🎙️ New Episode: Rebuilding Yourself After Narcissistic Abuse with Skye Bellarmine

Content note: This episode includes discussions of narcissistic abuse, gaslighting, trauma, emotional manipulation, and recovery.

In this episode of AuDHD… And Then Some, I’m joined by Skye Bellarmine for a powerful and deeply honest conversation about surviving narcissistic abuse, learning to recognise the warning signs, and rebuilding your life after years of self-doubt.

Together, we discuss:

💜 What narcissistic abuse can look like in everyday life.

💜 How gaslighting slowly makes you question your own thoughts, memories, and instincts.

💜 Why leaving isn’t always as simple as people think.

💜 Rebuilding trust in yourself after emotional manipulation.

💜 Setting healthy boundaries without guilt.

💜 The long journey of healing and discovering who you are again.

💜 Why taking recovery one small step at a time can be life-changing.

We also talk about Skye’s personal journey through trauma and resilience, and how she found the strength to rebuild a life that felt authentic and hopeful.

Whether you’ve experienced narcissistic abuse yourself, you’re supporting someone who has, or you’re trying to make sense of a relationship that doesn’t feel right, I hope this conversation helps you feel a little less alone.

Thank you, Skye, for sharing your story with such honesty, compassion, and courage.

If this episode resonates with you, please follow the podcast, leave a review if you’d like to support the show, and share it with someone who might need to hear it.

💜 Happy listening.

Do you ever just… disappear when you’re overwhelmed?

If you’re AuDHD, ADHD, or autistic, you might experience shutdown — where everything becomes too much and you pull away, go quiet, or completely withdraw.

In this episode, I talk about neurodivergent burnout, shutdown, and why your brain sometimes needs to “switch off” to cope.

We explore:

– what shutdown looks like in ADHD, autism & AuDHD

– the difference between burnout, overwhelm, and shutdown

– why you might disappear from messages, people, or responsibilities

– the link between masking, exhaustion, and nervous system overload

– how to respond to yourself with compassion instead of guilt

This isn’t laziness. It’s not you “failing.”

It’s your nervous system trying to protect you.

If you’ve ever gone quiet and thought

“why can’t I just function like everyone else?”

this episode is for you.

Nervous System Regulation, Sensory Overload & AuDHD Burnout | Ellie & Tasha

This month, Ellie and Tasha are back together for their monthly AuDHD & Then Some catch-up — and this one is very real, very candid, and recorded while both of us are feeling a little bit frazzled ourselves.

Our theme this month is nervous system regulation, sensory overload and overwhelm in AuDHD, and we're talking openly about what that actually looks like in everyday life.

We chat about our own experiences of feeling close to burnout, recognising when our nervous systems are overloaded, what helps us regulate, and the small things we can do when our brains and bodies are screaming, "ENOUGH."

We cover:

🌈 AuDHD and nervous system regulation
🧠 ADHD, autism and sensory overload
🔥 Recognising neurodivergent burnout
😵‍💫 Overwhelm, exhaustion and feeling frazzled
💚 Ways we can support ourselves when we're dysregulated
🫶 Recovering from periods of burnout
🎧 Sensory needs and understanding your own nervous system
💬 Our own very real experiences this month
✨ Practical tips and ideas that may help
🌱 What we're working on ourselves — because we definitely don't have it all figured out either!

We also talk about what's coming this month inside the AuDHD & Then Some Membership, including our resources around nervous system regulation, sensory overwhelm and understanding your individual needs.

Members can access resources through our website and our Facebook Subscribers Hub, with resources designed to be downloadable, printable and fillable, so you can actually use them in whatever way works best for your brain.

And yes… we were BOTH slightly dreading recording this episode because we're tired, frazzled and feeling the effects of a very busy month.

But we showed up.

And actually? We're bloody glad we did. 💚

This is what our monthly episodes are about — no pretending we've mastered neurodivergence, no perfect morning routines and no telling you to simply "regulate your nervous system."

Just two AuDHD women having an honest conversation about what life looks like when your nervous system has had quite enough, thank you very much.

🎧 AuDHD & Then Some

Explore our membership, downloadable resources, tools, information, merchandise and more at audhdandthensome.com.

Topics: AuDHD, ADHD, autism, neurodivergence, nervous system regulation, sensory overload, sensory overwhelm, autistic burnout, ADHD burnout, AuDHD burnout, emotional regulation, dysregulation, overstimulation, executive dysfunction, neurodivergent women, ADHD women, autistic women, burnout recovery, sensory processing, mental health, self-regulation, neurodivergent support.