It absolutely doesn't.
this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2026
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It doesn't.
But to answer a question of "why does it seem to be?", they seem to be the most visible both in percentage of the population and having visible effects on someone's personality.
I wouldn't be surprised if bipolar becomes bigger over time as it becomes more recognized outside of severe cases.
It doesn't. I'm neurodivergent. I am bi-polar.
Depending on the context, it doesn't.
In my area there's a contrast between neurophysiological handicap (meaning loss of function due to brain structure) and neurodiversity (meaning differing function due to brain structure), with the former including dyslexia, ocd, schizophrenia, asd, adhd, etc, and the latter also giftedness and non-pathological/on-the-spectrum type of differences.
As to why not everyone falls into neurodiversity, that's because we choose the meaning to give to words, and having another word for "everyone" is currently less useful than for "people with slight brain variations that have a lot more trouble in society than they did just a generation ago".
Wiki:
Neurodivergences include autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, developmental prosopagnosia, developmental speech disorders, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysnomia, intellectual disability, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), sensory processing disorder, synesthesia, Tourette syndrome, and more.
It literally means the opposite of neurotypical and covers way more than autism and ADHD. Such as:
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Bipolar Disorder
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Borderline Personality Disorder
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Schizophrenia
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Major Depression
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Anxiety disorders
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Etc
almost:
Neurodivergences include autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, developmental prosopagnosia, developmental speech disorders, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysnomia, intellectual disability, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), sensory processing disorder, synesthesia, Tourette syndrome, and more.[3][4]
part of the point of the classification is that neurodivergent individuals often have depressive or anxiety disorders only as a result of pressure from neuronormative society to fit in, and that care should focus on being resilient against such pressure instead of trying to eliminate the neurodivergence, e.g. trying to “cure autism”. things like depression and anxiety are not considered neurodiversity in themselves and are in fact what should be treated.
the inclusion of personality disorders is controversial (partly for similar reasons), but the inclusion of schizophrenia is unchallenged.
Just FYI to your FYI: Major Depressive Disorder is when your depression is not a symptom of something else. Same with GAD.
i don't think that is true? the DSM-V is about labeling collections of symptoms (in large part because of past failings from attempting to separate conditions by subjective conceptions of where the symptoms originate, a judgement that will drastically change depending on how much the judgemaker e.g. trusts in one Sigmund Freud), and any pervasive and long-lasting depression is classified as clinical depression (major depressive disorder)
(and a FYIFYIFYI to the onlookers: i think Kolanski gets this but "when your depression is not a symptom of something else" wouldn't be neurodiversity either as the destructive results would still exist without pressure from neuronormative society to fit in)
It doesn't...
It doesn't? People with any mental illness can use the term and are probably not going to specify that neurodivergent can include other mental illnesses.
It doesn't.
Any mental illness could be regarded as a type of diversity.
Yes, that's the purpose of the term “neurodivergent”, to destigmatize mental illness. Many mental illnesses can be lived with, in a relatively normal way, and could also benefit from societal awareness, accommodation and integration. Also, they could incur a risk of discrimination. They also have no cure, just like a physical disability e.g. a leg amputation, is simply a different body condition that will not change. Much like “person with disability”, the correct term should be “neurodivergent person” or “person with neurodivergency”, to avoid the misappropriation of the word as a derogatory term.
The “all brains are unique” side, doesn't actually work. It's a slippery slope that runs the risk of rendering oppressed minorities invisible. See the, “we are all sexually diverse”, dog whistle that was used in right wing rhetoric as an attempt to erase LGBTQ+ pride.
It doesn't? It includes things like cptsd
You want the official answer or the somewhat more "woke" answer?
Technically, it doesn't. Neurodivergent is a broad umbrella that means a number of different disorders. Including, but not limited to, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, developmental prosopagnosia, developmental speech disorders, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysnomia, intellectual disability, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD), obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), sensory processing disorder, synesthesia, Tourette syndrome, and more.
Why do most people THINK it only means Autism and ADHD? They tend to get more media attention.
The "woke" bit is Autism and ADHD have been historically "male coded" disorders, while things like Bipolar, OCD, etc. were either female coded or gender neutral in popular culture. For a long time they didn't even think women could have Autism or ADHD.
I for one don't want to pretend I didn't benefit from more pearl clutching over people's "perfect baby boys" being a little atypical neurologically. I did, and it's silly to pretend I didn't. Also as one of the "Flagship" neurodivergences, I'm also more likely to end up in a MAHA gas chamber to "Purify the Gene Pool", so there's both upsides and downsides to penis-privilage, but at least people care which is more than some other spectra get.
it doesn't, but that's how internet weirdos use it almost exclusively because they are circle jerking about their self-diagnoses mostly.
Everybody has already mentioned that, actually, neurodivergence isn't exclusive to ASD and ADHD!
As for your point about it being for everybody, that is definitely a heated argument. You could argue that neurodivergent conditions were created, in part, to separate them from the "normal" people (especially in earlier times), but you could also say that having a good classification means you can better help people who have these sorts of conditions (especially in modern times! We are in a golden age of accessibility!)
Speaking as somebody who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome as a kid, now part of ASD :D
It doesn’t.
Just curious, does me being, for example, a massive Mensa type genius make me neurodivergent? Asking for a friend.
Giftedness, including rare high iq as required for Mensa membership, has a lot in common with neurodiverse brains. Neurodiversity is however commonly defined as a pathology, and giftedness is not yet understood as a hindrance to a functioning everyday life, and as such doesn't meet one of the basic criteria for pathology.
Mensa is for losers. Smart people that actually use their brains have real world accomplishments, not just membership in the smart people club.
Why is everyone so serious in this thread.
Read the fucking room dude.
No it just makes you an insecure tryhard who publicly announces that they put themselves on this century's murder of the intelligentsia hitlist.
And they say humour is dead.
Those are probably the most common forms of neurodiversity, but they definitely aren't the only ones.
Sometimes I feel as though I am a bit "neruodivergent" in that I am much more sensitive than others in a very significant and rather painful way....yet I do not have anything remotely like ADHD or autism, so I don't call myself it.
No, I do not at all meet the criteria of HSP either. My sensitivity is specific to interpersonal relationships, but does NOT involve the five senses.
It's called being a normal person. Everyone is more sensitive to friends and family than random strangers....
This obsessive need to pathologize ordinary life expereinces is counter-productive to everyone. You're not special, you're just boring and average. Most online 'neurodivergents' are not autistic or adhd, they are just self-appointed obsessive jerks who can't own up to their social failings (which often aren't even really failings in real life, just in their own heads.)
Way too many online weirdos basically want to be mentally ill, because it gives them something to blame that isn't themselves and it absolves them of responsibility they are so desperately seeking to avoid.
What's funny is the internet blew up tomorrow most of these so called neurodivergent would be forced to mingle in real life with folks all their self-proclaimed issues would go away because they wouldn't have online spaces to bias confirm themselves into a neurotic fixation there is something 'wrong' with them. Or worse, try to convince others of their 'diagnosis' they are throwing random based on a few random internet comments. They also couldn't circlejerk themselves hours per day about what morally superior geniuses they are based on what flavor of linux they use.
Look, I get what you're saying. This new trend of patholgizing everything annoys me too. It's one of the reasons I generally deny "neruodivergence", as I said.
But no, the way I've experienced emotions is not typical of most people. I struggled intensely during my childhood and in periods of my adulthood because of it. I nearly lost my job last year because of how powerful these emotions are. My friend almost had me committed to a hospital at one point. That is not typical. It is among the human variation, sure, but it is absolutely not common.
It took me actually seeing and recognizing that I am a little bit different than people and it does make me struggle harder than others in order to accept myself and work within my nature instead of against it. I can work with it instead of just trying to clam up and behave like society has always wanted me to.
I had a hell of a lot of therapy since then and I am in a much better place in life than I have ever been before. I also take a medication that I'm not if it is really doing much or not, but I'm afraid to stop taking it just yet.
There is some credence to recognizing that some people may struggle more in life in X way, and others may struggle more in life in Y way.
It's not in the name of patholgizing for the sake of patholgizing. It's instead for, as I see it, two reasons:
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Understanding what your roadblocks are and that they may differ from others. When you have a roadblock that someone else doesn't, obviously you then need to find a technique to handle said roadblock.
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Compassion and understanding for those who struggle with things that you don't. You may not be aware how significantly and deeply you are affecting someone simply because you do not even know their struggle exists.
I hope that makes sense.
So long as you've paid them enough to make you "well adjusted" ( to an inhumane society) . . . then good for you. Don't blame you.
But, I don't like that these headshrinkers that never seem diagnose society as being any part of people's problems, even though it is clearly very different from the one that generations of evolution came up through, and has far less place for (and tolerance of) our natural diversity as a species. Not to mention their brethren who pro-actively support the destruction of civil society, seek to empower the ruling classes and basically invented advertising and mass manipulation. I'd find it very hard to put any trust in those fuckers, i'd much rather talk to a homeless person about our problems and give them a tenner for booze.
What the hell mate?!