Great article, thanks Jess! I have had an issue with this taking over for some time. Many well meaning friends self diagnosing then trying to diagnose me too and I always push back saying 'Ah, no, I just went through a lot of trauma, did a lot of good psychotherapy and am more aware because of it'.
Btw, for anyone interested, here's Dr Judith Singers blog were she refutes the push back on her coining of the term 'neurodiversity' for anyone reading this article thinking they can call shots at it. Was easy to find this on google:
i think the obsession to frame every complex issue in our lives with an acronym or one word is part of the problem. in this modern day world we are required to think in categories, because we've been forced into them from the beginning of our existence. kindergardens and schools do nothing but categorizing and force compartmentalization onto our children. companies and insurances wont work/pay with you, if you dont comply with those concepts. no wonder people try to find freedom in categories and cant find a way to pierce through that wall. the concepts of connection and radical acceptance, respect, dignity of life/nature and no categories would be major obstacles in our modern existence. it would be way harder to try to find a way to live with the forces of compartmenalization, exclusion, and categorization and try to maintain and/or establish acceptance, connection, respect, solidarity and dignity.
All words are categorisations defined in a cultural context. An example is that Inuit people have many different terms for snow. Obviously, Desert people dont. If we didn't categorise we wouldn't have language!
I find it useful to see things from different perspectives. I love my boy tremendously, but i cannot see how he would have got through his education without the medication he takes. We were against this, but it was a game changer for him. He was withdrawing into himself, anxious at school, always angry at home, letting off steam. Teachers were telling is he ‘can do but is chosing not to’, had his work held up as examples of how not to do things, we were told he needed extra help after everyone else had got maths concepts (it takes him longer, which is perfectly ok but was seen as -ve). Was told hed be managed a move from his school - a threat from the headmaster. He was masking making mistakes, and struggling. He started tirtation and within months he said his anxiety eas reduced, he was told he was ‘the goto’ in science, he got excleenet exam results - he was as predicted 5/6 and got 789’s he’s predicted A*’s now hes oicked what he loves. He soes however have addictions, and that is somethjng we struggle with. He is impulsive his decisions are quick, snd hes impulsive and very insulting and hurtful at home - no filter at home. It is very hard. He doesn’t take the meds unless at school.
Im lost now. He was struggling with school. He struggles with relationships still. I dont know how else to help him. Im doing my best but it never seems to be enough.
This explanation of yours straight away made me think of the now (hopefully) debunked theory of depression being due to the brain having a chemical imbalance. It concerns me that this medical model being debunked hasn’t been sufficiently disseminated in the media - or even as new learning for GP’s!
With my patients/clients I have always held the position that in all things about being human we are all on a ‘spectrum’ as in we are somewhere on a continuum where we experience things to a greater or lesser degree. I use the examples of how loud we can tolerate sound before it’s ‘too much’ or how ‘sensitive to temperature changes’ our body is generally but also variations between different body parts.
I understand that sometimes a diagnosis can be felt as ‘helpful ‘ if a person has been shunted from pillar to post and been disbelieved about their felt experience - but I am completely against the labelling of naturally occurring differences between humans as ‘disorders’ and medicalised and medicated. Or in the case of things like BPD be chucked around as Borderline by medical staff not qualified to even diagnose such a thing - often overheard from GP surgery staff or nursing staff or HCA’s on psych wards/in clinic. This horrifies me along with the ‘drama Queen’ shorthand tropes and the fact that is medically decided that such individuals ‘can’t be treated’
As I am keen to point out "Neurodiversity" just means that no two humans are alike. It is not a moral concept. The reality is that some people for whatever reason can be a danger to themselves or others. Thus we do need language that categorises them. The issue is that our systems of what are after all called "Protective Custody" need to be reformed so that people in detention are treated humanely. It is possible that people can be born psychopaths. They need to be recognised, constrained if they do harm, but not mistreated for being born that way. Even if they are "evil" by choice, they need to be treated humanely for the sake of our being "civilized" societies.
Neurodiverse was a good term for what I have experienced my whole life and how misunderstood I have felt or so I thought. The more I use it to describe myself the dumber I feel. It seems like just another way of playing into the victimhood that's so popular nowadays and I don't want to go down that rabbit hole. I've decided whatever I may be I won't feel sorry for myself about it.
I find it helpful to think about this as “ I am uniquely myself “ and that’s ok:-) I experience music as colours - I thought that everyone did so until I was about 8 or 9 years old when a teacher reacted badly to something that I said. So then I just shut up about it and didn’t mention it again until I found an excellent therapist who I knew wouldn’t want to label me.
It was a uniquely helpful ‘talent’ to have thought in a previous career when making music videos! Go well x
To go back to neurodivergence and it’s entry into the general Lexicon - I have been astonished by the sheer number of folk that I come across who quite proudly declare that they have done an online survey or paid out megabucks for essentially a quack diagnosis - as you say all high functioning. The children and adults severely affected by developmental delays or multiple disabilities are largely kept out of sight - even within schools! I actually had a man recently ‘mansplain’ his ‘diagnosis’ online as “like Rain Man you know, special talents without any of the weird stuff and ticks that he has” 🙄
Please keep on blogging about these topics as no doubt there are drug companies busy devising new drugs for these disorders and there’s a complete plethora of questionable 🤨 courses and online ‘clinics’ fleecing folk.
Thanks for your posts ❤️ I do hope that you and Jaime are getting the time and space to rest and recover from recent events.
I find your tone to be aggressive and rude. There are tests for Autism which is a Neurodivergence. We are not all Neurodivergent… we are all Neurodiverse. Only certain neurotypes are considered Neurodivergent. You may call yourself Neurodivergent if you wish but you would be diminishing the experience of many people who are struggling in society.
Hopefully one day we won’t need this terminology but I think you’ve just proved that we do.
The neurodivergent term has been hijacked to make those who have had a neurotoxic injury to metals in vaccines feel good about being harmed by a pharmaceutical product and to defend those who harmed them. The term has been weaponised as a tool of corporate abuse. I’d suggest you’ve been harmed and gaslighted by the political economy of autism
It is what I’ve learnt from my own experiences and those of many others.It certainly has been hijacked and the author certainly isn’t the first person to discuss it. Why not cure adhd instead of considering yourself neurodivergent which is an impossibility
You see if you go to an environmental dr with those symptoms you will get a different response. Environmental drs are allowed to investigate cause so are allowed to investigate what neurotoxin is causing the symptoms of neurotoxicity. Environmental drs don’t use the term mental illness, they use the term neurotoxicity or metal intoxication. The term mental illness is solely an allopathic term because allopathic drs aren’t allowed to investigate cause.
Great article. Just to let you all know, that I am not "Dr" Singer. You don't have to have a PhD to come up with a good idea. :-). I have a BA (Honours) only, though I do have an Honorary Doctorate issued by a Chilean University, and while I do feel very honoured, I do not use the title.
Depathologization is the way forward towards health and healing. That includes these labels as well. Glad to come across this article as a counterpoint to the new culture arising and the inherent problems it can bring as you described.
😂 very interesting and I like the reminder that many individuals live with SIGNIFICANT disability. I would support the renaming of these ‘deficit’ conditions but am also interested in the neuroscience of adhd as this appears to be fairly solid? (Bit scared of a potential backlash here). The prevalence at adhd in prison is huge so could this be a public health campaign ? Just like trauma informed early help practice in social care? It’s just so messy and with so many variables
I agree with you theoretically. The problem is, we are 'not there' yet.
There are real differences between the ways people think, react, experience things. Not all of them are trauma-related or induced by capitalism (although many are). I was born into a socialist, not capitalist economy, but my autism was there already before the country became a capitalist one - there wasn't a word for it or any understanding of it, though.
In a sense, everything concerning psychological diagnoses is political. I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and this means to me, I have to carry the name of a Nazi collaborator with me and have to make a person who sent dozens of children with 'my condition' to death. I hate it, and that's why I rather say 'autism'. If I had a decent choice, I wouldn't have let me be diagnosed at all. But there is a crucial point: it's not about my different brain, it is about massive hostility and extreme discrimination.
I cannot count or even remember the amount of violence I experienced because of the autism. Because I look like a 'normal person', people think I have to be an evil one. There are expectations I just cannot meet (lying out of courtesy, or basically lying at all, making small talk, keeping eye contact for a long time, talk on the phone spontaneously, or even at all when I am tired, smiling when I don't feel like it, and much more), but other people seem to take my behaviour as a sign of recklessness, aggression, stupidity, incompetence, rejection, manipulation, hostility... whatever else. Many people tend to judge when they don't understand someone. They feel like they are just defending themselves when they attack me. I could not prove any of my 'deficits' without a diagnosis, although I hated every moment of the tests and don't want to be certified with a disorder.
I am a sociologist myself, and I see the power of psychiatrical discourses. I deeply reject pathologising something which could be just part of a 'normal' distribution of talents. Somebody is better at small talk, so what? If somebody lacks, say, musical or language skills (not my problem :-)), this deficit does not make it a diagnosis. So why my autism is one? Some privileged persons decided this decades ago, I now we are dealing with the consequences.
People diagnosing themselves without a good reason also trouble me. Because of them, people like me are not believed when they talk about their problems. Many people just want to be special, but they don't want or think about the discrimination coming with it. I really doubt all this people coquetting with notions like autism and ADHD really want to be harassed, bullied or attacked in every educational institution, like me, or really want to be called retarded by doctors and teachers, rejected by their parents and friends and so on. I have an excellent social sciences master’s degree with the best final grade possible, but I haven't been able to get a job for years. Last year, I got a really nice teaching position and got fired before I could work there a single day. The university's rector and the chancellor said people like me are dangerous for their students. This is basically what autism means for me, not just some fancy brain with some special effects.
I don't have a solution. Just adding more problems ;-) Thank you for sharing your position and allowing other people to share their comments.
Ria, I guess that I have never been seen as "evil", but I have so often been rejected and criticized by other people. I fully agree with you that not everything can be explained by capitalism or trauma. I have felt different from my peers since my childhood. In my school and uni years some people were actually pointing out that I am different from others - and they did not mean anything positive by that.
Interestingly, I have a PhD in Sociology and like you I come from a country which used to be socialist. I haven't had a typical job for more than 6 years. I used to be an academic, but I could not cope with this job (among others because of my isolation in my workplace).
Why did that university's rector and chancellor claim that you were dangerous for their students? This sounds very shocking!
I’m guessing you don’t identify as Neurodivergent Jess? You have written a lot there which is harmful and wrong. As an autistic person I feel this is really insulting to say that I’ve diagnosed myself based on online tests just because I was feeling tired. I have an NHS diagnosis- my grandmother, mother, brother, daughter are all also Autistic. We have all struggled with MH issues due to this.
I think it’s fairly clear from the article that technically, we are all neurodivergent, so I could identify as neurodivergent and I would be correct.
It’s not insulting to point out that there are absolutely no biological tests for so called ‘neurodivergence’. No one on earth has been given such a test, and nor have you. They don’t exist.
There's no biological test, but some of us find it much more difficult to fit in than others. To take an example, most people take it for granted that they have friends and for most people having a boyfriend/girlfriend is a completely normal thing. My own experience has been very different.
An individual cannot be neurodiverse, just as a plant cannot be biodiverse - the 'diversity' needs to within a group of individuals. However, an individual can be a neurodivergent member of a neurodiverse society. I do not believe that I am disabled by my 'impairments' or 'differences', (as the medical model suggests), but I am disabled by the way society is organised, and the way my authentic self is often judged.
thank you for constantly challenging my biases - I love reading your articles - I work in a left behind neighbourhood where the daily judgments come thick and fast and I feel like a lone voice
Great article, thanks Jess! I have had an issue with this taking over for some time. Many well meaning friends self diagnosing then trying to diagnose me too and I always push back saying 'Ah, no, I just went through a lot of trauma, did a lot of good psychotherapy and am more aware because of it'.
Btw, for anyone interested, here's Dr Judith Singers blog were she refutes the push back on her coining of the term 'neurodiversity' for anyone reading this article thinking they can call shots at it. Was easy to find this on google:
https://neurodiversity2.blogspot.com/2023/10/a-factual-response-to-martijn-dekkers.html
i think the obsession to frame every complex issue in our lives with an acronym or one word is part of the problem. in this modern day world we are required to think in categories, because we've been forced into them from the beginning of our existence. kindergardens and schools do nothing but categorizing and force compartmentalization onto our children. companies and insurances wont work/pay with you, if you dont comply with those concepts. no wonder people try to find freedom in categories and cant find a way to pierce through that wall. the concepts of connection and radical acceptance, respect, dignity of life/nature and no categories would be major obstacles in our modern existence. it would be way harder to try to find a way to live with the forces of compartmenalization, exclusion, and categorization and try to maintain and/or establish acceptance, connection, respect, solidarity and dignity.
All words are categorisations defined in a cultural context. An example is that Inuit people have many different terms for snow. Obviously, Desert people dont. If we didn't categorise we wouldn't have language!
I find it useful to see things from different perspectives. I love my boy tremendously, but i cannot see how he would have got through his education without the medication he takes. We were against this, but it was a game changer for him. He was withdrawing into himself, anxious at school, always angry at home, letting off steam. Teachers were telling is he ‘can do but is chosing not to’, had his work held up as examples of how not to do things, we were told he needed extra help after everyone else had got maths concepts (it takes him longer, which is perfectly ok but was seen as -ve). Was told hed be managed a move from his school - a threat from the headmaster. He was masking making mistakes, and struggling. He started tirtation and within months he said his anxiety eas reduced, he was told he was ‘the goto’ in science, he got excleenet exam results - he was as predicted 5/6 and got 789’s he’s predicted A*’s now hes oicked what he loves. He soes however have addictions, and that is somethjng we struggle with. He is impulsive his decisions are quick, snd hes impulsive and very insulting and hurtful at home - no filter at home. It is very hard. He doesn’t take the meds unless at school.
Im lost now. He was struggling with school. He struggles with relationships still. I dont know how else to help him. Im doing my best but it never seems to be enough.
This explanation of yours straight away made me think of the now (hopefully) debunked theory of depression being due to the brain having a chemical imbalance. It concerns me that this medical model being debunked hasn’t been sufficiently disseminated in the media - or even as new learning for GP’s!
With my patients/clients I have always held the position that in all things about being human we are all on a ‘spectrum’ as in we are somewhere on a continuum where we experience things to a greater or lesser degree. I use the examples of how loud we can tolerate sound before it’s ‘too much’ or how ‘sensitive to temperature changes’ our body is generally but also variations between different body parts.
I understand that sometimes a diagnosis can be felt as ‘helpful ‘ if a person has been shunted from pillar to post and been disbelieved about their felt experience - but I am completely against the labelling of naturally occurring differences between humans as ‘disorders’ and medicalised and medicated. Or in the case of things like BPD be chucked around as Borderline by medical staff not qualified to even diagnose such a thing - often overheard from GP surgery staff or nursing staff or HCA’s on psych wards/in clinic. This horrifies me along with the ‘drama Queen’ shorthand tropes and the fact that is medically decided that such individuals ‘can’t be treated’
As I am keen to point out "Neurodiversity" just means that no two humans are alike. It is not a moral concept. The reality is that some people for whatever reason can be a danger to themselves or others. Thus we do need language that categorises them. The issue is that our systems of what are after all called "Protective Custody" need to be reformed so that people in detention are treated humanely. It is possible that people can be born psychopaths. They need to be recognised, constrained if they do harm, but not mistreated for being born that way. Even if they are "evil" by choice, they need to be treated humanely for the sake of our being "civilized" societies.
Excellent article!
Thank you.
Neurodiverse was a good term for what I have experienced my whole life and how misunderstood I have felt or so I thought. The more I use it to describe myself the dumber I feel. It seems like just another way of playing into the victimhood that's so popular nowadays and I don't want to go down that rabbit hole. I've decided whatever I may be I won't feel sorry for myself about it.
I find it helpful to think about this as “ I am uniquely myself “ and that’s ok:-) I experience music as colours - I thought that everyone did so until I was about 8 or 9 years old when a teacher reacted badly to something that I said. So then I just shut up about it and didn’t mention it again until I found an excellent therapist who I knew wouldn’t want to label me.
It was a uniquely helpful ‘talent’ to have thought in a previous career when making music videos! Go well x
Oops posted too quick!
To go back to neurodivergence and it’s entry into the general Lexicon - I have been astonished by the sheer number of folk that I come across who quite proudly declare that they have done an online survey or paid out megabucks for essentially a quack diagnosis - as you say all high functioning. The children and adults severely affected by developmental delays or multiple disabilities are largely kept out of sight - even within schools! I actually had a man recently ‘mansplain’ his ‘diagnosis’ online as “like Rain Man you know, special talents without any of the weird stuff and ticks that he has” 🙄
Please keep on blogging about these topics as no doubt there are drug companies busy devising new drugs for these disorders and there’s a complete plethora of questionable 🤨 courses and online ‘clinics’ fleecing folk.
Thanks for your posts ❤️ I do hope that you and Jaime are getting the time and space to rest and recover from recent events.
C xx
I find your tone to be aggressive and rude. There are tests for Autism which is a Neurodivergence. We are not all Neurodivergent… we are all Neurodiverse. Only certain neurotypes are considered Neurodivergent. You may call yourself Neurodivergent if you wish but you would be diminishing the experience of many people who are struggling in society.
Hopefully one day we won’t need this terminology but I think you’ve just proved that we do.
The neurodivergent term has been hijacked to make those who have had a neurotoxic injury to metals in vaccines feel good about being harmed by a pharmaceutical product and to defend those who harmed them. The term has been weaponised as a tool of corporate abuse. I’d suggest you’ve been harmed and gaslighted by the political economy of autism
Is this an opinion that you agree with Dr Jess?
It is what I’ve learnt from my own experiences and those of many others.It certainly has been hijacked and the author certainly isn’t the first person to discuss it. Why not cure adhd instead of considering yourself neurodivergent which is an impossibility
You see if you go to an environmental dr with those symptoms you will get a different response. Environmental drs are allowed to investigate cause so are allowed to investigate what neurotoxin is causing the symptoms of neurotoxicity. Environmental drs don’t use the term mental illness, they use the term neurotoxicity or metal intoxication. The term mental illness is solely an allopathic term because allopathic drs aren’t allowed to investigate cause.
Thank you so much, Jess!
Great article. Just to let you all know, that I am not "Dr" Singer. You don't have to have a PhD to come up with a good idea. :-). I have a BA (Honours) only, though I do have an Honorary Doctorate issued by a Chilean University, and while I do feel very honoured, I do not use the title.
Depathologization is the way forward towards health and healing. That includes these labels as well. Glad to come across this article as a counterpoint to the new culture arising and the inherent problems it can bring as you described.
Grateful for your essay and insights.
So good to have a comprehensive source to direct people to.
😂 very interesting and I like the reminder that many individuals live with SIGNIFICANT disability. I would support the renaming of these ‘deficit’ conditions but am also interested in the neuroscience of adhd as this appears to be fairly solid? (Bit scared of a potential backlash here). The prevalence at adhd in prison is huge so could this be a public health campaign ? Just like trauma informed early help practice in social care? It’s just so messy and with so many variables
I agree with you theoretically. The problem is, we are 'not there' yet.
There are real differences between the ways people think, react, experience things. Not all of them are trauma-related or induced by capitalism (although many are). I was born into a socialist, not capitalist economy, but my autism was there already before the country became a capitalist one - there wasn't a word for it or any understanding of it, though.
In a sense, everything concerning psychological diagnoses is political. I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and this means to me, I have to carry the name of a Nazi collaborator with me and have to make a person who sent dozens of children with 'my condition' to death. I hate it, and that's why I rather say 'autism'. If I had a decent choice, I wouldn't have let me be diagnosed at all. But there is a crucial point: it's not about my different brain, it is about massive hostility and extreme discrimination.
I cannot count or even remember the amount of violence I experienced because of the autism. Because I look like a 'normal person', people think I have to be an evil one. There are expectations I just cannot meet (lying out of courtesy, or basically lying at all, making small talk, keeping eye contact for a long time, talk on the phone spontaneously, or even at all when I am tired, smiling when I don't feel like it, and much more), but other people seem to take my behaviour as a sign of recklessness, aggression, stupidity, incompetence, rejection, manipulation, hostility... whatever else. Many people tend to judge when they don't understand someone. They feel like they are just defending themselves when they attack me. I could not prove any of my 'deficits' without a diagnosis, although I hated every moment of the tests and don't want to be certified with a disorder.
I am a sociologist myself, and I see the power of psychiatrical discourses. I deeply reject pathologising something which could be just part of a 'normal' distribution of talents. Somebody is better at small talk, so what? If somebody lacks, say, musical or language skills (not my problem :-)), this deficit does not make it a diagnosis. So why my autism is one? Some privileged persons decided this decades ago, I now we are dealing with the consequences.
People diagnosing themselves without a good reason also trouble me. Because of them, people like me are not believed when they talk about their problems. Many people just want to be special, but they don't want or think about the discrimination coming with it. I really doubt all this people coquetting with notions like autism and ADHD really want to be harassed, bullied or attacked in every educational institution, like me, or really want to be called retarded by doctors and teachers, rejected by their parents and friends and so on. I have an excellent social sciences master’s degree with the best final grade possible, but I haven't been able to get a job for years. Last year, I got a really nice teaching position and got fired before I could work there a single day. The university's rector and the chancellor said people like me are dangerous for their students. This is basically what autism means for me, not just some fancy brain with some special effects.
I don't have a solution. Just adding more problems ;-) Thank you for sharing your position and allowing other people to share their comments.
Ria, I guess that I have never been seen as "evil", but I have so often been rejected and criticized by other people. I fully agree with you that not everything can be explained by capitalism or trauma. I have felt different from my peers since my childhood. In my school and uni years some people were actually pointing out that I am different from others - and they did not mean anything positive by that.
Interestingly, I have a PhD in Sociology and like you I come from a country which used to be socialist. I haven't had a typical job for more than 6 years. I used to be an academic, but I could not cope with this job (among others because of my isolation in my workplace).
Why did that university's rector and chancellor claim that you were dangerous for their students? This sounds very shocking!
I’m guessing you don’t identify as Neurodivergent Jess? You have written a lot there which is harmful and wrong. As an autistic person I feel this is really insulting to say that I’ve diagnosed myself based on online tests just because I was feeling tired. I have an NHS diagnosis- my grandmother, mother, brother, daughter are all also Autistic. We have all struggled with MH issues due to this.
I think it’s fairly clear from the article that technically, we are all neurodivergent, so I could identify as neurodivergent and I would be correct.
It’s not insulting to point out that there are absolutely no biological tests for so called ‘neurodivergence’. No one on earth has been given such a test, and nor have you. They don’t exist.
There's no biological test, but some of us find it much more difficult to fit in than others. To take an example, most people take it for granted that they have friends and for most people having a boyfriend/girlfriend is a completely normal thing. My own experience has been very different.
An individual cannot be neurodiverse, just as a plant cannot be biodiverse - the 'diversity' needs to within a group of individuals. However, an individual can be a neurodivergent member of a neurodiverse society. I do not believe that I am disabled by my 'impairments' or 'differences', (as the medical model suggests), but I am disabled by the way society is organised, and the way my authentic self is often judged.
thank you for constantly challenging my biases - I love reading your articles - I work in a left behind neighbourhood where the daily judgments come thick and fast and I feel like a lone voice
What a breath of fresh air you are Jess, thank you.