Anxiety is a feeling that has become inevitable in this modern world. It’s natural to feel anxious sometimes, but continuous feelings of distress can lead to specific issues. 

The term “neurodivergence” is floating around and often used in conjunction with mental health issues. 

But does anxiety make you neurodivergent? Does it change the way your brain thinks and processes the emotion? That’s a mystery. Let’s resolve it together and see what research says about it. 

depicting people experiencing depression and various mental health conditions

What is Neurodivergent?

Neurodivergence is an umbrella term that describes certain conditions where the mind doesn’t work as “typical”. It is a non-medical term introduced in the 1990’s and is still evolving.

People with neurodivergent conditions have specific sets of challenges and advantages over others. 

Remember, there is no ‘right way’ of behaving, learning, and thinking, and people with differences are not considered abnormal. In fact, in most cases, neurodivergent people have certain advantages over others. 

Signs 

Since every person is unique, so are their challenges and strengths. But common signs that fall under the category of neurodiversity are given below: 

  • Speech & language challenges 
  • Difficulties in social communication
  • Uncommon strengths, talents, and interests 
  • Difficulty in focus, reading attention, or impulsivity
  • Executive functioning challenges like planning or organization 
  • Extreme or low sensitivity to specific stimuli like light, touch, or sound

Types 

Here is the list of neurodivergent disorders: 

  • Schizophrenia
  • Bipolar disorder 
  • Tourette syndrome (TS)
  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
  • Dyspraxia, dyscalculia, or dyslexia 
  • Sensory processing disorder (SPD) 
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) 
  • Attention-deficit or hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 

Benefits 

Neurodivergent people have the following advantages over others: 

  • Bing innovative & creative 
  • They have stellar imaginations. 
  • Add purposeful value & give great ideas 
  • Have a great passion for justice and fairness. 

What is Anxiety? 

A feeling of fear, worry, or uneasiness is counted as anxiety. People often experience this before various activities like job interviews or exams. 

Anxiety is not always bad as it prepares you for difficult situations in life, but if you continuously remain anxious and it’s disturbing your life, then it is problematic. 

The physical symptoms of anxiety include: 

  • Sweating
  • Panic attacks 
  • Restlessness
  • Sleep problems 
  • Nausea, heart palpitations 
  • Feeling light-headed or dizzy 

While the psychological symptoms of anxiety are given below: 

  • Irritability 
  • Feeling panicky or edgy 
  • Difficulty in paying attention 
  • A continuous feeling or fear of worse 
  • A feeling of detachment from the world 

Besides, some people become socially isolated and don’t even enjoy spending time with their friends and family while going through anxiety or depression. 

Relationship Between Neurodivergence & Anxiety 

People with neurodivergent issues are more prone to developing anxiety. 

Neurodivergent people behave differently and often feel like misfits among their peers. They start thinking this world is not for them and question their certain behaviors.

Shortly, they become prone to getting anxious, but technically, anxiety is not a form of neurodivergence.

A study found that adults with ASD have an increased rate of getting specific anxiety disorders.

Here are the statistics from ADAA (Anxiety & Depression Association of America):

  • 49% of adults having TS (Tourette syndrome) may develop anxiety. 
  • 50% of ADHD adults often have co-occurring anxiety disorder. 
  • Autistic adults are five times more likely to get anxiety than non-austic adults.

However, the debate about whether anxiety is neurodivergent or not is still going on, and here are some arguments for both scenarios. 

When Anxiety Falls Under the Ambrella of Neurodivergence?

Day-to-day anxiety is normal, but continuous feeling of distress or crippling anxiety is not.

People experiencing chronic anxiety can behave differently and might be identified as neurodivergent. 

When Anxiety is Not Counted as Neurodivergence? 

Neurodivergence is a situation where the brain behaves differently than what is perceived as “typical” or “normal”. The brains of neurodivergent people behave, learn, and function differently.

Keeping in view this scenario, anxiety can’t be counted as neurodivergent, as every normal person experiences it at various points in their life. 

Anxiety & Co-occurring Neurodivergence Conditions 

Neurodivergence alone doesn’t cause anxiety, but people with neurodivergent conditions have certain challenges, making them prone to anxiety.

Following are the co-occurring neurodivergent disorders with anxiety: 

  • Tourette Syndrome (TS): Potential challenges in social interactions and low confidence may lead to heightened anxiety in individuals having TS. 
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): People with this condition experience specific sensory and social challenges, which can lead to increased anxiety. 
  • Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD): Repetitive behaviors and intrusive thoughts of this condition can contribute to increased anxiety levels. 
  • Specific Learning Disorders: People having particular challenges in learning and processing information often have high levels of anxiety and stress. 
  • Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Executive dysfunction, difficulty with attention, and hyperactivity in ADHD may lead to added stressors, which cause stress and anxiety in the long run. 

Read: 10 Reasons Why Self-Confidence Important To Success 

Strategies to Manage Anxiety in Neurodivergent People 

Being a neurodivergent, it’s challenging always to remain relaxed and calm. However, there are certain practices to bring relief and cope with neurodivergent challenges.

For example, mindfulness-based interventions help to deal with sensory processing difficulties in autistic individuals.

Keeping a journal and noting down the triggers that worsen your anxiety comes in handy to deal with such situations in the future. 

When to Seek Support 

Remember, untreated anxiety can worsen your life situations.

If you are not able to manage things on your own, then you must go for therapy. It helps to improve self-awareness, recognition of challenges, and overall well-being.

Recognition of certain challenges, behaviors, strengths, and traits can help you improve the quality of your life. 

Conclusion 

Neurodivergence is an umbrella term used for certain conditions during which the brain functions differently from what is perceived as “typical”. Having neurodivergence doesn’t mean that you will have anxiety too.

However, people with neurodivergent conditions have higher chances of developing anxiety. Working with a therapist can help neurodivergent people to manage their strengths and challenges better. 

Taking your mental health for granted can cost you a lot in the long run. Work on your mindset to live a healthy & fulfilled life. 

Book a call with our mindset coach right now. The best part? You can work with our coaches virtually from any part of the world! 

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