Acquired Neurodiversity?

[Kizzie]

So in my group therapy session this week, our T said she has been seeing more about trauma causing "acquired neurodiversity".  I've just started poking around about it but was wondering if anyone had heard this in reference to what happens to our brains due to trauma?

[NarcKiddo]

Can you tell me (briefly) what acquired neurodiversity is or how it manifests itself? I mean, I could Google but am a bit pushed for time and not sure if I might have come across the concept via another descriptor.

[Kizzie]

She told us that it is changes in our brains, how it functions, due to the constant exposure to trauma and the chemicals and signals that impinge on us brain and body. We become neurodivergent, we are not born neurodivergent as with autism and due to our environment. That's the 'latest' in the field apparently so not sure how evidence based it is. We didn't go much further into it than that but I find it really intriguing.

If/when I find some info on it I'll post some links. I was just curious if anyone had heard of it as I do read a lot and had never heard of it possibly because it is quite new.   

[Kizzie]

....the neurodiversity movement is, 'a social justice movement that seeks civil rights, equality, respect, and full societal inclusion for the neurodivergent' (Dr. Nick Walker)....That is, it is a movement that seeks full inclusion and respect of people whose brains function differently from the neurotypical majority.

PTSD and C-PTSD are now considered by many to be within the umbrella of neurodivergence, but fall under the category of acquired neurodivergence. That is, a kind of neurological difference that is related to an event or series of events, and not the result of innate, primarily genetic difference(s) as with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia or other kinds of neurological difference.

The inclusion of PTSD under the banner of neurodivergence makes sense, particularly given that it is now widely accepted that trauma changes the brain. The precise mechanisms of this are complex and can vary, but some reasons being that trauma can lead to an overactive amygdala (the part of our brain that manages the fight or flight response), lessened or changed connectivity between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex (the area of the brain that orchestrates executive function), as well as decreased activity in certain parts of the prefrontal cortex. This can lead to significant challenges with executive functioning, emotional regulation, working memory and more .

https://www.tiimoapp.com/blog/neurodivergence-war-social-justice

[Blueberry]

I haven't heard this term used before, but it does make sense. As i think ThreeRoses used to say, cptsd is a brain injury (not a mental illness) so it's not surprising that it causes some neurodiversity.

[Bermuda]

I think that all makes perfect sense and it's something that I have certainly posted about, but then probably deleted. I know when I reread many of my symptoms they read as neuro diversity, and somehow I can see that how they express themselves are through the face of trauma. I avoid overstimulating environments because it makes me feel panicky and unsafe. In a way it's the same kind of losing track of my body in space feeling and losing track of your thoughts. It's described so similarly, but just a different neuro pathway.

[Kizzie]

I too am very impacted by noisy, crowded, busy environments Bermuda. They just drain me I think because it sets off the sirens clanging in my system and raises my hypervigilance tenfold.  I avoid them now and keep to quieter, less active spaces when I can.

It makes sense to me too that this is a form of acquired neurodivergence, explains a lot about our symptoms and that they last for so long.  For example, I still have such a strong startle response despite the fact there's no real danger.

I have poked around a little looking for info/articles but haven't come up with too much yet. I'm going to ask my T this next session if she can pass some links along. 

Anyway, I would much rather see my differences as acquired neurodivergence than brain damaged as I've seen us described. 

[Bermuda]

I'm not a professional, but it feels like it isn't damage. It feels like parts of our brain have to shut down, and have to learn to shut down, and other parts have to learn to multitask. It feels more like a reorganisation of sorts, not a highly beneficial one, clearly. ...But it served its purpose.

[Kizzie]

I agree Bermuda and I get a little hot under the collar when I do see people describe us or themselves as brain damaged. Acquired neurodivergence is so much more accurate about the ways in which I feel I am different than others. "Rewired" is good too 

[Saluki]

I started thinking I'd been autistic my whole life so started taking online autism tests, which all said I was probably very autistic but that other conditions overlap.

I was selectively mute from as far back as I can remember, and no adults ever intervened. They thought I was deaf after I just sat blankly through hearing tests because I was too anxious and embarrassed to hit the table with the wooden hammer when I heard the beeps through the headphones.

I'm definitely neurodivergent. But my son explained to me that I was traumatized from before I was born, so I would have had CPTSD from a young age. And of course my mother did everything possible to make herself appear perfect so I was just considered a naughty child.

I do worry that a lot of traumatized children are misdiagnosed with autism, but at least if they have the autism diagnosis there will be things in place to help them navigate the world around them (I hope).

All my son's friends - every one of them has an autism diagnosis. Only one of them has no history of trauma. One specifically went through extreme DV in her younger years. Autistic or not, they all but one probably have CPTSD, undiagnosed.

I wonder if the UK prefers to keep its true abuse statistics cleanly hidden behind a veneer of autism diagnoses?

So many kids these days are diagnosed as autistic, when in fact the world itself is becoming overwhelming... and of course people aren't going to be able to cope with an overload of information and so much pressure to not only conform, but succeed in an ever changing, increasingly competitive, increasingly unaffordable world. Threats of war, so many refugees struggling to survive in a hostile environment, having fled war and famine...ugh... it's scary how little compassion so many have.

I was waiting outside a shop with my dog, for my partner to come out and an Afghan refugee offered me some money - he thought I was homeless: I was overwhelmed by his kindness. He'd lost EVERYTHING yet his compassion was greater than those amongst the locals who were campaigning to get rid of the refugees... making lies about them...they were generally very polite and frightened. I was sad to see them moved on to goodness knows where. Anyway... life's hard for so many.

Thank you for that article, Kizzy. It's well needed!

[NarcKiddo]

I wonder if the UK prefers to keep its true abuse statistics cleanly hidden behind a veneer of autism diagnoses?

I have often wondered about the huge increase in such diagnoses.

I don't think abuse is being deliberately hidden, although I think people may grasp at the first "respectable" diagnosis without digging deeper. I do think people don't know about CPTSD and a lot of abuse is not recognised for what it is. Not even by the victims, in many cases. Especially not as children. So all these "nice" and "respectable" people can just carry on.

Perhaps it is the case that the neurodivergent behaviour is a symptom, or a result, but because it is viewed as a condition nobody thinks to dig deeper and see if abuse is involved.

[Kizzie]

I forgot to ask my T for some research/articles on this at group therapy on the weekend. I did look around, even in Google Scholar, but acquired ND seems to be mostly about TBI. There's a few things about trauma and AQND but they weren't particularly in-depth or evidence based IMO. Being a clinician my T may be seeing some really new info about it.  I'll email her to see as we don't meet for two weeks.

[Chaos rains]

It seems that the term neurodiversity is just descriptive, not a medical term. But I found this at the Cleveland Clinic site:

Neurodiversity refers to the unique way that each person's brain develops. That means it's not preventable, treatable or curable."

But! Brain development is highly influenced by environment (full disclosure- I'm a neuroscientist). We all know that our condition was caused by external events, people, and stimuli. Totally preventable. personally don't feel diverse as much as I just feel damaged.

[Kizzie]

I just don't like feeling I am damaged, nope. I'd rather use the term AQND. One reason is I feel like medical/mental health professionals may understand more what happened to us than we were psychologically damaged, that trauma is very physical as well and changes or rewires (versus damages?) neural pathways. Maybe in the end it all comes to the same thing IDK.

I did read somewhere that some forms of AQND can be changed/treated, trauma being one of them meaning I think that we can rewire our brains?  Chaos Rains you probably know about this.  Apparently Bessel van der Kolk has things to say about this so I'm going to check "The Body Keeps the Score" and see what I can find if anything.

One thing about being AQND that is positive is that there is a large ND community with a strong voice which means we have access to two support communities. I'm early in my thinking on the whole subject but this may mean we (relational trauma survivors) would have a louder voice and more power to raise awareness possibly. Just noodling now 

PS - I did email my T so we'll see if she comes back with anything. She's away for the week so it may be a bit.

[Chaos rains]

Yeah, not the best word usage on my part and probably just reflects my anger at those who let this happen. In that sense I totally agree - trauma is by definition acquired and so calling it acquired neurodiversity is appropriate enough.

Our brains can rewire to some extent, but the more exposure you have to something, especially something that involves extreme emotions, the more ingrained the response becomes and the less likely it is that you can undo it. What happened to us was incessant repetitive abuse over a long time that led to a certain kind of learning that is tough to change. There is a large body of research on fear conditioning and I think that is what we have all been subject to. And I don't know if it can be totally unlearned. I think we can adapt to some extent, but reflexive response that is fear is just so pervasive and persistent.

I don't mean to sound hopeless. We *can* manage it, and I think we're all prime examples of that.

It's been 15+ years since I moved out of research and into administration, so I'm not up on the latest, and I should finish Bessel van der Kolk's book, too.