Weirdly Successful
Dedicated to helping you understand, navigate and enjoy your weird & wonderful neurodivergent life.
A trauma-informed approach is looking out for the needs of the individual with the effect of trauma taken into consideration.
Trauma can have a profound physical, biological, psychological and social effect on a person, and this effect cannot be discounted.1
Trauma, of course, is not specific for neurodivergent people, but misdiagnosis and mistreatment can have a traumatizing effect.
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Your ADHD assessment didn't lead to a diagnosis, but the experiences that led you to seek one are still real. This page is for you if you've just received your assessment result and want to know what comes next. Self-understanding, self-compassion, and practical strategies are not conditional on a diagnosis.
Yes, and no. Whether supplements can help with your ADHD depends on where the support need is for you when it comes to your dopamine system.
Around 15–20% of the population is neurodivergent, which is roughly 1 out of 5 — whether they know it or not.
Co-occurrence means that certain neurodivergent traits and conditions naturally tend to appear together. When you're neurodivergent in one way, you're more likely to experience other forms of neurodivergence too - research shows this happens in up to 70% of cases. These patterns extend beyond just neurodevelopmental differences to include physical health and mental health experiences. Understanding co-occurrence is vital because it helps explain how different aspects of neurodivergence connect, leading to better self-understanding and more effective support. While traditional healthcare often treats conditions separately, recognizing these natural connections can transform how you advocate for your needs and access appropriate care.
Self-medication means using substances — consciously or not — to regulate brain states. Many unidentified or late-identified neurodivergent adults reach for caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine because these act on the same neurochemistry that works differently in their brains.
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) describes the degree to which a nervous system needs predictability in order to function — not as a preference, but as a genuine operational requirement. When outcomes are unknown or plans unconfirmed, a high-IU nervous system tends to generate contingencies: running through variables, gathering information in advance, and finding it difficult to settle until enough is known. For many autistic and ADHD adults, IU runs at a higher baseline than in the general population, and shows up in everyday experiences like needing to know the plan before you can be present, finding plan changes disproportionately disruptive, or preparing carefully for situations in order to free up bandwidth to actually enjoy them. It's not about rigidity or control — it's a nervous system requesting the information it needs to work properly.
Decompressing refers to engaging in activities or behaviours that allow a person to relax, unwind, and alleviate stress or sensory overload. This term is particularly significant in the neurodivergent community as we often experience heightened sensitivity to environmental stimuli, leading to increased stress and anxiety levels. Making sure to have time to decompress after especially taxing events is an essential part of self-care.
Related Questions
“I didn’t get my ADHD diagnosis. Now what?”
“Can supplements help with ADHD?”
“How many people are neurodivergent?”
Related Glossary Terms
co-occurring conditions
self-medication
intolerance of uncertainty
decompressing
