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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by balerion@beehaw.org to c/neurodivergence@beehaw.org

Disclaimer: I have no quarrel with the mods using the term in the creation of this community. I understand why they chose it, as even if they share my disagreement with the term when applied to ADHD, there's not really a better inclusive term. "Mental illness" is really the only other option, and naming a community that would probably invite darker discussions that the mods might not be prepared to handle.

Another disclaimer: I think the term is perfectly valid when applied to autism, as autism is not, to the best of my knowledge, a mental illness so much as a difference in processing. Being autistic is only "bad" in the sense that our society discourages autistic traits. (Apologies if this is wrong; I'm neither autistic nor especially knowledgeable about autism.)

The term "neurodivergent" implies that there's nothing wrong with you if you have ADHD--you're just special and different. But my ADHD is an illness that requires treatment. A lot of people will tell you that the only reason ADHDers struggle is because society is set up wrong, but I don't think that's true, at least for me. Being unable to remember anything, unable to self-start, and hypersensitive to rejection would be massive problems in any world. Sure, the world today is particularly brutal for ADHDers in a way we could probably mitigate if we reorganized society to be kinder, but that doesn't mean ADHD isn't ultimately a disorder that some people need to treat with medication and therapy.

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[-] EthicalAI@beehaw.org 3 points 2 years ago

Neurodivergent also recognizes the overlap of a lot of these conditions, and the fact that the scientific community hasn’t finished researching and disambiguating these things.

[-] sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 years ago

I think ADHD is absolutely only a mental illness because of the way society is set up. But that doesn't mean society is set up wrong, there simply is no longer an evolutionary need for anyone to have ADHD. I don't need medication and therapy, I just need it to be a modern civilized person. If society required me to go hunt for food then I wouldn't bother taking my medication.

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[-] SomeGuyNamedPaul@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

I prefer VAST, variable attention stimulus trait.

[-] Klinkertinlegs@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

I think your analogy of autism “being bad” because society discourages autistic traits applies better to ADHD.

We would have been the ones to survive in a hunter-gatherer society. Our brains are wired to pay attention to more stuff simultaneously, which would have kept us alive when predators were a threat to us. Society discourages distraction now, which is why we feel forced to conform to that.

I’m not sure if there is a “official” definition of neurodivergence, but everyone differs in the way they brain works. It’s not a great term since on the face of it, it could apply to nearly everyone. But I think of it as anything that makes your brain diverge from the commonly accepted average.

I hope my point makes sense.

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this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2023
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Neurodivergence

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All things neurodivergent and relating to the broader neurodivergent community (and communities).

See also this community's sister subs Feminism, LGBTQ+, Disability, and POC


This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

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