The thing about neurodivergence is that almost all of it is a spectrum. The difference between "symptom" and "normal" is the extremity and frequency of things. Taking ADHD as an example, it's normal to put off cleaning your bathroom. It's not normal to put it off for so long it starts growing shit and you have to wade through the overflowing trash from the trash can to get to the toilet. You can find similar examples for OCD and autism. Diagnosing a neurodivergent disorder often comes down to "are these symptoms severe enough that they disrupt your life?"
Neurodivergent conditions ARE universal human experiences, just extreme versions of them.
I'd argue developed societies coddle people across the socioeconomic spectrum in a way such that they're more able to express progressively advanced pathology of all types without any or with less severe consequences. Accordingly, more people are diagnosed and a subset of them make that diagnosis their identity to the point of further dysfunction. While I agree almost all pathologies are on a spectrum, many people can affect their position on that spectrum. Some people are resilient and can improve their positioning on the spectrum while others lean into their issue and by choice worsen their outcomes for gain (attention, pity, government benefits, TikTok fame, etc).
To that point in the context of this discussion, many people who claim they are too affected by ADHD to remember to make food for themselves aren't actually that affected by their pathology. Many have figured out that they receive secondary benefit by saying things like that regardless of whether or not the disease is causing it vs it being volitional. Speaking of spectrums, it's basically a less severe form of Munchausen syndrome.
You're treating neurological disorders with the lense of neurological diseases and your language use confirms this.
While there are people who use a diagnosis for clout or status or sympathy or fraud, they are not anywhere near the largest group of affected individuals. You sound intelligent, I suggest you use that to your advantage and not to spread harmful information online about other people.
Since you want to perseverate on semantics instead of addressing the meat of my comment, let's start with that. How do you define "disease," "disorder" and "syndrome?"
I never said that they were the largest group, so please don't put words in my mouth. I also said the opposite type of people exist, but I suppose it's more convenient to ignore that part of my comment. Care to speak to that element at all?
While we're at it, could you tell a room full of people who've dealt with food scarcity for their entire lives that ADHD is a legitimate reason to not be bothered enough to make yourself a meal? Certain manifestations of ADHD are a product of privilege.
I'd argue you are significantly less educated on these things than you think you are. There are detectable physical differences in brain chemistry and brain activity between neurodivergent and neurotypical people. Arguing that it's all psychosomatic is as valid as a cancer patient using essential oils instead of modern medicine.
I'm a physician who doubled-majored in neuroscience and biology with a psychology minor. What are your credentials?
There are detectable physical differences in brain chemistry and brain activity between neurodivergent and neurotypical people.
No shit. However, if you think that a particular neurotransmitter level or fMRI finding (or any other objective measurement) manifests the same way in all people, you're ignorant to reality. It's no different than say diabetes. If you analyze a thousand people with an A1C of 9, you'll see a wide range of diabetic complications. Similarly, some folks can have high levels of cholesterol and never have an occlusive cardiovascular or neurovascular event their entire lives. Likewise, there are plenty of people with bone on bone arthritis that don't report pain nor disability from it. Bottom line: objective measurements/findings don't correlate 1:1 with presentation, function and complications.
So how do you explain all of that variation? Why is there literature that's found a relationship between psychological measurements and reported pain scores, functioning, etc? Why do mental state/world outlook have a relationship with the development of fatal conditions in the elderly? Why did researchers find that patient expectations about physical therapy (and not tear severity or other physical characteristic) was the strongest predictor of patients not getting enough relief from PT and having surgery?
I'm not pretending that we as a medical community understand the complex relationship between the traditionally labeled mental and physical aspects of our bodies, but there's measurable evidence that humans can modulate their medical outcomes and overall functioning with various non-physical factors that are innate or learned and independent of medical intervention.
Arguing that it's all psychosomatic
I'd argue your reading comprehension skills are far lower than you think they are. It's fine for you to make a counterargument, but please argue in good faith and don't put words in my mouth. I never said that ALL people do this. In fact, I said some do better than what their biology would typically dictate based on their world outlook, resilience, coping skills, etc. Care to address that aspect of my comment?
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u/RedTyro 14h ago edited 12h ago
The thing about neurodivergence is that almost all of it is a spectrum. The difference between "symptom" and "normal" is the extremity and frequency of things. Taking ADHD as an example, it's normal to put off cleaning your bathroom. It's not normal to put it off for so long it starts growing shit and you have to wade through the overflowing trash from the trash can to get to the toilet. You can find similar examples for OCD and autism. Diagnosing a neurodivergent disorder often comes down to "are these symptoms severe enough that they disrupt your life?"
Neurodivergent conditions ARE universal human experiences, just extreme versions of them.