Somewhere along the way, we began labeling what’s simply human, and calling it disorder.
While the term ‘neurodivergent’ has been around for more than two decades, it’s only recently that it’s entered mainstream conversation, becoming a more common label in social media, workplaces, and everyday language.
Originally coined by disability-rights and autistic-self-advocacy communities in the late 1990s/early 2000s (terms often attributed to sociologist Judy Singer and activist Kassiane Asasumasu), these words now appear in broader contexts, which raises new questions about what they mean and how we use them.
My feeling is that the label “neurodivergent” has become another way to define our brains, and in some ways, another badge to wear. It’s a form of, “look at me, this is why I am the way I am.”
But no, loves.
We don’t need another label to explain how we’re responding to a technology-driven, fast-paced world that’s pulled us away from our natural biological rhythms. Of course we’re overstimulated. Of course we’re scattered. Our systems are doing what they can to adapt.
Stop searching for reasons to be different while clinging to new ways to belong.
These labels, these “mental health issues” often aren’t disorders at all. They’re signs that our bodies and minds are adjusting, coping, recalibrating to the chaos around us. What we really need isn’t more labels. It’s compassion.
Still, I understand why they exist.
I can see how labels can be helpful at times, as they give language to what we’re experiencing, and sometimes open doors to understanding and support. Yet if we didn’t have labels at all, what then? We’d be floating in a sea of energy, responding intuitively, moment to moment. We’d be guided by presence rather than prescription. We need less labeling, more listening.
Our intuitive minds are working it out.
And yet, when we diagnose every difference, medicate every sensitivity, and shame every non-conforming mind, we suppress the very awareness that could heal us.
We are powerful.
We are strong.
We are aware.
Until someone tells us we’re not, and gives us something to dull that awareness.
Stop, loves.
Be the brilliant, beautifully complex person you are.
You don’t need a label to be understood, or a prescription to be accepted.
You just need space to be real.
Let yourself come out.
The world that’s meant for you will see you clearly.
You don’t need bells and whistles to be seen.
Just truth.
Be You.
Written with love and understanding,
Lisa Eve
