“You’re so sensitive!” “You always get upset about such little things!”As someone living with Neurodivergence, ever been told this before?
Yes, the nervous system of Neurodivergence is more sensitive overall. But that isn’t the issue.
The issue isn’t a low thresh-hold for stress. It’s how close we are to the thresh-hold constantly.
“My kid goes from 0-60 in two seconds!”
Actually, your kid goes from 55-60 in two seconds.
We can get pretty good at masking the stress we’re under, until the lid on our pressure cooker blows.
We go through life on simmer/survival, most of the time. Hyper-aware that confusion, anxiety, an awkward social interaction is just around the corner.
A dysregulated nervous system working 24/7 to regulate itself throws your mood, thoughts and motivation through a subtle and sometimes dramatic rollercoaster ride throughout the day.
I, experience emotional swings that last as short as a few seconds. I can be resting, talking with someone, anything really. Then I suddenly feel angry or very depressed. A few seconds and it’s gone.
This isn’t bi-polar, it’s mood dysregulation. What’s the difference? Bi-polar is chemical, and mood dysregulation (in this case), is neurological.
That’s one example of a dysregulated process. Then there’s sleep, appetite, body temperature. All things that can increase the baseline of stress we need to manage. Because it’s our normal.
Then we’re required to function in a world designed by people who neither live with or empathize with these issues.
So yeah, we can be the camel who breaks its back daily (hopefully less), because of how often that final straw lands on your back.
I’m a staunch advocate of self-care for that reason.
Learning self-respect, self-acceptance and self-compassion are key to living in this world.
So you can learn to see yourself through a lens that is more supportive and less critical. Some of the many things you’ll experience when you join my community.
