Confirming the nature of autistic burnout

Added on 20/06/2024

Type de contenu

Journal article of the type Scientific research ( ; english)

Samuel Arnold , Julianne Higgins * , Janelle Weise , Aishani Desai , Elizabeth Pellicano , Julian Trollor
Confirming the nature of autistic burnout published in the journal "Autism" n°27, vol.7, 12 pages , doi: 10.1177/13623613221147410

*One co-author has publicly identified as autistic. [Learn more about this mention]

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Summary/Presentation

Autistic burnout is something autistic people have been talking about for a while (see #AutBurnout and #AutisticBurnout on social media). Recently, researchers published two different definitions of autistic burnout. We wanted to test these definitions. We wanted to confirm the duration and frequency of autistic burnout. That is, how long and how often do people get autistic burnout? We surveyed 141 autistic adults who had autistic burnout. We used descriptive statistics, content analysis and reflexive thematic analysis to analyse the survey responses. Autistic adults strongly agreed with the definition published by Higgins et al. How long and how often people get autistic burnout was not clear. Participants told us they have both short and long episodes. Participants told us that autistic burnout leads to exhaustion. They needed to withdraw from being with other people. They needed to stay away from autism unfriendly places. Many had been misdiagnosed as having depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder or other conditions. We need increased awareness of autistic burnout. Autistic people need more help. More research is needed, we need to have bigger studies to understand autistic burnout. 

For your information:

(1) References in blue are resources listed on our site.

(2) Authors listed in this bibliography whose names are in color have published other resources referenced on the site. Clicking on the name allows you to see the list of resources they have published and shared on the site.

(3) Authors whose names are followed by an asterisk have publicly disclosed being autistic.

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