Burnout, Overwhelm, and Masking — Support for capacity collapse, executive strain, and the cost of masking.

Looking for something different? If you want the practical outcomes first, see Common Issues for Neurodivergent Adults — What I Offer.

Burnout in neurodivergent adults is often a systems crash: prolonged masking, high demand, sensory/social load, and executive strain finally exceed capacity. It can look like anxiety, depression, irritability, shutdown, loss of motivation, or the feeling that your life is made of tasks you can’t start. A key therapy question becomes: what reduces friction and protects recovery time — in the real world you live in?

Common Search Terms People Use

burnout, overwhelm, masking, autistic burnout, ADHD burnout, executive dysfunction, anxiety, depression, high functioning anxiety.

Five key traits of my style here

• We treat burnout as real, not as laziness or a character flaw.
• We reduce friction first: fewer drains, more supports, more accurate expectations.
• Direct, collaborative planning with clear language (no hidden rules).
• We take masking seriously and work toward sustainable alternatives.
• Trauma-informed pacing when burnout overlaps with complex trauma.