Grieving while neurodivergent
Grief resources for supporting students
with spicy neural pathways
It has been my experience that gifted and talented persons are more likely than those who are less gifted to experience spontaneous existential depression as an outgrowth of their mental and emotional abilities and interactions with others. People who are bright are usually more intense, sensitive, and idealistic, and they can see the inconsistencies and absurdities in the values and behaviors of others (Webb, Gore, Amend, & DeVries, 2007).
This kind of sensitive awareness and idealism makes them more likely to ask themselves difficult questions about the nature and purpose of their lives and the lives of those around them. They become keenly aware of their smallness in the larger picture of existence, and they feel helpless to fix the many problems that trouble them. As a result, they become depressed.
“non-neurotypical children are more: more sensitive, more intense,
more everything”
https://helpmychildthrive.com/2022/03/21/do-neuroatypical-children-grieve-differently/
Emotional regulation refers to our ability to manage and respond to emotional experiences. This is an automatic process for most people, but when you're neurodiverse, 🧠 that whole process can go a bit haywire. Our brains are wired a little differently, which impacts our emotional regulation. Hence why medical professionals coined the term “emotional dysregulation” to describe the reality ADHD brains go through.
Overexcitabilities and gifted grief
Web Resources for neurodiverse populations