Neuro-divergent because of my PTSD brain
Despite just how much I read about trauma, which is a lot, in never ceases to amaze me how often there will still be something that I read that stops me dead in my tracks and makes me consider it from a new angle.
Like a post I read the other day that said:
Since trauma changes your brain chemistry, those who have trauma are actually neuro-divergent.
Now, I already knew that having PTSD and C-PTSD essentially meant that my brain would look very different on brain imaging than others. I know that my amygdala becomes hyperactive. That my hippocampus volume is reduced and that my prefrontal cortex begins to function less effectively.
It is fascinating the ways that stress affects the brain. And it has neurobiological/physiological consequences.
So, I knew all of that, and I knew that PTSD could carry a disability association, but I had never thought of myself as neurodivergent.
On the one hand, I grow ever more convinced that there really isn’t “neuro-typical” We all think and process so very very differently from one another, perhaps we need to stop thinking such a neuro-typical exists. However, I get the importance of creating that visibility and more acceptance and inclusivity for those who are neuro-divergent because of the ableism that exists in our society.
In my mind, I guess, that label was reserved for those who had ADHD or autism. Not me, with my PTSD and CPTSD addled brain.
Now though, rethinking about my brain as neuro-divergent, I am grappling with what this means.
