know I've been in burnout for at least 5 years, but part of me feels it's been at least 10, given how long I've been struggling with this issues so much so even before I graduated high school (I'm currently 23)
It lasts far longer than they ever realize and it impacts everything. There's not a single upside in being in burnout, it makes EVERYTHING worse, not better, especially when it's played out as us "being lazy"
"Talk more." "Find something fun to do that helps you feel better."
They don't understand it's literally impossible to do that when my energy is so low and always is low. Small talk is exhausting for us as it is. More of that isn't going to help us, And "doing more" such as socializing is the last thing I'm thinking about in regardless to me feeling better due to just how exhausting it is.
What I Attempt/Attempted to Do to Counter This
Reduce as much cognitive demand as possible. Eat the same thing every single day. Go to bed at the exact same time. No efforts to "talk more" with family or coworkers. Time alone to stim and relax in a calm and predictable environment. Nearly everything I do is a drain wether marginal or significant so reducing the amount of them makes it somewhat easier to recover from. Grey rock responses such as = "I'm good." and "I'm fine doing things alone" are things I often do and aren't ashamed of. If I have to resort to that to maximize any energy reserves I have, I'll absolutely do that.
How Tracking Helps
Tracking my energy in the context of being in burnout (In my personal opinion) is to be aware of what drains me while at the same time, the effort to do so is minimal from acognitive load standpoint.
I've build Spoons for this exact reason, on top of the fact that autistic burnout and "masking fatique" is barely covered in the apple and google play store.
I figured if I could figure out what was draining me (Specfically, keeping me at a 2 or 3 energy most of the time) I could aggressively cut off those drains and introduce them slowly (Such as tidying my room every now and then, instead of never since it's too exhausting for me right now) when my energy levels improve.
I always now bring Theraspecs (light-sensitivity glasses) before arriving at work and keep them on the entire day and only take them off when the sun has fully set. No exceptions.
Without them, I leave work already on the edge of meltdown. (Due to the warehouse lights at the ceiling being too intense for me to handle)
I launch Spoons on April 2026. getspoons.app - Just one email when it's ready and downloadable. (If your interested!) No spam.
— Omari
Note: I'm sharing my personal experience as an autistic adult, not medical advice. If you're experiencing severe burnout or crisis, please consult a healthcare provider familiar with autism.