Intensity and Burnout in Autism, ADHD & Giftedness

Someone like me --- I have aspects / symptoms that look kinda like:

• ​Autism
  • ​Food sensitivities and pickiness
  • Considerable RATIONALITY to deal with SENSORY OVERLOAD and INTENSE EMOTIONALITY
• ADHD
  • ​Interested in EXCITING things --- CRIMINAL LAW
  • Sensory Overload and Intense Emotionality
  • Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria -- which can probably be seen in Autism and Giftedness as well
• GIFTEDNESS
  • ​was one of 3 high school valedictorians
  • graduated Top 10 Seniors at a State University
  • Sensory Overload and Intense Emotionality
• Tourette's
  • ​Not exactly Tourette's but a Movement Disorder that gets triggered by INTENSE EMOTION.

So what happens if we FOCUS on the CATEGORIES in the DSM?   Somebody like myself --- GETS MISSED.

That FAILURE to IDENTIFY and COMPENSATE for NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES --- has CONSEQUENCES.

However much we may be fascinated by NEURO-PLASTICITY --- our current understandings and automatic biological processes have their LIMITS ---

• I would submit that the HYPER-CONNECTED BRAINS of people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS are PHYSICAL EVIDENCE of our current LIMITS.

Asperger's from the Inside:  Avoiding Autistic Burnout

Paul asks the question --- Is it even possible to avoid BURNOUT if you are on the Spectrum? 

Because the way one's brain works is ---- INTENSE FOCUS and CRASH.

Recognizing that EXTRA TIME you need to take to RECOVER is important.  

Of course, the SOCIETY doesn't UNDERSTAND that --- and maybe it is hard for FAMILY AND FRIENDS to UNDERSTAND as well.  

How to ADHD:   What Does It Mean to Have "Burnout"

Gets into the official definition of BURNOUT and recognizes it as a SYSTEMIC MISMATCH between the PERSON and the ENVIRONMENT.

In other words --- we're not blaming the INDIVIDUAL.

Edvin Palmer:  Living with Emotional Intensity - Part 1 - Intellectual Giftedness

"When people think about intellectual giftedness, they often get stuck on the intellectual part of it.  But, giftedness also has an emotional component.  So, in this video, I speak with openness and honesty about what it's like to live with emotional intensity."

I think a lot of "GIFTED" People think the answer is going to be to find somebody else who is INTELLECTUALLY or otherwise "GIFTED" --- and the reality is often one has just SQUARED the EMOTIONAL INTENSITY.

RELATIONSHIPS are HARD for NEURO-DIVERSE people --- you're having to work harder and so is the other person.  ​