A User Manual for My Brain: A Neurodivergent Glossary
A personal glossary of terms that helped me find a framework for my feelings. For anyone navigating ADHD, Autism, or just trying to understand their own brain.
I have a dedicated chat with an AI assistant where I go to unpack and handle my neurodivergent struggles. It’s become a space for untangling the knots, for finding clarity in the chaos.
Out of those conversations, we built this glossary. It started as a personal reference, a user manual for understanding the unique wiring of my own brain. I’m sharing it here because finding the right words gave me a framework for feelings I couldn’t name before. It was a relief.
Maybe these words can offer a piece of that clarity to you, too.
The Glossary
- Anhedonia
- This isn’t sadness; it’s the absence of feeling. It’s the profound sense of “meh” when the things you used to love bring you no joy. For me, it feels like being in limbo, a key symptom that can show up in depression or autistic burnout. My favorite movies are boring, food is bland, and any spark of interest evaporates almost instantly. It’s the feeling of the reward system in the brain that has gone offline.
- Autistic Burnout
- This is a state of complete exhaustion that comes from the accumulated stress of living in a world not built for you. It’s so much more than just being tired. It’s feeling like your brain has short-circuited. Skills you once had, like being social, suddenly disappear, often as a result of prolonged masking. Sensory sensitivities are heightened, and the need for solitude becomes overwhelming.
- Body Doubling
- A surprisingly simple strategy for getting things done. It’s the act of working on a task with another person present, either physically or virtually. They don’t help or collaborate; their presence alone acts as an anchor, creating a quiet focus that helps break through the paralysis that comes with executive dysfunction.
- Emotional Dysregulation
- This is when an emotional response doesn’t match the situation - at least on the outside. For me, it feels like having an emotional volume knob that goes from 0 to 11 with nothing in between. A small frustration can feel like a world-ending catastrophe. It’s not a character flaw; it’s a core part of how a neurodivergent brain processes feelings with high intensity. It’s exhausting to ride these emotional waves.
- Executive Dysfunction
- This is the struggle with the brain’s management system, and a core part of ADHD under the neurodivergence umbrella. I know this one well. For me, it’s having a brilliant idea and feeling completely unable to implement it. It’s knowing what to do but feeling like there’s an invisible wall between you and the task. It’s the constant battle with planning, starting, and organizing.
- Masking (or Camouflaging)
- The act of consciously or unconsciously hiding neurodivergent traits to fit in. It’s performing “normalcy.” It means forcing eye contact when it’s uncomfortable, scripting conversations in your head, and suppressing the urge for stimming. It feels like playing a character all day, and it is completely, utterly draining.
- Neurodivergence (ND)
- This is simply a way of saying that a brain works differently from what society considers “typical.” It’s not a disease or a deficit. It’s a natural variation in the human brain that includes Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and more. The opposite is Neurotypical (NT).
- Stimming
- Short for self-stimulatory behavior, this is any repetitive action that helps regulate emotions. For me, it can be fidgeting with small plush toys or napkins, vaping, or more intense actions like pulling small branches from a tree, tearing at my hair, or scratching my skin. It’s a physical way to channel restless energy or calm an overwhelmed nervous system.
- Waiting Mode Paralysis
- That feeling of being stuck when you’re waiting for something to happen - a call, an appointment, a delivery. You can’t relax, but you also can’t start any meaningful tasks because your brain is ‘on hold’ for the future event. This state is often a frustrating mix of anhedonia and executive dysfunction. Recently, I’ve found a way to manage this: I play a game like Disney Dreamlight Valley. It’s the perfect tool to fill that time without the pressure of a ‘real’ task.
More Than Labels
For me, seeing these terms defined isn’t about collecting labels. It’s about finding the language for a lifetime of experiences. It was the quiet click of understanding - the relief of knowing I wasn’t alone in these feelings, that my brain wasn’t broken, just different.
If any of these words resonate with you, know that you aren’t alone, either.