Unique Women: Discovering the Beauty of Neurodiversity

Exploring Women's Health Beyond the Conventional

When we talk about women's health, we usually think of the reproductive system, glands and hormones. Rarely do we refer to the health of the nervous system and psyche and how gender differences influence these areas. Health is not a fixed state, it is a flexible range in which we oscillate in constant search for balance. This process of seeking balance in our body is called homeostasis, and in the psyche and emotions, the same process is called self-regulation. However, self-regulation and homeostasis are processes that our body learns during our development in response to concrete and subtle stimuli from the environment, both to bacteria and diseases as well as to the emotional tone of our family.

The Emergence of the Concept of Neurodivergence

The term neurodivergent emerged in the 1990s, after many years of psychiatric medicine considering divergences as developmental disabilities. Coining this term opened the door to considering diverse neural characteristics as differences and not defects. Today, a person is considered neurodivergent if he or she possesses neurological characteristics that are different from the average. These characteristics cause people to perceive the world with greater intensity, as if the stimuli of the senses had a much higher volume than that perceived by neurotypical people. The term refers not only to autism, but also to ADHD, dyslexia, bipolar, high sensitivity, sensory processing difficulties, Asperger's, etc.

Unique Challenges of Female Neurodiversity

And it is especially important to talk about the neurodiversity of the female gender, because since the beginning of the practice of psychology and psychiatry, studies have been conducted mostly on the male gender. For this reason and because of the enormous difference in how neurodivergences manifest themselves between men and women, they have gone unnoticed in their diagnosis, making it impossible to find adequate tools to develop lifestyles suitable for their particularities.

Reinterpreting the Manifestations of Neurodivergence in Women

A woman with ADHD can be highly productive, ambitious, intelligent and with traits of genius, able to solve setbacks with calm and clarity. And a woman with autistic traits is likely to be an expert in her area of interest and come up with innovative ideas that no one else has come up with. Her challenges have nothing to do with her intellectual, work or creative capacity, but with how to cope with the sensory load in a social environment that demands productivity for prolonged periods of time in uncomfortable, noisy, sensory-polluted conditions.

The Power of Accepting Sensitivity

For most women, being highly sensitive means facing particular challenges: from difficulty concentrating in noisy environments to extreme sensitivity to certain foods, textures, and the social environment. The most important thing to know is that if you suspect you are a highly sensitive woman, your physical and emotional symptoms may be linked to your unassumed and, therefore, uncared-for sensitivity. There are tools in somatic work and occupational therapy to work with the nervous system and develop sensory resilience.

Creating an Inclusive Future