GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.social
Oct 14, 2026, 1:19 AMDo you think you are neurodivergent?
This is not a question about diagnosis. If you think you are, the answer is yes.
As always, please boost.
Replies
- GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 1:23 AM
I am.
*Definitely* I am.
I don't fit in any of the usual categories, tbh.
I am not autistic. I am not ADHD.
I have stripes of OCD, but they don't, like, they don't quite add up to a diagnosis.
- GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 1:36 AM
I am a traumatized empath.
I became the emotional adult of my family when I was just six years old.
When I *see* pain, I *feel* it, and I have to process it.
That is why I do not do encounters with more than four people, except pro forma, for my family encounters.
It has been an oddly lucrative trait, cuz when you are a coach, seeing pain is very very important.
I am, in fact, a world-class software development coach, with more actual field experience than all but a few.
- GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 1:39 AM
I am what you'd call a "success", really.
But I am not well, and I never have been.
And I am most definitely not neurotypical.
I am *glad* for these labels, and *glad* for these diagnoses. I know how very much relief they give.
- GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 1:43 AM
To my neurodiverse associates, and to my neurotypical associates as well, I wish mostly that we could stop causing each other pain.
"Normal" isn't actually a thing.
In high-dimensional spaces, there really is no "average". That's mathematical, not polemical.
But it's polemical, too.
MORE SLACK. SEND MORE SLACK.
This life is hard as fuck, and everyone around you is doing the best they can to manage it.
DeanFarrellDeanFarrell@mstdn.plusOct 14, 2026, 1:20 AM@GeePawHill I've long suspected that I am!
Nomdebnomdeb@mstdn.socialOct 14, 2026, 1:25 AM@GeePawHill I have tendencies, and am very attracted to patterns and organization (sometimes compulsively) but I wouldn't have ever thought of myself as neurodivergent - or maybe many of us have parts of themselves that are?
Jade P.JadePlantMcKenzie@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 1:57 AM@GeePawHill thank you, having distressing time with a family member who has very precise expectations about How People Ought To Act. And no. No, it doesn't work like that at all. I'm afraid my opinions are writ large on my face because I don't hide that kind of thing well.
- GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 2:05 AM
@vedrangacic On my good days. <3
Oct 14, 2026, 4:22 AM@GeePawHill this is good advice
Bronwyn HarrisBronwyn@sfba.socialOct 14, 2026, 5:00 AM@GeePawHill I have found that complex PTSD in my case mimics some autism and ADHD traits.
Matt Hall401matthall@mastodon.xyzOct 14, 2026, 1:40 PM<3
Oct 14, 2026, 1:48 PM@GeePawHill re: no such thing as an average person, absolutely! And it has measurable adverse effects when we ignore it! (I know you know this.)
Sam Livingston-Graygeeksam@ruby.socialOct 14, 2026, 2:26 AM@GeePawHill CPTSD is a pretty safe bet.
Oct 14, 2026, 6:05 AM@GeePawHill
Does this still hold true on DSM-5/ICD-11? They vastly expanded diagnosis options. Things that traditionally didn't add ip to a diagnosis now might.- Oct 14, 2026, 6:06 AM
@GeePawHill
If that's something you're interested in - GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 6:06 AM
@cmw DSM-V is not really a rig I quite trust.
- GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 6:10 AM
@cmw The old terminology wrt depression I thought was pretty good, actually.
"Situational" vs "clinical".
As happens, I know a lot about depression, and my reaction to the new version was, well, I'm not a specialist or a pro, but, in my view, it was sketchy.
- Oct 14, 2026, 6:10 AM
@GeePawHill
Oh, yeah, very different topic, trust in the system.
Same for ICD. -11 improved some things around mental health here in EU, or will have in another decade, when its finally properly rolled out. Under -10 I wouldn't have gotten my adhd diagnosis for example, as my flavor is less physically expressive. DSM-V helped there, to provide a basis - GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 6:12 AM
@cmw Even now, tho, it's shot through with Cartesian dualism that *nobody* serious believes in.
Gary AshGaryAsh@iosdev.spaceOct 14, 2026, 1:29 AM@GeePawHill Probably, but first point me at a “normal” person. More than a few people have called me OCD but nobody with a degree in the psychological disciplines
M.S. Bellows, Jr.msbellows@c.imOct 14, 2026, 2:48 AM@GeePawHill And there we have Mastodon in a nutshell.
Oct 14, 2026, 3:11 AM@GeePawHill Diagnosed ADHD. Thought that explained everything when it happened. But I am still very different to many people with ADHD, so I think something else is happening as well. Something they don't know about yet?
The ADHD meds only soften my emotional issues (anger), but I've had therapy out the ass for that and they never figured it out beyond depression (which was ADHD in the end). I didn't meet the criteria for anything else.
Oct 14, 2026, 3:19 AM@GeePawHill statistically speaking, these results seem unlikely.
RodentiapsychoM3@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 3:33 AM@GeePawHill
I'm a psychopath, so, "yes"
GanondalfWalruths@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 3:43 AMMy perpetual bad/good/weird trait is that I'm subconsciously inconsistent at everything, even my tastes, preferences, where I sleep, what I eat. There's no pattern to anything. Chaos and variety reign supreme in my life. A new song is always better than an old one, a new soap is better than the last, a different color, left not right, side streets not the highway,... Why? It just is. Maybe I wanna see what happens. I crave it, tossing a wrench into everything.
My 'usual', is chaos.
Goiterzan/Amygdalai Lamapunishmenthurts@autistics.lifeOct 14, 2026, 3:43 AM@GeePawHill @VeeRat
.
no, but I think seven billion other people are (that’s a “yes,” I guess)
VANTABlackVANTABlack2000@mastodon.gamedev.placeOct 14, 2026, 4:19 AM@GeePawHill I feel like I am different, but don't know if I am enough to get a diagnosis. I can relate to neurodivergent people on some things at least.
I voted yes just because I am weird socially, learn some things pretty slowly, and can be obsessed over art sometimes among other reasons I feel I am just different.
Edit: I don't know if "different" is the best phrasing. This shows another thing I tend to do though which is obsess over whether something is rude or not AFTER sending.
- Oct 14, 2026, 4:21 AM
@GeePawHill I have a hard time with this question.
I got super traumatized as a kid, and it did affect me. I'm also an intp. But I'm also an empath, which was really handy as a nurse and person taking care of animals.
Every autistic person thinks I'm autistic. I'm very clumsy socially, but like I said, I had a super traumatic childhood.
It's hard to pull apart
- GeePawHillGeePawHill@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 4:22 AM
@deepmud Wellllll, I think that's a yes. But I'm glad you shared.
MBEverdingMBEverding@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 4:56 AM@GeePawHill y'all getting a diagnosis is important. It will help y'all take steps to make whatever you have your superpower. Being neurodivergent just means you are wired different and hence will have strengths and weaknesses.
Oct 14, 2026, 5:27 AM@GeePawHill none of your business
Fenixfenixmaster@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 7:20 AM@GeePawHill No, I’m old and belong to the generation that grew up uninfluenced, before the era of widespread ADHD diagnoses.
Bonkersbonkers@nerdculture.deOct 14, 2026, 10:27 AM@GeePawHill I'm most likely not, but a few people who are, are very precious to me.
- Julian Caraxjcarax@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 10:49 AM
@GeePawHill I'm diagnosed autistic, and probably ADHD. Have serious trauma over my masking, and I definitely recognize myself as an empath.
- Ronald vd W.ronaldb66@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 10:53 AM
@GeePawHill I am a developer and I like trains. Does that say anything?
Brian Marickmarick@mstdn.socialOct 14, 2026, 1:24 PM@GeePawHill Judging from the confidence expressed by takers of opinion polls, sports fans, and occupiers of barstools, I think anyone who answers “Not sure” should be counted as a “Yes”.
Jeff GriggJeffGrigg@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 11:57 PM
Oct 14, 2026, 3:33 PM@GeePawHill @onepict I’d be worried if I was “normal”
Ron JeffriesRonJeffries@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 4:41 PM@GeePawHill
Don't know, don't much care. Pretty sure I'm not average. 🧠/2- Jeff GriggJeffGrigg@mastodon.socialOct 14, 2026, 10:59 PM
Well, practically none of us is *exactly average*. And only *one* of us, from the whole population, gets (to be) the median value.
So let's celebrate our variety and creative differences!
💖
Pau Ammapauamma@mstdn.socialOct 14, 2026, 7:23 PM@GeePawHill I used to think I am (autistic, specifically). Then I sought a diagnostic, and now I know I am. Accordingly, voted yes.
- Jeff GriggJeffGrigg@mastodon.socialOct 15, 2026, 12:01 AM
When it seems relevant, I like to say,
“I'm considered neurotypical.”
…
As with many things, there are spectrums. Ranges. Ranges considered "normal." And "unusual." And "dysfunctional."
I don't claim or desire to be close to "average." I'm special and unique. And I value others who are too.
We're all different, and benefit from accommodating each other.
Mimcrinolinerobot@beige.partyOct 15, 2026, 3:38 PM@GeePawHill Technically I am - prosopagnosia - but I ticked 'not sure' because when people say 'neurodivergent' they're not normally talking about people like me.