I should be clear that I am not a neuroscientist or psychologist and am in no way expert on mental conditions, other than my experience as a patient and fifty plus years of Buddhist meditation.
At least twenty percent of the world’s population is considered neurodivergent. The term neurodivergence often refers to autism, dyslexia or ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), but includes a wide variety of neurological conditions.
Autism and ADHD can manifest in many degrees with sometimes overlapping symptoms, including inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, anxiety and depression. About one percent of people worldwide are autistic. Statistics can vary widely on ADHD, ranging up to nearly seven percent. Dyslexia impedes coordination of reading, speech, letters and words and affects up to twenty percent. Developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD or dyspraxia) is a movement condition that causes clumsiness and lack of physical coordination. It afflicts up to ten percent. Hundreds of millions, maybe over a billion, are diagnosed with these conditions. Millions no doubt, remain undiagnosed.
There are many other, less common neurological conditions. Some are difficult or impossible to recognize visually, others are obviously, dramatically debilitating. In my case, I acquired and was diagnosed with cerebellar ataxia in early 2013. For over two years it was accompanied by severe tremors which confined me to a wheelchair. My diagnosis was confirmed with an MRI scan which revealed a loss of one third of cerebellar volume. Hundreds of other tests and procedures have failed to reveal the cause, though there is reason to believe it may be autoimmune or the result of some sort of metabolic insult.
I have been free of tremors and able to walk for many years but the condition is chronic and incurable, still felt every day. It manifests as difficulty with movement and balance. If you were to see me walking, you might think that I’m drunk or just a feeble old man (which I am). Fortunately it does not affect cognition other than sometimes making reading difficult. I’m sometimes uncertain determining if symptoms are caused by ataxia or just age.
The brain and nervous system are poorly understood. Simplistic comparisons with computers are deceptive and misleading. The two systems obviously evolved over drastically different time scales, for drastically different purposes. Although neuroscience has progressed dramatically in recent years the functionality of our one hundred billion neurons (about as many as there are stars in the Milky Way) remains largely mysterious.
What constitutes neurodivergence is controversial and sometimes a matter of patient discomfort. Some of these symptoms are widespread. For some they are simply part of the human condition. For many they are disabling. With pervasive sexual neurosis, eco-anxiety, political turmoil and economic duress, emotional and mental distress, sometimes crippling, should come as no surprise.
The term neurodivergent implies that a brain is diverging from a perception of normal, healthy or optimal. In some instances, this divergence may be medically or statistically apparent. In others it is a reflection of the reality that we are humans, living in an unprecedented era that evokes unusual symptoms and the fact that diversity IS normal.
A wonderful essay!