Communication Tools for Sensory Overload
Find short scripts, text messages and simple signals for sensory overload. Plan how to ask for quiet, a break or help when speaking becomes difficult.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
Real Life With AuDHD
Real-life AuDHD stories about burnout, late diagnosis, masking, recovery and learning to understand your own patterns.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
When Antidepressants Don’t Fix What Feels Like Depression: Could ADHD or AuDHD Be Part of the Picture?
Antidepressants can help depression and anxiety, but sometimes mood improves while focus, motivation, overwhelm and everyday functioning remain difficult. For some adults, undiagnosed ADHD, autism or AuDHD may be another part of the picture.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
Diagnosed Autistic as an Adult: What Happens Next?
An autism diagnosis in adulthood can bring relief, grief, anger and a lifetime of memories to reconsider. Here’s what the months after a late diagnosis can actually feel like.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
Why Can I Do It One Day but Not the Next? AuDHD and Fluctuating Capacity
Some days a task feels easy. The next day the exact same thing feels impossible. Explore why energy and capacity can fluctuate with AuDHD, sensory load, social demand and recovery.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
When Burnout Makes You Feel Alone: You’re Not the Only One
Burnout can leave you surrounded by people and still feeling completely alone. If you’re struggling, withdrawing or frightened you’ll never feel like yourself again, this is for you.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
Why Am I Still Tired After Sleeping? AuDHD, Fatigue and Energy
You can sleep through the night and still wake up exhausted. Explore the difference between tiredness and fatigue, why sleep may not restore all of your capacity, and the patterns worth noticing.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
Why Can’t I Cope Anymore? Burnout, ADHD, Autism and the Search for Answers
You used to cope. Now work, noise, decisions, people and everyday life feel harder than they should. If you’re burned out and don’t understand why, this is a place to start making sense of what changed.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
Why Socialising Feels So Exhausting When You're Masking
You can look calm, confident and socially capable while your brain is working overtime underneath. Masking can make connection possible — but the hidden effort can leave you exhausted long afterwards.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
How to Deal With Sensory Overload in the Moment (Without Shutting Down)
Overloaded right now? Try low-demand ways to reduce sensory input, ask for space and recover at your own pace, without pressure to push through.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
What Does Sensory Overload Feel Like? Body Signals to Notice
Notice how sensory overload can feel in your body, from tension and sharper sounds to difficulty finding words. Learn your early signals without self-diagnosing.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
AuDHD Burnout Symptoms: When Your Capacity Starts Disappearing
AuDHD burnout can build so gradually that exhaustion, brain fog, sensory overwhelm, and reduced capacity start to feel normal. Here are some of the signs worth noticing earlier.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
Sensory Overload in Adults: What It Is and How to Cope
Understand sensory overload in adults, why everyday input can become too much, and ways to reduce the load. Start with a clear, practical overview.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
Medication Helped — But I Still Had to Learn My Limits
ADHD medication helped quiet my mind and improve my focus, but it didn't give me unlimited capacity. After burnout, I still had to learn the difference between feeling productive and pushing myself too far.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
When I Started Vyvanse — And My Anxiety Went Quiet
For years, I thought constant mental noise was simply anxiety. Starting Vyvanse changed that. My mind became quieter, my anxiety eased, and I began to understand how ADHD had shaped far more of my life than I realised.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
I Thought I Was Recovering — But I Was Still Pushing Too Hard
As I started feeling a little better after my diagnosis & understanding the burnout, I kept making the same mistake — using every bit of recovery as permission to push harder again. It took time to realise that functioning wasn't the same as having capacity.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
Diagnosis Didn’t Mean I Was Better
Getting an AuDHD diagnosis finally gave me an explanation for years of anxiety, overwhelm and burnout. But having answers didn't suddenly make me better. Recovery meant learning to recognise the patterns I'd spent years pushing through.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
The Assessment That Changed Everything
After years of anxiety, burnout and feeling different, I finally received the answers I'd been searching for. My ADHD and autism assessment didn't change who I was — it changed how I understood my entire life.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
The Long Wait for Help
During burnout, I knew I needed help — but answers didn't come quickly. Seven months waiting for a psychiatrist left me scared, confused and questioning what was happening inside my own mind. Eventually, one conversation with my psychologist sent me in a completely different direction.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
When Burnout Actually Hit
After years of pushing through anxiety, pressure and constant change, my world came crashing down. This is my experience of AuDHD burnout, severe anxiety, medication struggles and trying to keep going when I no longer understood what was happening to me.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
My Road to Burnout
I thought I was coping. I had built a successful career and kept pushing through anxiety, pressure and constant change. Looking back now, I can see I'd been travelling towards AuDHD burnout for years — I just didn't know where the road was leading.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
When I Don’t Realise I’m Doing Too Much: AuDHD, Stress and Capacity
I don’t always realise when I’m doing too much. A personal reflection on AuDHD, stress, capacity, overwhelm and learning when it’s time to slow down.
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
I didn't realise how much of my life was spent pushing through
For a long time, I thought I was pretty good at coping....
By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
AuDHD Companion provides self-reflection, organisation and general wellbeing tools. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or emergency support.