One of the reasons it can be hard to accept burnout as real or to appreciate that we need sufficient time to heal and move on from it, is because our experience may be very different from other people we know. Perhaps the other parents you meet at the school gate seem to be coping fine with their five year old, their toddler, and their six week old baby, whilst you've reached a point being barely able to function with your seven year old child.

Or maybe somebody at work has just got a promotion and they're taking all their new project management responsibilities in their stride whilst you've been in the job for ten years and still find it impossible to manage your workload. There can be a huge amount of shame around thinking that other people are coping better than we are, which can make us feel as if we're overreacting or being lazy or making it all up.

But none of that is true. We're experiencing things in a way physically, mentally and emotionally that causes overwhelm and stress at a level that can become unmanageable. Even if the situation might not look that stressful from the outside. We need to accept that burnout is real and one way of doing that is to have some understanding of what's happening in our brains that makes our experience different to many people's.

A good starting point is to think about the role of the stress response. Being able to respond to dangerous or stressful situations is crucial for humans to survive. The release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline primes our mind and body to stay alert, fight, or run away. But we all have the capacity to go into this stress response even when we're not in a dangerous situation.

Although going to a party or talking up in a meeting might feel very dangerous at the time. Ideally, what should happen is that the stress response is triggered in response to a stressful situation and then we return to our normal baseline once the threat is gone. Many neurodivergent people experience the stress response far more frequently and stay in that stress response for longer periods of time.

Over time, this overactivation can mean that the brain and body struggle to maintain balanced cortisol levels, which can lead to extreme fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and heightened emotional responses. We can also think about the role of the amygdala, which is often called the brain's alarm system, and which can become oversensitive.

This can make it more likely that you react to even comparatively minor stressors. Chronic stress can also affect the prefrontal cortex, which we can think of as the more logical thinking part of our brain and which helps us with emotional regulation, decision making and focusing. This can affect our ability to manage our emotions, to focus on tasks and to plan, and it can mean that a very wide range of activities and interactions cause significant ongoing stress, which can eventually lead to burnout.

Sensory overload is sometimes at the root of neurodivergent burnout and there's a good reason for this. Neurodivergent individuals often process sensory input differently, experienced heightened responses to sounds, lights, textures or smells. The brain's sensory processing centres, including the thalamus and sensory cortices, Can become overwhelmed when exposed to too much input.

For many neurodivergent people, even environments that seem ordinary to others, like a busy office or a brightly lit supermarket, can feel overstimulating, which can eventually combine with other factors and lead to burnout. Masking is another major contributor to neurodivergent burnout. And if we think about the brain, brain when we're masking, we're constantly monitoring what we say and do, worrying about how other people perceive us.

And this all puts a sort of chronic, relentless amount of stress on us, which is triggering those different, you know, Stress areas in the brain. Burnout doesn't just affect the stress response, it also can disrupt the brain's chemical balance. Neurotransmitters, which you can think of as the brain's messengers, play a key role in regulating our mood, energy and focus.

When burnout occurs, several neurotransmitters appear to become imbalanced. Dopamine is one of these and neurodivergent people, particularly people with ADHD, often have lower baseline levels of dopamine. Dopamine is critical for motivation, for rewarding us and for helping us to focus. So when we've already maybe got lower levels of dopamine, burnout can further deplete those levels, leading to feelings of apathy and difficulty finding pleasure in activities or being motivated to do things that we would usually manage far more easily.

Another Neurotransmitter we can think of is serotonin and prolonged stress can lower serotonin levels contributing to mood disturbances, feeling irritable and feeling hopeless. GABA is a calming neurotransmitter that helps regulate our brain's response to stress. Low levels of GABA during burnout can make it harder to relax or to recover.

So we can feel like our brain is in a constant state of tension. These chemical imbalances help explain why burnout can feel so overwhelming and why recovery often requires recovery. Very intentional, sustained, ongoing efforts to begin to restore that balance. Another thing we can think about is brain plasticity, which refers to the brain's ability to adapt and change.

Whilst burnout can have significant effects on the brain, including causing cognitive fog and emotional dysregulation, The brain also has the capacity to heal and recover if we give it the right support. During burnout the hippocampus, which is a part of the brain involved in memory and emotional regulation, can appear to shrink due to prolonged stress.

But with rest and recovery, the hippocampus can regrow neural connections. And this process is supported by activities that promote relaxation and positive engagement, such as spending time in nature or engaging in things that help us feel relaxed. and creative and interested. All of these things that help remove us from some of the stressors that might be contributing to burnout.

And this helps to lower our levels of stress and begins to calm the brain. Practicing mindfulness or relaxation techniques, or engaging in special interests, anything that helps you personally feel relaxed and engaged in something that you're enjoying, which isn't putting too much stress or strain on you, can all help that process of recovery.

Understanding the neuroscience behind Neurodivergent Burnout validates the experience that it's not all in your head. It's a real physiological process rooted in how the brain responds to stress, sensory input, social input and cognitive demands. Recognising the brain's role in burnout helps us approach it with greater compassion and awareness, and equips us with the knowledge to make informed choices about recovery.

Neurodivergent burnout is a sign that the brain has been pushed beyond its limits. With the right kind of support and awareness, the brain can recover. It can adapt and it can thrive. By understanding what's happening beneath the surface, we can create the right type of environment for that to happen.