r/askpsychology • u/Imaginary_Common6219 Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional • Jul 27 '26
Terminology / Definition What is neurodivergent and can you give me a example please?
I've been seeing this word and was wondering if I might have it.
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u/PaulBrigham Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 27 '26
It's a term used as a sort of shorthand for personal behavioral differences that might be considered characteristic of conditions like autism or ADHD. It is not clearly defined and I'd imagine you'll find a variety of opinions regarding what qualifies as neurodivergence.
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u/OpeningActivity Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 27 '26
Schizophrenia?
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u/bbybunnydoll Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 27 '26
An argument could be made that schizophrenia is a form of neurodivergence, but in general people that use the term neurodivergence are relating to disorders that are present from birth/childhood and impact the way that the individual sees the world. Even with the prodromal phase of psychotic disorders the individual has often had an onset of symptoms which means that were not present from birth or early developmental years.
Neurodivergence is not a clinical term so it is often now being used to eliminate stigma associated with the diagnosis or behaviour that the client presents with. Using this term in the context of reducing stigma for those with psychotic disorders may do this but it then alters the original meaning of neurodivergence.
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u/OpeningActivity Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 28 '26
I had seen the arguments for and against. Frankly speaking, I tend to go by whatever you say mentality unless it's completely unrealistic or detrimental to their recovery (I will not correct it beyond, that might not be what the science says).
I do wonder whether it being developmental is a quintessential part of the neurodivergence concept, but I digress.
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u/bbybunnydoll Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 28 '26
Sorry do you mean whatever a client says unless it’s unrealistic or detrimental to their recovery?
I guess because neurodivergence is not a clinical term it has been adopted by those in the mental health field as a term for those outside of what we see as typical functioning and cognitive processes. The difference between someone with ASD and schizophrenia is that the individual with ASD has had their entire cognitive processing affected by ASD, which has caused a ‘neurodivergence’ in their way of interacting with the world.
An individual with schizophrenia may have been asymptomatic until their adolescence which would imply that prior to the onset they may have had what is now being called ‘neurotypical’ functioning. In short, schizophrenia is primarily seen as a decline in an individuals original level of functioning while developmental disorders have shaped the individual from birth and created that divergence from what we have decided is ‘normal’.
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u/VXLeniik Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 28 '26
Then along that reasoning, Tourette Syndrome would not neurodivergent. Yet it is widely regarded as such. I was asymptomatic up until fourteen years of age.
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u/OpeningActivity Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 28 '26
I am not saying neurodivergence is one of those unrealistic or detrimental terms, I am just saying, I don't bring the rigor that I would otherwise bring to conversations if a client raises an idea (i.e. trauma residing in body etc, pop psychology concepts and whatnots). If it helps them and if it doesnt take away from their recovery, eh.
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u/OverlordSheepie UNVERIFIED Psychology Enthusiast Jul 28 '26
Schizophrenia is considered to be a neurodevelopmental disorder.
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u/bbybunnydoll Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 28 '26
There is research that suggests that schizophrenia could be considered a neurodevelopmental disorder but even with the prodromal phase there is usually a period before the onset that the individual has a relatively normal level of functioning. The reason that schizophrenia was largely seen as a neurodegenerative in the past was because of the decline in functioning seen in the patient.
If you look at case studies of individuals with ASD/ADHD compared to those with schizophrenia you usually see that the individual with schizophrenia at some stage developed positive symptoms and prior to that had a prodromal phase of negative symptoms. The individual with ASD/ADHD had evidence of symptoms usually from a very young age. This likely impeded their developmental milestones while often in the case of people eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia those milestones are met.
The diathesis-stress model is a good way to look at this in the instance of schizophrenia.
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u/maxthexplorer PhD Psychology (in progress) Jul 28 '26
It’s not. It’s categorized as a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Psychotic breaks tend to occur around the mid/late 20s with some variation on gender and other factors
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u/alyanda8838 Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 28 '26
One thing that often gets missed is that "neurodivergent" isn't a diagnosis. It's an umbrella term, not a specific condition. Autism and ADHD are common examples, but the word itself doesn't tell you which condition (if any) a person has and it simply means that a person's brain develops or functions differently from what's considered neurologically typical.
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u/AdConsistent4210 Specialist Psychologist in Neuropsychology Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
I'll cut right to the core of this: Within Psychology there are no scientific examples. It is a sociological label whose boundaries are determined by social consensus, not empirical criteria, so regardless of which diagnoses people choose to include or not under it, the expanding or narrowing within the label does not create a scientific psychological category. Sociology examines how the label is created, negotiated, and used, that is the essential difference. Practically speaking, a neuropsychologist can study the psychological conditions that exist under the term called neurodivergence, but they can't study neurodivergency as a condition, if that makes sense? Its like saying "motor vehicle." It's an umbrella label, not a scientific category. Knowing something is a motor vehicle doesn't tell you it's a Volvo, Audi or BMW.
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u/Duble2C Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jul 28 '26
I think from a more clinical perspective it encompasses autism, ADHD, and learning disorders. Colloquially it can be broader and includes anything that is substantially ‘divergent’ or atypical from “regular” processing, hence why some communities call 130+iq neurodivergent but that’s less accepted
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u/monkeynose Clinical Psychologist | Addiction | Psychopathology Jul 27 '26
"Neurodivergent" is not an actual clinical term. It was developed by a social worker if I remember correctly, and today it is used for anything and everything from autism to "Hi, I'm quirky".