emotions Archives

rigid thinking (cognitive inflexibility)

Cognitive inflexibility, also erroneously referred to as rigid thinking, is a diagnostic characteristic of autism that describes difficulty shifting between tasks, perspectives, or plans. The label captures how the trait looks from outside — but the internal experience is better understood through monotropism: a processing style that goes deep rather than wide. The depth that makes sustained focus, thoroughness, and reliability possible is the same depth that makes switching costly. The difficulty and the strength are the same mechanism.

“Is ADHD just about not being able to pay attention?”

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Attention is only one possible component of ADHD. We now also understand attention to be variable in ADHD, with a difficulty for the brain to self-regulate attention.

justice sensitivity

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Justice sensitivity is the heightened awareness of rule violations and inconsistencies, paired with an intense emotional and physiological response. For many neurodivergent people, fairness and consistency function as essential navigational tools when you can't reliably read social cues or predict what will happen next. When rules are applied inconsistently or stated expectations don't match actual consequences, your nervous system registers this as a genuine threat to your ability to navigate the world safely. The intensity of your reaction reflects the pattern violation itself, regardless of the moral weight of the situation. Justice sensitivity is morally neutral—it tells you when a rule has been violated, but not whether the rule was good or fair in the first place.

flat affect

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Flat affect is an autistic speech pattern that can include fewer facial expressions, reduced eye contact and speech that others might describe as 'monotone'. While these might be be interpreted as diminished emotional response, they actually reflect a different way of processing and expressing emotions. The intensity can vary with stress or cognitive load, and it often indicates deep focus rather than disinterest.

double empathy

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The double empathy problem is a concept in neurodiversity studies that suggests a mutual misunderstanding between neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals.

alexithymia

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Alexithymia is the inability to assign names to feelings, describe them to others or talk about them. It is considered a separate neuropsychological condition but has significant overlaps with autism.

emotional dysregulation

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Emotional dysregulation is the inability to regulate the intensity and quality of emotions in order to generate an appropriate emotional response and return to an emotional baseline.

When someone has difficulty regulating their emotions, they are easily overstimulated and they can get upset or overwhelmed easily. On the other hand, they can also have trouble with calming down, relaxing, or decompressing and it takes much effort to regulate their mood.

From the outside, it might look like overreacting. From the inside, it feels like your nervous system is overwhelmed by emotional information your brain is struggling to process and modulate.