So I understand that denigrating self-diagnosis of neurodivergence or a number of mental illnesses is very trendy right now. Rather than jumping head-first into what is frequently a stew of denigrating women, young people and queer people - because of a lot of the criticism is mired in that - - ThreadSky

enbycriphistorian.bsky.social • 190 days ago

So I understand that denigrating self-diagnosis of neurodivergence or a number of mental illnesses is very trendy right now.

Rather than jumping head-first into what is frequently a stew of denigrating women, young people and queer people - because of a lot of the criticism is mired in that -

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enbycriphistorian.bsky.social•190 days ago

I would really like if people started considering that self-diagnosis exists because of a failure of medical systems and systemic prejudice within medicine.

Too many diagnostic services are not accepting new patients, or have waiting lists decades long, or are financially inaccessible to huge

enbycriphistorian.bsky.social•190 days ago

When the only way to be able to get pretty basic accommodations that may allow you to get and keep work, or indeed to get and keep disability benefits, is diagnosis - why is anyone surprised that diagnostic services are seeing huge numbers of patients desperately needing it?

homebrewandhacking.bsky.social•190 days ago

Therapists are complaining about it and I have only this to say.

If we actually think we can affect so many people just from making a video, why are we all farting around in rooms with comfy chairs doing one to one?

I think you've really nailed it. Hadn't considered the surveillance element.

enbycriphistorian.bsky.social•190 days ago

swathes of the population.

Even when not, the people diagnosing are frequently completely uninformed on the state of current research. Many remain mired in models of understanding neurodivergence that are decades old; the ones they trained in. These frequently involve presentations of a given

enbycriphistorian.bsky.social•190 days ago

neurodivergence that presents more commonly in certain genders or races of people being the only one that is considered diagnostic. The frequency of autistic women being misdiagnosed with anxiety or BPD, or black autistics with schizophrenia, for example, have been quite widely documented.

enbycriphistorian.bsky.social•190 days ago

One factor I don’t see discussed much in the rise of people seeking diagnosis of neurodivergence - another thing people like to mention when denigrating it as “trendy” is the increasing surveillance and unwillingness to accept a diversity of working or learning styles in modern workplace culture.

enbycriphistorian.bsky.social•190 days ago

A *lot* of autistic people, for example, are working in unstable freelance work that allows you to self-manage your time, from tattoo artistry to sex work, because it’s the only way to make any kind of living without constantly falling victim to workplace surveillance culture.

enbycriphistorian.bsky.social•190 days ago

There are a lot of ND folk who previously would likely not have sought diagnosis because despite difficulties they were usually able to get and keep work. Now there are an increasing number of automated screening tools used by large employers that screen out ND people and are impossible to challenge

enbycriphistorian.bsky.social•190 days ago

And requirements to produce a level of constant productivity that challenges many neurotypical people can mean a pattern of job losses for ND people who are productive in irregular spikes.

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