I’ve recently been diagnosed with ADHD at 48 yo. Finally a lot of things make sense to me, like forgetting ppl’s bdays and being over stimulated with too much touching, changing jobs frequently and just a whole lot of other things.
Anyhoo, I was wondering if anyone has some sources that explain ADHD burnout and how to recover from it? And more importantly how to prevent it.
Welcome to the forum CheeseIt !
It's late for me, so not much to say tonight.
Have your checked out the HowToADHD YouTube channel? I'm pretty sure there's episode there about ADHD burnout. Even if there's not one in that specific subject, there are lots of good, helpful, informative videos there.
I have checked out the yourube channel. She’s great. However she’s only briefly talked about the burn out. Thanks for the reply though.
I kept looking for information on ADHD Burnout. The articles I found on it seemed to be short and general treatment for stress, and not specific to the struggles of people with ADHD.
So, I cast a wider net.
DESCRIPTION
There seems to be more understanding of general Burnout, Occupational Burnout, Caregiver Burnout, and Autism Burnout. (Note, on Google Scholar, when I searched for "ADHD Burnout", it returned results of Caregiver Burnout for mothers with children who have ADHD, and Occupational Burnout for teachers with students who have ADHD.)
On Wikipedia, the reference to Burnout redirects to Occupational Burnout. (If you read it, skip the History, unless you're genuinely curious about it. I find the history of psychology interesting, but just know that it boils down to "burnout" being called many things over the years.)
All types of burnout appear to be the result of "chronic stress" and are characterized by "emotional exhaustion".
Autism Burnout seems very similar to ADHD Burnout to me. The part of the text I put in bold sounds like a perfect description of ADHD Burnout, as well as Autistic Burnout. (I wonder...Autism affects less people than ADHD does, so why is Autism burnout understood, but ADHD burnout barely gets a mention?)
"Autistic burnout is a state of intense mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion experienced by some autistic people. It is linked with a loss of skills and function as well as increased sensitivity to stimuli. Social withdrawal has been described both as a characteristic of and a response to autistic burnout. Autistic burnout is caused by masking or camouflaging or, more generally, the stress resulting from living in a neurotypical environment that does not sufficiently accommodate the needs of autistic people." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autis...
Side note:
I thought this interesting (mentioned in the Wikipedia article for Occupational Burnout). There was a research paper published in 2014 which proposes three stages of Burnout:
"Flame out - trying to deal with excessive stress, causing depression and anxiety.
Genuine burn out - a process of increasing emotional exhaustion.
Rust out - being completely alienated from other people, cynical and ineffective."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occup...
TREATMENT
These suggestions appeared in the Autistic Burnout article:
* (If possible) remove yourself from stressors & triggering situations.
* "spending time with special interests, stimming, and "unmasking" have been reported as helpful."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autis...
Other treatments, which were included in the Occupational Burnout article, but I've found mentioned many places, include:
* Professional help (mental health practitioners); suggested therapies include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and talk therapy
* Medication (for treatment of symptoms)
* Reduce stress
* Improve sleep
* Exercise (even just walking is proven to help with reducing the effect of stress, and can help to improve mood)
* Mindfulness & meditation
______
My own personal experience is that I improved the most when I got help from a therapist or counselor who I developed a good rapport with. I also needed medication to help with anxiety and depression at two periods of time (I'm still in treatment with medication for depression currently...it's been 4 months, and my doctor said I had to be on the medication for at least 3 months, so I am just starting to step down my dosage).
CBT, mindfulness techniques and talk therapy have helped me. I have also found it helpful for me to unmask (to tell people that I have ADHD...I started with family and friends, and also have told people at work, including most supervisors I've had since I was diagnosed with ADHD 3 years ago).
I now make sure to practice CBT and mindfulness techniques at the first sign of anxiety. I also try to manage my overall stress (which is always an uphill battle).
No matter what I do, I don't think I can prevent ever burning out again, but I'm learning that there's a lot that I can to to help reduce the likelihood of it happening.
Wow!! I appreciate you doing all this research and sending it my way!! If I find anything in addition to what you did, I’ll make sure and share it.
I do agree with you in the sense that an autistic burn out is the closest to how an ADHD burnout manifests.
This is really helpful, thank you!
I'm realizing now that i've been in AuDHD burnout and recovering since i gave up completely and quit my job last May. Quitting a very stressful job definitely helped with the stress reduction and sleep improvement. So much sleep! Then hours and hours of logic puzzles and word games for what seemed like months on end - i suppose that's like mental stimming. That all helped.
Even still, i only started to find my ground again 12 months later, without a diagnosis and so also without meds or therapy. Maybe it would have been faster and a lot less dramatic if i had understood better what was going on and had that help.
Mindfulness meditation, especially guided mediations on awareness and acceptance of emotions is now huge for me. I've also only recently self-diagnosed my autism and ADHD, and learning how to deal with my ADHD symptoms has also been really helpful. I've been using the Inflow app for tht.
The idea of getting a diagnosis and therapy along with unmasking feels really good. Not sure how to go about getting a diagnosis though, considering i'm a middle-aged woman who got excellent grades in school and was able to mask for decades. So many ways i don't fit.
Anyway, that list you provided definitely rings true for my experience and explains a lot of things. So thanks again : )
A great way to connect with professionals in your area is going to Psychologytoday.com.
I've tried that a couple of times to get help for my kids. But whenever i think i've found a good match, they're not taking any new clients! I'll use this as a good prompt to try again - so thank you for that! It's been a while since my last attempt, and i've never tried for my own AuDHD.
I emailed several providers daily until I found someone that was accepting new clients and could schedule sooner than later. Basically I kept going until I found someone that said “yes.” I think on the website it indicates if they’re taking new clients or if there’s a waiting list. Which i opted to be added onto just in case I didn’t find someone else to schedule with. And maybe the timing wasn’t right when you initially tried getting into counseling? Just fyi, My 17 yo and myself have separate therapists due to her being a teenager. And not all therapists treat kiddos.
Middle-aged woman here who got excellent grades in grade school but struggled in college... it is completely possible to get the later diagnosis, I was diagnosed 15 or so months ago and again 12 or so months ago.
There are a lot of different ways ADHD can look, and a Psychiatrist worth their salt will understand what's going on. We are part of a "lost" generation that was overlooked exactly because we aren't showing like the stereotype. Menopause and peri-menopause definitely compound the situation. If you need another wormhole to dive down, that would be a good one. 
If you can seek out professional diagnosis I encourage it. Life isn't perfect but it got a lot better by treating both, here.
Thank you for the words of support! I just saw what you wrote - apologies for the strangely delayed response. Even though it's weeks later, i still want to say thanks for the kind encouragement.
Getting diagnosed feels hard to do, with so many other things on my to do list, but i am starting to see how it might really be worth the investment.
Hi,
ADHD Burnout was the worst for me in my 40's and early 50's. Going through perimenopause and menopause made it 10x worse! I also wasn't diagnosed until age 47 and the medication trials were challenging. Stimulants work better when your estrogen levels are higher and in your 40's your hormones lessen and become imbalanced.
Find a good Primary Care Doctor and have your hormone levels checked and see what you can do to keep them balanced. Use only bioidentical hormones and eat whole organic foods. Good Luck! I wish I knew about this in my 40's! It would have saved me a lot of grief!
Related article on ADDitude Magazine
Rising from the Burnout: A Recovery Kit for Women with ADHD
additudemag.com/how-to-reco...
An interesting website:
ADHD burn out is real isn't it? The challenge with it, is that everyone differs. This includes dealing with it.
One thing that helped me was coaching with an ADHD specialist. We learnt what burnt me out alongside what I already used as strategies.
So- I now limit the number of 'high spoon activities per day and then listen to my audio story to get 'spoons' back
Can you give me more info about the “high spoon(s)!
The therapist with ADHD v. The ADHD therapist
ADHD or not?
Is this an ADHD thing?
ADHD books, anything helping you?
Russel Barkley on adhd
