MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS SERIES

Neurodivergent or Neurotypical?

28th day of May —Neurodivergence is the term for people whose brains function differently in one or more ways than is considered standard or typical.

In my five previous articles on Mental Health, I introduced Henry H. Hobblestone. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now since you’re very sharp and intuitive, but I thought I’d let you know that Henry is me and I am Henry.

So now that all is revealed, I’m going to leave Henry to his life and tiny house and talk about some other mental health issues for the days remaining in May. Today I’m going to be talking about typical and divergent. Not the book or the show, but the word.

According to some experts, there are only two types of people in the world. Some are neurotypical while others are neurodivergent. It used to be called normal and abnormal but the wording has changed to flow with the changing times to TYPICAL or DIVERGENT.

Neurodivergence is the term for people whose brains function differently in one or more ways than is considered standard or typical. Anyone who has been diagnosed with one of these mental illnesses is considered neurodivergent. The rest of the world is neurotypical. 🧠 Depression 🧠 Anxiety 🧠 Autism 🧠 ADHD 🧠 Dyslexia 🧠 Bipolar Disorder 🧠 OCD 🧠 Borderline Personality Disorder 🧠 Down Syndrome 🧠 Epilepsy 🧠 Tourette’s 🧠 dyspraxia 🧠 synesthesia 🧠 dyscalculia

The more we accept and understand that it’s quite common for brains to work differently, the more easily we can go about accommodating people in ways that work best for them to learn, function, and thrive in society.

I’ve pulled some key points from this outstanding article, wishing that I could tell you more. For more depth on neurodivergence, I’ve included the link to the article for you. There are references for further reading and also explanations on some of the mental illnesses listed.

THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ARE NEUROTYPICAL Source: ADHD Aware

Learning about neurodiversity can help you move the focus from impairments towards everyone’s different abilities.

Between 30% and 40% of the population are thought to be neurodiverse. The remaining majority are neurotypical.

PERSONAL NOTES

This month, while writing mental health awareness articles every day, I realized something about myself that I didn’t know before. A new word for me, an important word, a vital word. I am neurodivergent. I am a minority, part of the 30% that have been diagnosed with one or more mental illnesses.

I first began to realize this as I read the articles by Mental Health copywriter Micheal Woodruff on Neurodiversity. Excellent articles, each one of them.

I am neurodivergent not neurotypical. Finally I know why I act and think as I do. What a relief.

I have been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (lifetime) and Social Anxiety Disorder. I also am positive that I have ADHD but the diagnosis process was cut short. So does that mean I’m classified, categorized, and filed away? Sometimes I think that I should be put away for good, other times I think that I have something to offer.

Here are some things that I’ve discovered about myself because I am of the 30% of the world population that are neurodivergent. Some of these I’ve known for a long time, others I’m just realizing because I now know that I think differently than the majority of people.

🔵 Trouble fitting in— When I worked, I couldn’t fit in with my co-workers (I didn’t understand the jokes or office banter, couldn’t follow along — the result of ADHD and SAD) 🔵 Trouble communicating — When I communicate with people, most of the time they don’t understand me (my brain thinks differently than theirs, like speaking a foreign language) 🔵 Impulsive — I make hasty decisions based on emotions (as a result of ADHD) 🔵 Poor Self Image — Most of the time I think I’m worthless, a failure, and am taking up too much space on the earth (as a result of MDD) 🔵 Arrogant — Once I thought I knew everything, but lately, I’ve discovered that I don't know anything. (as a result of ADHD) 🔵 Disinterested — I’m not interested in a lot of current events, or nonfiction stories, usually I gravitate toward sci-fi and fantasy novels to satisfy my need for ‘differentness’. (as a result of my thinking being neurodivergent) 🔵 Unobservant — I’ve never been very observant of my surroundings or what’s going on anywhere (as a result of ADHD) 🔵 Odd Ideas — I didn’t know that my ideas were odd when I thought about them, but apparently they were because they hardly ever got accepted. I thought I had great ideas (as a result of ADHD) 🔵 Self-Isolation — I didn’t get invited to many events so I isolated myself and became used to it over the years. (as a result of SAD) 🔵 Restless — I’ve always had to go from one thing to another rather quickly because I got bored with it, needed a new challenge, restless (as a result of ADHD)

There are a lot more things that I could say about my thinking and my life because of it, but that’s enough for now. If you want to know more, here’s a list of articles that I’ve written about myself. I’ve revealed a lot of my struggles with mental illness in these articles.

WRITING ON MEDIUM

Regarding my six months here on Medium, I was wondering why not many people read my articles, but now I think I know why. At least this may be part of the reason.

70% of the people reading stories on Medium are Neurotypical and 30% are Neurodivergent. Since I’m Neurodivergent, only 30% will read what I have to write.

In general, 70% of people won’t be interested in the things I write because 70% are neurotypical. Their thinking is different than mine. They flow with life differently than I do. I won’t cross paths with those people because they don’t understand me and are not interested in understanding me.

Neurodivergent and neurotypical people are opposites and they don’t attract.

Is there a way to overcome this on Medium? I don’t know the answer to that. But I’ve accepted the fact of what I am and realize that the idea of success will most likely be out of reach for me with my writing. So I either keep writing just because I want to or move on to another hobby. Typical!

What are your thoughts?

Thanks for reading today’s Mental Health Awareness article. Stay tuned for another one tomorrow. In the meantime, happy reading and writing, and please strive to be all-around healthy!

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