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Re-setting a Neurodivergent Nervous System Primed For An Unsafe World
I’ve written about my recent quest to re-set my nervous system through mini camping trips. But not so much about how my nervous system got to the point where it needed re-setting.
I feel I need to explain why something as apparently benign as receiving a phone call with an unlisted number can feel like a lightning bolt going through me.
Having a neurodivergent brain means processing external input differently. It’s not that we’re less capable of processing it, but our hyperconnected brains receive it in layers rather than as solid blocks of information.
And those layers bring variables which means greater potential for uncertainty and in turn, anxiety. Whereas a neurotypical person might think Oh I wonder who that might be? I guess they’ll call back later if it’s important before moving on with their day, my neurodivergent brain rolls something like this:
Oh god I must be in trouble…I’ve forgotten to pay something/left something somewhere/offended someone or it’s the police/hospital telling me someone has died …or just about any cataclysmic event the universe might throw at me.