ADHD & Burnout – How to Spot the Signs Before It’s Too Late
- Brainz Magazine
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written by Blaine Holt, ADHD Professional Coach
Founder of SortMySh!t, Blaine Holt helps late-diagnosed ADHD professionals cut through chaos with humor, science, and lived experience. His coaching blends straight talk and evidence-based strategies to help clients finally work with their brains, not against them.
Are you asking yourself if you’re burnt out? Do you research symptoms and think, “Well, I don’t have it THAT bad”? Do you keep putting off that visit to the doctor because it “isn’t that serious”? That was me. By the time I finally stopped and addressed it, it was too late.
A trip to the GP’s office
It was Easter. I’d taken a short break after a long stretch, hoping to recharge. But as the days ticked down, the dread crept in. My chest got tighter, I couldn’t sleep, and on the day I tried to open my laptop, I just burst into tears. Even then, I doubted myself!
Am I just being weak? Is this in my head? It took a GP sitting across from me and saying, “Your nervous system is fried,” for me to believe it wasn’t all my fault.
That moment kicked off the hardest and most transformative year of my life.
The burnout signs I totally missed
Here’s the thing about burnout when you have ADHD, the warning signs don’t always look like just being tired. For me, they looked like:
Insomnia so bad I forgot what a full night’s sleep felt like
Constant rumination and thoughts about work on repeat that I couldn’t switch off
An overwhelming fear of failure (standard ADHD experience)
Months of gut issues and feeling physically unwell
Brain fog and skill regression that made me question my intelligence
Zero passion for life
A libido that vanished
Dopamine-chasing in extreme ways (impulse spending, eating, scrolling)
Weight gain and isolation
But the worst part? I blamed myself.
ADHD had me convinced that I was the problem, not my workload, not the environment, not the expectations. Just me.
That’s how ADHD works. We mask, we overachieve, we people-please. Until one day, the mask slips and there’s nothing left underneath but exhaustion.
How ADHD made it worse
Burnout and ADHD are closely linked, and I’m not just saying that because I lived it. Studies show that people with ADHD are far more vulnerable to stress, emotional exhaustion, and work burnout. One paper found that emotional dysregulation and executive dysfunction (think time blindness and perfectionism) significantly increase the risk. For the nerds like me, here are a few worth reading:
Especially in late-diagnosed adults (like me), burnout often shows up before the ADHD diagnosis. We’ve been masking for so long, performing to survive in neurotypical systems, that we don’t notice the damage until it’s too late.
The road to recovery that hasn’t ended
It’s been over a year since that breakdown, and only now am I starting to feel like I can focus again for more than a day at a time. But I’m still exhausted by the end of each week. I still have limits I didn’t used to have.
And I’ve finally accepted: I’ll never be able to work the way I used to. I’m just not built for the traditional 9–5 grind.
So I stopped fighting it. I left my job. I took extended sick leave. I went to therapy. I rebuilt how I live and work from the ground up. And that’s how SortMySh!t was born.
The silver lining I never expected
Burnout broke me, but it also gave me a second chance. It forced me to:
Respect my nervous system
Understand how I work best (not how others think I should)
Accept my limitations instead of shaming myself for them
Lean into my ADHD strengths instead of constantly fighting them
And maybe most importantly, it gave me a mission .Because I don’t want others like me to hit rock bottom before they get help.
A note on culture: Why I never saw it coming
Back home in New Zealand, we get 10 sick days a year. Mental health isn’t talked about. Burnout wasn’t something that “existed” in my world.
It wasn’t until moving to Europe that I even heard the term being taken seriously. And even then, I had to crash to get help.
If that’s you too, if you’re barely holding it together, know this, You’re not lazy. You’re not broken. You’re likely just burnt out. And if you have ADHD, you’re more at risk than most.
Let’s chat
If any of this hit home, if you’re burning out, masking, or just not sure where to start, DM me or book a free intro session.
I get it, because I’ve lived it. No pressure. No shame. Just real talk with someone who’s been there. Let’s sort your sh!t before your sh!t sorts you.
Read more from Blaine Holt
Blaine Holt, ADHD Professional Coach
Blaine Holt is the founder of SortMySh!t, a coaching practice built on the belief that the ADHD life doesn't have an instruction manual, so it's up to us in the neurodivergent community to help each other out. After a decade working in tech as a Product Manager, undiagnosed ADHD, childhood trauma and chronic stress resulted in an burnout of epic proportions. This became the turning point to design a life aligned with his brain. Today, he blends evidence-based strategies, peer-reviewed research, and tongue-in-cheek humor to help overwhelmed professionals reclaim focus, confidence, and energy. His work is dedicated to dismantling the stigma around ADHD, especially for those who mask or feel unseen.
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