How to Spot and Prevent Burnout in Neurodivergent Employees
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According to the 2025 Burnout Report, 97% of individuals described experiencing high pressure and stress over the last year. The same report also found that 1 in 5 employees admitted that their work performance was impacted by high levels of stress. As a nation, there are so many aspects of our current lifestyles which contribute to our growing stress levels, and nowhere is this truer than in our working lives. Having an engaged, robust workforce ensures that employees perform well and are able to meet the strains and stresses of the workplace. Prolonged physiological stress can lead to burnout, which can result in many negative workplace outcomes, including reduced productivity.
Neurodiverse workplaces have been associated with greater productivity and innovation, making retaining neurodivergent talent and ensuring they are able to thrive in the workplace of great importance. However, burnout in neurodivergent workers may sometimes be expressed differently and therefore the signs may be missed by employers. In order to maintain a thriving neurodiverse workforce, it is vital for employers to take steps to identify and prevent burnout before it occurs. Outlined below are some key ways employers can spot and curtail burnout in neurodivergent employees.
What is burnout?
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The World Health Organisation defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon, meaning it is most associated with the workplace; however, it can also be relevant to other life pressures, such as living with chronic illnesses. Burnout can occur after experiencing extreme pressure or long-term stress. Burnout isn’t simply about being tired; it’s a multifaceted problem which requires intervention. It is commonly associated with feelings of extreme exhaustion, fatigue, detachment, demotivation and hopelessness. Burnout happens gradually and often goes unnoticed, but it is very likely that it will have a negative impact on an employee’s well-being at work and their personal life.
Neurodivergent burnout
Neurodivergent burnout can often stem from having to mask. Masking is a coping strategy used by many neurodivergent individuals to camouflage their traits to conform to others’ expectations. Masking to fit into a workplace environment which is not designed for them is incredibly demanding, often resulting in emotional and physical exhaustion. If left unaddressed, masking, combined with possible sensory overload, feeling misunderstood and experiencing chronic stress, can result in mental fatigue, overwhelm and eventually burnout.
The impact of workplace burnout
Burnout may have an impact on an employee’s ability to:
- Think creatively
- Cope with additional pressure
- Stay engaged and motivated
- Interact with others
- Produce high-quality work
Additionally, burnt-out employees are more likely to take days off work, and if their problems are not detected and resolved, they are likely to resign.
12 Factors which may lead to neurodivergent burnout
1) Workplace environments which exacerbate sensory sensitivities
2) Executive functioning challenges resulting in cognitive fatigue
3) Having assigned tasks without clear instructions
4) Pace of change
5) Emotional demands
6) Employers repeatedly misinterpret communication differences
7) A heavy workload with few resources to manage it
8) Feeling a lack of autonomy
9) Not being rewarded or recognised for achievements
10) Working in an environment where colleagues are not supportive and where communication isn’t open, respectful and non-judgmental
11) Not receiving fair or equitable treatment
12) Working in a workplace whose values don’t align with one’s personally held values
What burnout looks like for neurodivergent employees vs neurotypical employees
Though some of the emotional signs of burnout may be hard to spot, employers can look out for physical and behavioral signs in their employees.
Signs of burnout in neurotypical employees
- Expressing negativity.
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Being absent from work
- Being late to work
- Taking longer to complete tasks
- Experiencing outbursts
- Starting to rely on food, drugs, or alcohol to cope
Signs of burnout in neurodivergent employees
There are many aspects of neurodivergent burnout that overlap with neurotypical burnout, such as chronic exhaustion. However, in addition to the signs outlined above, some features of burnout appear to be more commonly experienced by neurodivergent employees.
Burnt-out neurodivergent employees may:
- Have shut down and become overwhelmed and unresponsive
- Have meltdowns and experience emotional outbursts
- Experience a reduction in their ability to tolerate sounds, lights, or textures
- Withdraw from people and isolate
- Lose focus more often
- Loss of previously acquired skills
- Changes in the processing of verbal information
- Display a decrease in their level of attention to detail
- Experience heightened anxiety.
- Begin to find it difficult to complete tasks and manage their workload
- Display increased irritability.
Internally, individuals may be feeling self-doubt, cynicism and a lack of satisfaction or interest in their work. Additionally, employees may experience physiological issues and burnout can also be a risk factor for developing mental health difficulties.
A case study on neurodivergent burnout
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Dr Cloie Parfitt, a registered nurse and integrative humanistic therapist, outlined her experience of neurodivergent burnout experienced whilst working on a busy hospital ward in 2015. She reported experiencing panic attacks, chronic low mood and feeling overwhelmed by the sensory aspects of her workplace, such as the constant chatter, loud, shrieking alarms and bright lights in the staffroom. She was required to do mandatory overtime and work up to 13-hour shifts. She reported feeling a loss of purpose, meaning and joy in her career and decided to take a period of professional leave. Cloie’s account highlights the devastating impact that burnout can have on neurodivergent employees if left without intervention.
How employers can reduce the risk of burnout
Neurodivergent burnout occurs when employees are in work environments which don’t have policies and practices in place which accommodate their needs and is more likely to occur when employees are forced to mask, suppressing their natural working styles. There are many steps employers can take to reduce the risk of burnout in their neurodivergent workers, such as:
- Collaborate: Collaborating with neurodivergent employees to create and review relevant practices and performance frameworks which support the wellbeing of neurodivergent employees.
- Workshops: Attending neurodiversity workshops, such as those offered by Exceptional Individuals, to help managers and workers understand more about neurodiversity, masking and how to get the best out of employees.
- Identify stressors: Regularly assessing possible workplace stressors and burnout risks.
- Work-Life Balance: Employers can encourage employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance by discouraging excessive overtime.
- Reasonable adjustments: Ensuring managers are trained in implementing reasonable adjustments to support neurodivergent employees.
- Psychological safety: Creating a psychologically safe workplace where employees can disclose their conditions and reasonable workplace adjustments can be made.
- Neuroinclusive spaces: Providing neuroinclusive spaces, such as quiet spaces, break-out rooms and reduced noise.
- Flexibility: Remaining flexible by allowing remote/hybrid work and flexible hours.
- Policy development: Attending training to provide business support in drafting and implementing policies to create a neurodivergent-friendly workplace.
- Communication: Maintaining open and clear communication.
- Acceptance: Accepting different working styles.
Conclusion
Above, we have outlined some of the conditions which may lead to burnout in neurodivergent employees. We have described how neurodivergent burnout may present and outlined some important ways employers can start supporting their employees today. Employers have a duty of care to look after the well-being of their workers. Burnout is costly to both an employees’ wellbeing and to an organisation’s productivity and profit, therefore it is vital for employers to take steps to prevent it.
Want more guidance on unlocking the potential of your neurodiverse workforce? Try out one of Exceptional Individual’s informative workshops and create a workplace environment where everyone thrives.
Sources
6 Causes of burnout and how to avoid them
Understanding neurodivergent burnout
Occupational burnout predictors in a neurodiverse sample
Neurodivergent social workers ‘exhausted’ from lack of understanding at work
Are you working with neurodivergent burnout?
The unique experience of neurodivergent burnout
