The neurodiversity movement is primarily seen as a positive influence, because it is. It empowers many neurodivergent people and allows them to know that they are not broken and do not need to be forced to fit into a neurotypical box for the sake of it.
However, there is a dark side to anything. The neurodiversity movement has been one of the biggest threats to my mental health for a while, here’s why...
The neurodiversity movement can feel invalidating to people with higher support needs and more complex presentations of their conditions. Many neurodiversity advocates say that there’s “no such thing as a neurodivergent condition, just a different way of being.” This is insulting to people who need recognition that they have a condition so that they can get the help they need. When my Tourette’s tics scratched me until I bled, caused scar tissue build up inside of me from hitting me so much, and caused me to beg to make the tics stop, that wasn’t simply a “different way of being to be celebrated” - it was a condition with medical complications.
The neurodiversity movement seems to try and water down neurodivergent conditions as a mere difference like hair colour or eye colour, or a variation in personality. This can be incredibly invalidating and insulting to people with serious struggles.
OCD is often seen as a form of neurodiversity, however I wouldn’t want to accept a condition that nearly killed me, caused me to beg to be put into a medically induced coma, and caused me to lose the ability to dress myself, sleep in a room on my own, walk up stairs in my home, etc. The idea that something like OCD should be accepted as something normal and natural and should be seen as simply a difference makes me feel sick to my stomach, because it wasn’t like that for me at all. It was a serious condition that should never be watered down. The idea that it is just a different way of being dilutes the impact it can have and implies it is some kind of personality trait... The neurodiversity movement can help some mentally ill people feel empowered and like they aren’t broken which is great, but the idea that it’s something to be celebrated or normalised can be dangerous.
Complications of Schizophrenia killed multiple family members of mine, why would my family now want to celebrate something like Schizophrenia or say it was just a natural different way of being when treatment or some kind of prevention could have saved their lives?
Some people call Depression a neurotype, which is dangerous as it can make people with Depression feel even more hopeless than they already do as they feel that this is just how their brain is. Thousands of studies show that Depression can be a result of inflammation, vitamin D deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency, hormonal problems, chronic infections, gut microbiome imbalance and many other medical factors, showing it isn’t simply a neurotype, but a condition which can be treated to give people a better quality of life.
The neurodiversity movement is also filled with toxic positivity, the idea that you must always be positive about your condition or you are “setting the neurodiversity movement back” is common but harmful. I am very open about my struggles as an Autistic person, as well as the positives. However, when I speak about the struggles, people have attacked and berated me saying that I’m “presenting Autism as a tragedy” or “pathologizing Autism” when I am just talking about my experiences. People who don’t present the polished view of Autism being a “quirky different way of being” are sidelined and berated by the very community they thought would understand them. This leads to feelings of intense isolation and misunderstanding, which increases the risk of unaliving within the Autism community. People are left to struggle in silence as they are attacked for saying that Autism isn’t always a walk in the park.
If an Autistic person is struggling every day with constant meltdowns, self-injurious behaviour that breaks bones, an inability to hold down any job, constant anxiety unrelated to the environment, sensory processing issues that makes even the feeling of their own skin on their body unbearable, and sleep issues causing severe sleep deprivation, it would be insulting and callous to tell the person that they have to celebrate this and that it’s just “a different way of thinking.”
This isn't to say that things like Tourette's and Autism can't be celebrated, of course they can, but we have to be mindful of others struggles especially those with higher support needs and more intense and complex presentations. To try and force everyone to feel the same way about their conditions like some neurodiversity advocates do is disrespectful as it ignores the diversity within our community. Many big neurodiversity advocates say "no ifs, no buts" when saying mental illness is part of neurodiversity and that there is no such thing as a condition, only a difference. This effectively shuts down anyone who has more intense struggles, as they know they will get attacked, berated, and labelled as "anti-progressive" for speaking about how that mindset feels invalidating.
This sort of ideology worsened my trauma symptoms caused by growing up with severe OCD, PANS, and Tourette's and having medical struggles incorrectly blamed on Autism. It caused me to feel an intense sense of disconnect, isolation, and despair, as I was getting berated and lectured by people who likely don't know how it feels to struggle THAT MUCH - telling me that I must celebrate the conditions which traumatised me and took so much away from me, and watering them down as a simple difference, like my abusive psychiatrists did to invalidate me and prevent me from getting appropriate medical care.
The neurodiversity movement pushes the idea that all of these conditions are natural variations in the human genome, totally ignoring the fact that things like tics and OCD can be caused by infections and inflammation, or that B12 deficiency is known to mimic Autism. This mindset prevents a comprehensive medical workup that could help the individual thrive. For years, my struggles were blamed on Autism and my family was told to "accept it" - this was used to deny a medical workup. Turns out, these "Autism traits" are actually brain inflammation and Lyme Disease. Advocating against comprehensive medical workups is dangerous. It doesn't "pathologize autism and neurodiversity" - it keeps people safe from medical neglect.
Comments