About a week ago, I connected with Lisa Jara for the first time! We had a lovely conversation about how my menstrual cycle interacts with and amplifies my different phases of Bipolar Disorder.

Through that discussion, I fleshed out an idea that I have been afraid to share publicly because I don’t want to cause harm or alienate people.

I’m also in the process of going back to school to learn even more about neuroscience. So, I’ve been waiting to have that credential to back me up.

Maybe it’s the full moon energy, but today I feel the capacity to share this thought and deal with the potential consequences. (and I’m probably overestimating the fall out anyways 🙄)

I don’t think “neurodivergence” should have been pathologized.

You want me to trust in the same Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) that listed homosexuality as a mental disorder until 1973?

You’re joking, yes?…

Now for the disclaimer:

I know how valuable it is to have a label for something you experience and to know that others experience the same thing.

Through a story I read in 7th grade, I finally learned that I wasn’t the only person going through these intense emotional highs and lows.

That relieved a lot of isolation for me.

AND/ BUT

Western pathology is too interested in severing us from our holistic context.

As humans, we are all individual ecosystems interacting with and within greater ecosystems.

I firmly believe that every “external” aspect of your life impacts how your neurodivergence expresses itself AND how you interact with that neurodivergence.

I’m going to elaborate more on this concept moving forward, but for now…

Here’s the video that was birthed out of that conversation! Click the video below to watch.