Allostatic Load
Small daily stresses add up in the body like a backpack that gets heavier every day — and some brains carry more than others.
The total accumulated wear-and-tear on the body and brain from dealing with chronic stress over time. Small stresses add up. For neurodivergent people, the extra effort of navigating a world not designed for them often raises this load significantly — leading to burnout even when individual days don't seem that hard.
How it works
Your body's stress systems are designed for short bursts, but chronic effort keeps them switched on. For neurodivergent people, extra work from masking, sensory filtering, and social navigation adds invisible weight. Over time, this accumulated load can affect sleep, immunity, mood, and energy — even when no single day seems 'that bad.'
Think of it like
It's like carrying a backpack of small stones — each one is light, but after years of adding more, you can barely stand.
What it feels like
You feel exhausted in a way that sleep doesn't fix, and you can't point to one big reason why. It's the weight of a thousand small efforts nobody else can see.