Trapped in a Constant Cycle of Burnout
I feel trapped and exhausted by life. The last few years have been a constant up and down battling myself and a world I don't fit into, and just when I seem to find a way out of burnout I fall back into it after the most minor of ordeals. I'm also AuDHD, so recovery feels like a precarious tight rope where I need to find a way to manage the often conflicting needs of both conditions. Even special interests feel increasingly foreign and inaccessible to me. It makes me feel trapped. I'm just jaded and I feel bitter all the time. Seeing people doing the things I can't right now stings. I want to be able to get through the day without feeling physically and mentally depleted, I want to pursue my hobbies and interests again, but burnout makes those things feel impossible. Negative symptoms I once found ways to cope with like communicative & sensory barriers also feel more intense than they ever have.
I know that autistic people can enjoy life, and I used to genuinely appreciate the different perspective on it that I had as an autistic person. But now, it feels like a curse. I feel entirely isolated by the struggle. I don't have a therapist and I've had no luck confiding in friends. I know it's partly the burnout talking, but life keeps getting harder and I feel less and less capable of managing it each day.
Posted Sep 6, 2026, 3:22 AM UTC