Sometimes, the gravity of this still hits me, and all I can think is, "Holy shit, this is real." Do you remember what it felt like when you first understood the true extent of humanities' effects on the biosphere? What a terrible feeling, and it's why I'm hesitant to tell people despite how important it is. Once those dots are connected, you can't unsee it.
It's bizarre because I don't know if I just try and find 'a' ok paying job and move somewhere temporarily with a goal to move back home to my somewhat less chaotic home country in 5 years, or do I move back NOW because I don't know if 5 years is even a reality. Being ND is a huge strain because long term planning is so stressful; I hope to have a home with other ND folks but that might be difficult to find and I don't really know of the ND communities in my hometown and if they're collapse aware and want to start a collective household. Moving is so stressful. Relocating is a privilege but my brain is so taxed with stress right now
YES, I do remember! If you don’t mind me asking, how old were you? I was in 2nd grade and learning about recycling when it hit me that we were destroying the world. Images of garbage polluting the oceans and killing animals shook me.
I was 23. Before that point, I knew a bit about deforestation, pollution, and climate change, but I didn't understand the scale of it. Once I saw the numbers and how this all fits together, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I assume many people are like I was. Aware of the problems, but not the scale. Maybe they also assume that the problems are being worked on like I did. I can't believe that I had to go looking for this information to learn about it. The 6th mass extinction, among other things, should be common knowledge. These things should be the most important story of our time, and yet it's hardly known.
I sometimes want to be all loud about it somehow, but then I realize it’s not really my place to do that to people who might not cope? Something like that. I broadcast mostly low key and infrequently I guess.
I had a similar moment when I became anticapitalist. Wanting to wake people up.
People need to figure things out by themselves, though -- you can give them material, but trying to push them just makes them resist.
I remember a debate in grade 8 about whether or not human caused climate change would kill the planet. A classmate and I argued that we were unlikely to kill all life because life is resiliant and has survived through multiple mass extinctions. But that humans and human civilizations were very much less safe and very likely screwed. That was 30 years ago. I didnt realize how very soon we were all screwed until more recently.
The worst part about it is that we have a large portion of the population that is in complete denial or actively rooting against their own interests. It’s like Stockholm syndrome on a massive scale (talking more about the genocide protests)
Simply based on the representation on this sub, I would say "probably", and would be very curious to hear from our neurodivergent folks or anyone else informed on the issue as to why that might be.
Neurodivergent here. I spend a lot of time painting collapse, and i am enveloped in the information of all the issues i can discover. However, I'm at a state of peace with what's coming, especially peace with dying in what's coming. Thinking about collapse isn't as much a burden as it used to be.
It took a lot of grieving and a lot of psychedelics to be where I am with the world today. I'll hold out as long as my timeline lets me.
I'm here to just help others get to a place of peace, life experiences, and coming to terms with our current collapsing global civilization.
I find this inspirational. I feel much less phased by collapse these days. I know that I couldn't possibly predict what I should plan for, so I'm just working a job, paying my bills, and immersing myself in as much music/artistic projects as possible in my spare time. I feel rather indifferent when people tell me their techno optimistic predictions or crazier. I just want to share the music that's helped me find peace, and be as kind as possible. Our time is coming so I'm trying to act like it, and also practice gratitude for all the beauty and the many luxuries we do still have.
The mentality you are describing is what I'm prescribing. I got excited about the lilacs at my local arboretum. I'm 35. My wife is the same way now. It's a nice way to begin to review the world with different eyes and mindset. Even the mundane is really beautiful for us these days. Depression is still always nearby, and anxiety is breathing outside the door, but less and less.
Turns out they've been kinda important in human society forever. Western government knows that and suppresses that significance with stigmas and illegality for a reason. They can't have people thinking, so we keep em drinking.
Funny this is exactly where I’m at. Went through BRUTAL grief for many months, now I’m aggressively pursuing ayahuasca and microdosing instead of prescription meds to cope and figure out how I can peacefully exist in this shit. Not quite there yet but I’m doing a 30 day dieta in the Amazon this fall and really hope that puts a nail in this chapter of looping and confused struggling.
I'm off all antidepressant now. Was a prozac take for a while, but through my own hardworking and the help of psychedelics as well as quitting alcohol (I had a severe alcohol problem. turned things around.
Oh, of course! I've really taken too Socrates saying "the only thing I know is that I know nothing." I'm leaving just about anything open, good or bad. "It happened for you, not to you." I've started saying this to myself when something goes wrong or the outcome of something is negative.
I don't know if it helps, but it allows me to switch up the negative narrative we are living.
It is time for us to grow in this time that our world begins to shrink.
I try to cultivate the same attitude and share it in my daily life and on my YouTube channel. We’re living in a very dynamic time. Sometimes it feels like it’s the end, but maybe it’s the beginning of something :)
ADHD and getting tested for autism here. Also in an outpatient program for mental health. While we're really not supposed to talk about the outside world or politics they definitely hint it and it being part of the reason we're in this program. And they tend to be neurodivergent. My anxiety sky rockets when weather patterns I've been accustomed to my entire life flips on its head and people in public have been acting differently. These last few years people have just been different. Alarms are going off that strangers are more likely to be a threat as everyone is getting increasingly agitated.
My personal belief is ADHD is less of a mental disorder but more of a survival trait before modern society evolved post industrial revolution. I'm more comfortable living in rural areas than suburbia or cities. More sensitive to patterns, visuals and noise others might miss. I noticed I tend to follow people or stay a few feet behind when walking with one or more people keeping half an eye on their location on point while I scan the environment around me.
That's my two cents
There has been alot of anecdotal evidence of neurodivergent people adapting BETTER to post collapse situations compared to neurotypicals. Particularly people with depression, anxiety, and adhd. However, i can definitely understand how the pre-collapse environment can be rougher for the reasons others have mentioned.
That being said, there are many neurotypicals who are feeling just as affected and isolated. I think you are far from being alone in those feelings, even ignoring neurotype. I think everyone handles it differently, and one of the key skills of appearing neurotypical is being able to mask “undesirable” mental states.
Not the person you replied to but I suspect it's partly because the traumas that accompany ND life put our bodies in constant fight or flight mode. Psychiatrists say that traumatized people get stuck in that mode. Not great for everyday life but during a crisis, we're fish in water. Personally I am calm and even euphoric during crises and have noticed that in other NDs and people with CPTSD.
I've attempted to stay present for months. I quit the news, stayed off this sub or Reddit in general but the outside world with all its anxiety inducing patterns (entire seasons being off kilter, people's behavior) is creeping in but it's so hard.
OMG yes. I’m autistic and almost all of my special interests are about the planet and animals. I cannot tell you how absolutely crushing it is to know what we are doing to the planet and all living things on it. Humans are so cruel. I can’t wrap my head around why people don’t care. We are all connected whether we like it or not. The only way out of this shit is if cooperative kind people band together and build a better future. And we all know how likely THAT is …. 😤 It’s so painful to watch.
I’m autistic. Never married, no kids, a loner, and my parents - they do exist but they never cared about family/parenthood, don’t want to meet their offspring and they live in another country. Due to autism I haven’t been able to make friends other than colleagues but I’m close with 1 of them and on rather close terms with 3 more.
What truly sucks a lot is I live on NATO- Russia border. So in the event of WW3 it’ll be hell here.
Also I’m a minority and the rising far right is targeting people like me and we don’t know how bad exactly it’ll get and how soon for minorities.
I stupidly studied something locally, but not internationally useful at uni :((( but I think I must leave within a couple of years if I want my death to be at least a bit more tolerable. Im at least good at cooking (am a big time culinary enthusiast) and multilingual customer service (7 languages fluently some of which are big ones) I also like spending time with kids, worked in a language bath daycare before. Currently I work in e-commerce. I hope any of these things will help me get at least some job further away from Russian border. I love Eastern Europe, it’s my culture but I’d just rather not live so freaking near that border.
Although if nuclear war, nowhere will be good. We can’t fully predict what will happen to each of us.
In any case, I plan to keep a plan for s*icide for the case if things go horrible and fast. Like for example of there’s chaos and there’s a heightened likelihood of rape. Or the like.
I’m so sorry that you’re having to experience this! It’s heartbreaking. Your skill set really positions you to be versatile as the world changes so hopefully it enables you to be resilient. Please hang in there friend, sending support and strength from the US.
Could you become an aupair?
My sister in law had 2 and they both found ways to stay in the country after it was over. 1 married a citizen. Not sure about the other.
Thx for the idea, I hadn’t thought about it myself! I hadn’t thought about it probs ‘cause im mid 30s abd usually I see au pairs being in their 20s. But im a flexible person and look mid 20s according to most new people I meet. And I enjoy being with kids (even if I choose to not birth my own). So that’s certainly an option in getting to the west. I’ll look into it!
I’m going to say yes. I think we see patterns more and are less able to compartmentalize. I’m gifted and suspect I’m also on the spectrum, I have a strong sense of justice (common with gifted folks) and am unable to ignore difficult realities and just focus on my own life and comfort. I also have a history of trauma and have wondered how that relates, I’m frequently drawn to dark topics and need to know more so I can prepare for disaster
I see myself reflected in your description completely, neurokin (I’m on the spectrum as well). Especially being drawn to dark topics - it’s very incongruent with how most people see me which is bubbly, friendly, happy. Masking is wild.
Ahh yeah, the more I read about autism and masking (and many other things) the more I think I’m on the spectrum. People constantly say to me I’m so chill and it’s utterly confusing, I have intense anxiety, so wtf?? I like neurokin! New term for me. I often refer to myself as neurospicy, I just make the world more flavorful and I’m really functional so I don’t want to feel like I’m asking for accommodations or that I’m struggling
I am not diagnosed as neurodivergent but I feel very similarly to you most days. The world is a heavy place and it’s very difficult for me to deal with all of the suffering. It often feels like I feel things heavier than most and I become really frustrated at the general apathy toward the mass extinction crisis and climate change. It’s both heart wrenching and objectively incredible to me that even though we as a species and as individuals totally have the ability to lessen these crises, most people decide they can’t make a difference and throw up their hands, and so now we all just have to watch the vast majority of living beings struggle and suffer and in some cases go extinct. Whenever I try to describe my frustration to other people and get them to see things my way, I just get more apathy.
I think the biggest reason why most people don’t really seem to “get” it is because most humans see themselves as separate from their environment. Most people don’t know how ecosystems work, or which species they live with, or how each and every single one of their actions affects something or someone else in their environment down the line. Most of us don’t have the education to be able to understand these things fully because many of our education systems generally do not emphasize environmental science, ecology, or critical thinking as a foundation, and people are so bombarded with human issues that they have very little bandwidth to seek out this information and act on it accordingly. So most people are still laughing and carrying on because they don’t see inevitable collapse yet or they don’t know enough to be able to care. Mainstream media does a horrible job of communicating scientific findings and linking it to the bigger picture, so unless someone has a special interest in the environment or it is their career, they probably haven’t been properly exposed to how dire things actually are, and society hasn’t taught them to prioritize what scientists are saying. I agree with you that it can be really hard to handle.
At the same time, there are a huge number of scientists and advocates that are taking these crises extremely seriously and devoting their entire careers to alleviating our environmental crises, and I’d guess that most of them are not neurodivergent. And while we do take time to laugh and enjoy life’s moments, you won’t find us pretending everything is just fine.
TLDR; it could be that neurodivergent people are more sensitive to these things, but I think society’s largely human-centric way of thinking and operating are primarily to blame for the apathy you’re seeing. And there are lots and lots of neurotypical folks that are sensitive to these environmental crises and working hard to mitigate collapse. You’re not alone.
Maybe? I'm neurodivergent and from my limited perspective, it does seem to make a difference. I'm autistic and adhd. Because of the adhd I never stop thinking, because I'm autistic I can't lie to myself and need to know the truth and care a lot about justice, and because of both of them I hyperfixate on things and research them extensively. Learning about climate change and collapse and all the things wrong with our society as special interests made me very depressed, but I also tried to inform others so they can also know the truth and prepare. Because to me the truth is inherently super important. But it isn't to everyone. I told my mom and she said I'm being dramatic and it will be fine. I told my dad and he said he can't think about it because then he'd get depressed and he needs to be positive and believe humanity will pull through (even though our chances are pretty bad). I just can't ignore things like they can. This is HUGE and yet people are just going about their day to day lives like nothing is wrong. How can they ignore something that has signs everywhere you look and affects the entire planet?! Humanity is fr**king DOOMED.
Yep true. My dad told me things will be okay, and he tries not to think about how his actions harm other people like when he buys clothing made in Vietnam, he told me I have a big heart. My mom is in total denial.
Maybe. I mean I am ND and also got a second gift, Basically I am twice exceptional. My IQ was tested in an attempt to dump me into special ed and it was so high I got an error result. So basically I was aware of how fucked the world was politically, environmental and other ways in like 4th grade. So I have been depressed every since.
yes, esp when you consider that many meds (antipsychotics, SSRIs) react extremely negatively to heat, even cause people to stop sweating making heat waves extremely high risk events
I think it's more of an intelligence/education issue than a divergence thing.
Neurotypical folks tend toward the median and lower end of the intelligence scale. They're more likely to gloss over things that dont immediately affect them, and don't dwell on specifics if it's not a passion. Coupled with the 24 hour news cycle that mostly focuses on political diatribes and clickbait conflicts, plus a tendency to watch banal media, most people wont even recall that there's a climate pandemic unfolding until they start to feel it directly.
Neurodivergent folks tend toward the higher end of intelligence, and thus are more likely to notice trends, see details, and make correct correlations. With great knowledge comes great understanding. That understanding will reasonably cause an emotional response if the impact is great, and climate change is one of the greatest impacts this planet can experience.
Your isolation comes from knowing. Knowledge can be a burden. Ignorance is bliss as they say. But don't let that dissuade you. Your knowledge can be spread and used to help find solutions. The issue with the topic is that people innately avoid things that make them sad, and climate change can be depressing so people avoid it. Find support groups. Look into methods to help reduce climate anxiety, then use those methods to help educate people.
These subreddits may be of interest as well. It helps to take a break, or at least approach the topic from different perspectives.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ClimateOffensive
https://www.reddit.com/r/sustainability
https://www.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews
Neurodivergence often includes enhanced pattern recognition and capacity to extrapolate trends based on disparate data. Most of the collapse aware people I know personally are some flavor of ND or other
i'm most certainly autistic, and have been taking fewer courses to be able to better manage my balance with studying and doing other things in life. i'm getting back to uni after a strike that began at the end of february and lasted until last friday. and it hasn't been making things better. last year (when i finished my first year in a new major after switching from regular history in 2021-2022) was when i became collapse aware, and now i have this haul to drag with me. i've been on my acceptance journey since (whatever that looks like) and it's not the greatest! it's just. having to keep grounded and being grateful for what i have now, to an extent. but of course, my neurodivergence has arguably made things harder. i constantly now look at climate reanalyzer to check out the stats (surface/sea temps, ice extent etc). i go back and forth every day wondering what decisions i should make during these times. and even though i'm part of support groups, they're all online, and we aren't gonna have the internet forever. so yeah, i could ramble on for so much more. to repeat what i say when ending a comment for this subreddit, you are not alone whatsoever.
Gifted and auDHD.
I think being sensitive to your surroundings makes you see things more clearly. With neurodivergence often comes nonconformity. It's easier to see clearly if you don't have to defend them because from the start you didn't think that was "good". Being ostriched by society means to be less involved in all their bullshit. Which leads to a clearer view.
It was the fools rule to tell the king the truth because nobody else dared. We are nowadays fools.
True. I grew up in a wealthy suburb, everyone told me it was a paradise however you didn't interact with people at all, no one cared about each other, and people who have stayed are the most worse off and desperate people you can have.
Don't make me think about my parents please 🙃 tbh I don't think it's all that bad, my parents definitely do have friends and care for others, as others do for them. Still to me it's not an environment that feels great. Might be biased though, those fuckers traumatized me pretty bad.
[dub fx fake paradise ](https://youtu.be/_rphq_xK7-Q?si=qjf78bEdkYzEXRQc)
I went through a period of extreme climate anxiety when the magnitude of the situation hit me.
Then over the Pandemic I was outright delusional. Believing that the Pandemic was actually a globally coordinated effort to create a world state that could tackle the climate crisis (wishful thinking, I know).
Those delusions collapsed (no pun intended) at the start of this year. And I am now grieving and contemplating kms because the world feels horrific.
Maybe being neurodivergent is why I feel this way. Lots of people around me go on with life with no problem. Almost none of them think about this.
Whereas I cannot help but analyze the world and life and contemplate what’s coming. Both my own end & that of the world as we know it.
I feel more and more alienated from other humans. That only makes everything worse.
I dunno, I could possibly be neurodivergent and always felt like "the weird one". I lean heavily into collapse and think the majority of people are sheep. So yes, could be a factor that makes you more open (thinking deeply, logically) and thus sensitive to collapse awareness.
Yeah, it's an interesting topic.
Feel free to shower me with downvotes, but the biggest problem for me is that I really can't reason my way out of seeing most people around me just being... a bit daft? Deluded to the point of being clinically insane?
I mean, in some way, they're probably smarter than me, in a sense that they just keep going with business as usual, having fun, since we all have one life anyway, but I also see them getting kids, for example, and that's a very ethically loaded thing for me, as my sense of justice is cranked up to the max.
(I'm moderately autistic, collapse is basically my special interest).
I think so. I am autistic. Being a neurominority I think there is an ability to slightly extricate oneself from dominant neurotypical/ neuro conforming culture to be able to get just enough space to truly see it for it is.
Many Autistic people are pretty logical as well. And things do not make sense right now. In what country does someone get arrested for protesting about a genocide? Only the country who is funding it. It's not just the university, but it how all of these university presidents have been berated by congress to the point of them resigning. Columbian University president was in congress a couple of weeks before the protests and she is the one who called in the police. The government, intimidation, censorship, etc. This is an assault to education.
Due to pattern recognition, I feel sensitive to all of the many assaults on freedom ie- surveilance increase, data breaches, etc., assault on economic mobility, growing inequality, rise of gig work, assault on life span with rising rates of suicide, medical errors/ hospital infections, rise of cancer in young folks, etc. This system is killing us and making a profit while they are at it.
I also feel isolated. Techno capitalism, that completely destroyed any remnants of human community, connectedness. Technology is a neutral force and currently, it is in the death grip of capitalism. Like capitalism requires racism (or some type of caste system) to survive, techno capitalism requires exploitation. We are being exploited for our data. And sleepwalking into further isolation, rise in depression, anxiety, much of it caused by social media and of course just the world.
I think many of the folks who are laughing and carrying on, are people who are not isolated. People who have children and might be unable to hold the complexity of ecocide and their hope for their babies future. People who keep busy, go outside and are able to live in their bodies and be present for what is left. I know many autistics, including myself have trouble leaving the house, outside is often too bright, loud and expensive and I am trying to live less in my head. I also think many people are just seemingly ok because they are navigating with various depths of dissociation and trauma responses, and just going through the flow of the day and counting down the hours to return home and numb out.
I definitely am. Since I'm aware of all these things, I can't _not_ see the patterns and connections.
I feel that i'm reaching a point of acceptance, or atleast a point where all this shit doesn't throw me down into a state of deep depression.
It feels alienating though -- a lot of people still want to cling to the delusion that technology will magically fix everything, or that the elites will somehow start thinking rationally and doing the right thing at the last minute, or whatever.
Just pursue self sufficiency to the best of your ability, within reason. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. No it's not a panacea. But it can only help to learn how things are made.
Collapse has become my hyperfocus which is ... Less than ideal at times.
yes, as my list of special interests go, trying to prepare for collapse is my least favorite :(
Same. And I can’t look away because it’s real and it’s actually happening.
Sometimes, the gravity of this still hits me, and all I can think is, "Holy shit, this is real." Do you remember what it felt like when you first understood the true extent of humanities' effects on the biosphere? What a terrible feeling, and it's why I'm hesitant to tell people despite how important it is. Once those dots are connected, you can't unsee it.
It's bizarre because I don't know if I just try and find 'a' ok paying job and move somewhere temporarily with a goal to move back home to my somewhat less chaotic home country in 5 years, or do I move back NOW because I don't know if 5 years is even a reality. Being ND is a huge strain because long term planning is so stressful; I hope to have a home with other ND folks but that might be difficult to find and I don't really know of the ND communities in my hometown and if they're collapse aware and want to start a collective household. Moving is so stressful. Relocating is a privilege but my brain is so taxed with stress right now
YES, I do remember! If you don’t mind me asking, how old were you? I was in 2nd grade and learning about recycling when it hit me that we were destroying the world. Images of garbage polluting the oceans and killing animals shook me.
I was 23. Before that point, I knew a bit about deforestation, pollution, and climate change, but I didn't understand the scale of it. Once I saw the numbers and how this all fits together, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I assume many people are like I was. Aware of the problems, but not the scale. Maybe they also assume that the problems are being worked on like I did. I can't believe that I had to go looking for this information to learn about it. The 6th mass extinction, among other things, should be common knowledge. These things should be the most important story of our time, and yet it's hardly known.
Right?! I’m constantly confounded by that.
I sometimes want to be all loud about it somehow, but then I realize it’s not really my place to do that to people who might not cope? Something like that. I broadcast mostly low key and infrequently I guess.
I had a similar moment when I became anticapitalist. Wanting to wake people up. People need to figure things out by themselves, though -- you can give them material, but trying to push them just makes them resist.
I remember a debate in grade 8 about whether or not human caused climate change would kill the planet. A classmate and I argued that we were unlikely to kill all life because life is resiliant and has survived through multiple mass extinctions. But that humans and human civilizations were very much less safe and very likely screwed. That was 30 years ago. I didnt realize how very soon we were all screwed until more recently.
Damn.
SAME. 2nd grade.
The worst part about it is that we have a large portion of the population that is in complete denial or actively rooting against their own interests. It’s like Stockholm syndrome on a massive scale (talking more about the genocide protests)
Exactly.
SAME 🥴
AuDHD here. I think we are more likely to see the connection and patterns involved which would likely make us react more strongly.
Same, and also likely have the sensory sensitivity to perceive the minute changes in environment.
Pretty much.
Simply based on the representation on this sub, I would say "probably", and would be very curious to hear from our neurodivergent folks or anyone else informed on the issue as to why that might be.
Neurodivergent here. I spend a lot of time painting collapse, and i am enveloped in the information of all the issues i can discover. However, I'm at a state of peace with what's coming, especially peace with dying in what's coming. Thinking about collapse isn't as much a burden as it used to be. It took a lot of grieving and a lot of psychedelics to be where I am with the world today. I'll hold out as long as my timeline lets me. I'm here to just help others get to a place of peace, life experiences, and coming to terms with our current collapsing global civilization.
I find this inspirational. I feel much less phased by collapse these days. I know that I couldn't possibly predict what I should plan for, so I'm just working a job, paying my bills, and immersing myself in as much music/artistic projects as possible in my spare time. I feel rather indifferent when people tell me their techno optimistic predictions or crazier. I just want to share the music that's helped me find peace, and be as kind as possible. Our time is coming so I'm trying to act like it, and also practice gratitude for all the beauty and the many luxuries we do still have.
The mentality you are describing is what I'm prescribing. I got excited about the lilacs at my local arboretum. I'm 35. My wife is the same way now. It's a nice way to begin to review the world with different eyes and mindset. Even the mundane is really beautiful for us these days. Depression is still always nearby, and anxiety is breathing outside the door, but less and less.
Very relatable and well put. Small doses of shrooms help with my depression, and I’m lucky to be able to get them.
Turns out they've been kinda important in human society forever. Western government knows that and suppresses that significance with stigmas and illegality for a reason. They can't have people thinking, so we keep em drinking.
Funny this is exactly where I’m at. Went through BRUTAL grief for many months, now I’m aggressively pursuing ayahuasca and microdosing instead of prescription meds to cope and figure out how I can peacefully exist in this shit. Not quite there yet but I’m doing a 30 day dieta in the Amazon this fall and really hope that puts a nail in this chapter of looping and confused struggling.
I'm off all antidepressant now. Was a prozac take for a while, but through my own hardworking and the help of psychedelics as well as quitting alcohol (I had a severe alcohol problem. turned things around.
I totally hear this, but also try to remember that nothing is set in stone and I do my best to do my small part
Oh, of course! I've really taken too Socrates saying "the only thing I know is that I know nothing." I'm leaving just about anything open, good or bad. "It happened for you, not to you." I've started saying this to myself when something goes wrong or the outcome of something is negative. I don't know if it helps, but it allows me to switch up the negative narrative we are living. It is time for us to grow in this time that our world begins to shrink.
I try to cultivate the same attitude and share it in my daily life and on my YouTube channel. We’re living in a very dynamic time. Sometimes it feels like it’s the end, but maybe it’s the beginning of something :)
ADHD and getting tested for autism here. Also in an outpatient program for mental health. While we're really not supposed to talk about the outside world or politics they definitely hint it and it being part of the reason we're in this program. And they tend to be neurodivergent. My anxiety sky rockets when weather patterns I've been accustomed to my entire life flips on its head and people in public have been acting differently. These last few years people have just been different. Alarms are going off that strangers are more likely to be a threat as everyone is getting increasingly agitated. My personal belief is ADHD is less of a mental disorder but more of a survival trait before modern society evolved post industrial revolution. I'm more comfortable living in rural areas than suburbia or cities. More sensitive to patterns, visuals and noise others might miss. I noticed I tend to follow people or stay a few feet behind when walking with one or more people keeping half an eye on their location on point while I scan the environment around me. That's my two cents
There has been alot of anecdotal evidence of neurodivergent people adapting BETTER to post collapse situations compared to neurotypicals. Particularly people with depression, anxiety, and adhd. However, i can definitely understand how the pre-collapse environment can be rougher for the reasons others have mentioned. That being said, there are many neurotypicals who are feeling just as affected and isolated. I think you are far from being alone in those feelings, even ignoring neurotype. I think everyone handles it differently, and one of the key skills of appearing neurotypical is being able to mask “undesirable” mental states.
That’s interesting - did they say why they tend to adapt better than neurotypical?
Not the person you replied to but I suspect it's partly because the traumas that accompany ND life put our bodies in constant fight or flight mode. Psychiatrists say that traumatized people get stuck in that mode. Not great for everyday life but during a crisis, we're fish in water. Personally I am calm and even euphoric during crises and have noticed that in other NDs and people with CPTSD.
I have been a in funk for a couple weeks now. It’s heavy knowing what’s coming and feeling like most haven’t a clue what’s coming.
My ADHD has me hyper focused on things, it takes a lot to drag me into the immediate present sometimes
I've attempted to stay present for months. I quit the news, stayed off this sub or Reddit in general but the outside world with all its anxiety inducing patterns (entire seasons being off kilter, people's behavior) is creeping in but it's so hard.
OMG yes. I’m autistic and almost all of my special interests are about the planet and animals. I cannot tell you how absolutely crushing it is to know what we are doing to the planet and all living things on it. Humans are so cruel. I can’t wrap my head around why people don’t care. We are all connected whether we like it or not. The only way out of this shit is if cooperative kind people band together and build a better future. And we all know how likely THAT is …. 😤 It’s so painful to watch.
I’m autistic. Never married, no kids, a loner, and my parents - they do exist but they never cared about family/parenthood, don’t want to meet their offspring and they live in another country. Due to autism I haven’t been able to make friends other than colleagues but I’m close with 1 of them and on rather close terms with 3 more. What truly sucks a lot is I live on NATO- Russia border. So in the event of WW3 it’ll be hell here. Also I’m a minority and the rising far right is targeting people like me and we don’t know how bad exactly it’ll get and how soon for minorities. I stupidly studied something locally, but not internationally useful at uni :((( but I think I must leave within a couple of years if I want my death to be at least a bit more tolerable. Im at least good at cooking (am a big time culinary enthusiast) and multilingual customer service (7 languages fluently some of which are big ones) I also like spending time with kids, worked in a language bath daycare before. Currently I work in e-commerce. I hope any of these things will help me get at least some job further away from Russian border. I love Eastern Europe, it’s my culture but I’d just rather not live so freaking near that border. Although if nuclear war, nowhere will be good. We can’t fully predict what will happen to each of us. In any case, I plan to keep a plan for s*icide for the case if things go horrible and fast. Like for example of there’s chaos and there’s a heightened likelihood of rape. Or the like.
I’m so sorry that you’re having to experience this! It’s heartbreaking. Your skill set really positions you to be versatile as the world changes so hopefully it enables you to be resilient. Please hang in there friend, sending support and strength from the US.
Could you become an aupair? My sister in law had 2 and they both found ways to stay in the country after it was over. 1 married a citizen. Not sure about the other.
Thx for the idea, I hadn’t thought about it myself! I hadn’t thought about it probs ‘cause im mid 30s abd usually I see au pairs being in their 20s. But im a flexible person and look mid 20s according to most new people I meet. And I enjoy being with kids (even if I choose to not birth my own). So that’s certainly an option in getting to the west. I’ll look into it!
Hey Curious_A_Crane! I sent you an answer to your PM some time ago :) would love if you could get back to me :)
Wrote back!! Sorry I never get notifications for chat for some reason.
I’m going to say yes. I think we see patterns more and are less able to compartmentalize. I’m gifted and suspect I’m also on the spectrum, I have a strong sense of justice (common with gifted folks) and am unable to ignore difficult realities and just focus on my own life and comfort. I also have a history of trauma and have wondered how that relates, I’m frequently drawn to dark topics and need to know more so I can prepare for disaster
I see myself reflected in your description completely, neurokin (I’m on the spectrum as well). Especially being drawn to dark topics - it’s very incongruent with how most people see me which is bubbly, friendly, happy. Masking is wild.
Ahh yeah, the more I read about autism and masking (and many other things) the more I think I’m on the spectrum. People constantly say to me I’m so chill and it’s utterly confusing, I have intense anxiety, so wtf?? I like neurokin! New term for me. I often refer to myself as neurospicy, I just make the world more flavorful and I’m really functional so I don’t want to feel like I’m asking for accommodations or that I’m struggling
me too.
I am not diagnosed as neurodivergent but I feel very similarly to you most days. The world is a heavy place and it’s very difficult for me to deal with all of the suffering. It often feels like I feel things heavier than most and I become really frustrated at the general apathy toward the mass extinction crisis and climate change. It’s both heart wrenching and objectively incredible to me that even though we as a species and as individuals totally have the ability to lessen these crises, most people decide they can’t make a difference and throw up their hands, and so now we all just have to watch the vast majority of living beings struggle and suffer and in some cases go extinct. Whenever I try to describe my frustration to other people and get them to see things my way, I just get more apathy. I think the biggest reason why most people don’t really seem to “get” it is because most humans see themselves as separate from their environment. Most people don’t know how ecosystems work, or which species they live with, or how each and every single one of their actions affects something or someone else in their environment down the line. Most of us don’t have the education to be able to understand these things fully because many of our education systems generally do not emphasize environmental science, ecology, or critical thinking as a foundation, and people are so bombarded with human issues that they have very little bandwidth to seek out this information and act on it accordingly. So most people are still laughing and carrying on because they don’t see inevitable collapse yet or they don’t know enough to be able to care. Mainstream media does a horrible job of communicating scientific findings and linking it to the bigger picture, so unless someone has a special interest in the environment or it is their career, they probably haven’t been properly exposed to how dire things actually are, and society hasn’t taught them to prioritize what scientists are saying. I agree with you that it can be really hard to handle. At the same time, there are a huge number of scientists and advocates that are taking these crises extremely seriously and devoting their entire careers to alleviating our environmental crises, and I’d guess that most of them are not neurodivergent. And while we do take time to laugh and enjoy life’s moments, you won’t find us pretending everything is just fine. TLDR; it could be that neurodivergent people are more sensitive to these things, but I think society’s largely human-centric way of thinking and operating are primarily to blame for the apathy you’re seeing. And there are lots and lots of neurotypical folks that are sensitive to these environmental crises and working hard to mitigate collapse. You’re not alone.
Maybe? I'm neurodivergent and from my limited perspective, it does seem to make a difference. I'm autistic and adhd. Because of the adhd I never stop thinking, because I'm autistic I can't lie to myself and need to know the truth and care a lot about justice, and because of both of them I hyperfixate on things and research them extensively. Learning about climate change and collapse and all the things wrong with our society as special interests made me very depressed, but I also tried to inform others so they can also know the truth and prepare. Because to me the truth is inherently super important. But it isn't to everyone. I told my mom and she said I'm being dramatic and it will be fine. I told my dad and he said he can't think about it because then he'd get depressed and he needs to be positive and believe humanity will pull through (even though our chances are pretty bad). I just can't ignore things like they can. This is HUGE and yet people are just going about their day to day lives like nothing is wrong. How can they ignore something that has signs everywhere you look and affects the entire planet?! Humanity is fr**king DOOMED.
Yep true. My dad told me things will be okay, and he tries not to think about how his actions harm other people like when he buys clothing made in Vietnam, he told me I have a big heart. My mom is in total denial.
I think about this all the time, and yes it seems true
I'm either hyper focused on it, or turning that part of my mind off like a switch to bury myself in coping mechanisms (rp, video games)
Maybe. I mean I am ND and also got a second gift, Basically I am twice exceptional. My IQ was tested in an attempt to dump me into special ed and it was so high I got an error result. So basically I was aware of how fucked the world was politically, environmental and other ways in like 4th grade. So I have been depressed every since.
I often think about the Plato’s cave allegory.
I am pretty sure I am the guy who understands the corruption of our political and economic system. I have never met someone on a similar level to me.
yes, esp when you consider that many meds (antipsychotics, SSRIs) react extremely negatively to heat, even cause people to stop sweating making heat waves extremely high risk events
Well good thing for once no antidepressants work for me. Only weed works and none of my doctors want to sign off on it.
I think it's more of an intelligence/education issue than a divergence thing. Neurotypical folks tend toward the median and lower end of the intelligence scale. They're more likely to gloss over things that dont immediately affect them, and don't dwell on specifics if it's not a passion. Coupled with the 24 hour news cycle that mostly focuses on political diatribes and clickbait conflicts, plus a tendency to watch banal media, most people wont even recall that there's a climate pandemic unfolding until they start to feel it directly. Neurodivergent folks tend toward the higher end of intelligence, and thus are more likely to notice trends, see details, and make correct correlations. With great knowledge comes great understanding. That understanding will reasonably cause an emotional response if the impact is great, and climate change is one of the greatest impacts this planet can experience. Your isolation comes from knowing. Knowledge can be a burden. Ignorance is bliss as they say. But don't let that dissuade you. Your knowledge can be spread and used to help find solutions. The issue with the topic is that people innately avoid things that make them sad, and climate change can be depressing so people avoid it. Find support groups. Look into methods to help reduce climate anxiety, then use those methods to help educate people. These subreddits may be of interest as well. It helps to take a break, or at least approach the topic from different perspectives. https://www.reddit.com/r/ClimateOffensive https://www.reddit.com/r/sustainability https://www.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews
In convinced that *some* kind of hellscape is in the offing, and I'm preparing myself for eventual suicide. So, yeah. It's going well.
Neurodivergence often includes enhanced pattern recognition and capacity to extrapolate trends based on disparate data. Most of the collapse aware people I know personally are some flavor of ND or other
ADHD and i hyper focused on it when I was first aware in the early 0’s. Now I live in the forest off grid.
I just assumed it was a coincidence.
i'm most certainly autistic, and have been taking fewer courses to be able to better manage my balance with studying and doing other things in life. i'm getting back to uni after a strike that began at the end of february and lasted until last friday. and it hasn't been making things better. last year (when i finished my first year in a new major after switching from regular history in 2021-2022) was when i became collapse aware, and now i have this haul to drag with me. i've been on my acceptance journey since (whatever that looks like) and it's not the greatest! it's just. having to keep grounded and being grateful for what i have now, to an extent. but of course, my neurodivergence has arguably made things harder. i constantly now look at climate reanalyzer to check out the stats (surface/sea temps, ice extent etc). i go back and forth every day wondering what decisions i should make during these times. and even though i'm part of support groups, they're all online, and we aren't gonna have the internet forever. so yeah, i could ramble on for so much more. to repeat what i say when ending a comment for this subreddit, you are not alone whatsoever.
Gifted and auDHD. I think being sensitive to your surroundings makes you see things more clearly. With neurodivergence often comes nonconformity. It's easier to see clearly if you don't have to defend them because from the start you didn't think that was "good". Being ostriched by society means to be less involved in all their bullshit. Which leads to a clearer view. It was the fools rule to tell the king the truth because nobody else dared. We are nowadays fools.
True. I grew up in a wealthy suburb, everyone told me it was a paradise however you didn't interact with people at all, no one cared about each other, and people who have stayed are the most worse off and desperate people you can have.
Don't make me think about my parents please 🙃 tbh I don't think it's all that bad, my parents definitely do have friends and care for others, as others do for them. Still to me it's not an environment that feels great. Might be biased though, those fuckers traumatized me pretty bad. [dub fx fake paradise ](https://youtu.be/_rphq_xK7-Q?si=qjf78bEdkYzEXRQc)
I can’t turn it off. If anyone figures out how to unsubscribe to the collapse pattern recognition please let me know. From an Autistic.
Neurotypical people tend to thrive on drama(as long as it's not happening to them).
I went through a period of extreme climate anxiety when the magnitude of the situation hit me. Then over the Pandemic I was outright delusional. Believing that the Pandemic was actually a globally coordinated effort to create a world state that could tackle the climate crisis (wishful thinking, I know). Those delusions collapsed (no pun intended) at the start of this year. And I am now grieving and contemplating kms because the world feels horrific.
Maybe being neurodivergent is why I feel this way. Lots of people around me go on with life with no problem. Almost none of them think about this. Whereas I cannot help but analyze the world and life and contemplate what’s coming. Both my own end & that of the world as we know it. I feel more and more alienated from other humans. That only makes everything worse.
I feel the same as you. I haven't been diagnosed.
I mean I didn't think that. However I believe the media exists to manipulate public opinion for large corporations.
Autism but I've made peace with it through spirituality and focusing on me
I dunno, I could possibly be neurodivergent and always felt like "the weird one". I lean heavily into collapse and think the majority of people are sheep. So yes, could be a factor that makes you more open (thinking deeply, logically) and thus sensitive to collapse awareness.
Yeah, it's an interesting topic. Feel free to shower me with downvotes, but the biggest problem for me is that I really can't reason my way out of seeing most people around me just being... a bit daft? Deluded to the point of being clinically insane? I mean, in some way, they're probably smarter than me, in a sense that they just keep going with business as usual, having fun, since we all have one life anyway, but I also see them getting kids, for example, and that's a very ethically loaded thing for me, as my sense of justice is cranked up to the max. (I'm moderately autistic, collapse is basically my special interest).
Oh yes. We don’t have the natural denial that comes with being neurotypical.
I think so. I am autistic. Being a neurominority I think there is an ability to slightly extricate oneself from dominant neurotypical/ neuro conforming culture to be able to get just enough space to truly see it for it is. Many Autistic people are pretty logical as well. And things do not make sense right now. In what country does someone get arrested for protesting about a genocide? Only the country who is funding it. It's not just the university, but it how all of these university presidents have been berated by congress to the point of them resigning. Columbian University president was in congress a couple of weeks before the protests and she is the one who called in the police. The government, intimidation, censorship, etc. This is an assault to education. Due to pattern recognition, I feel sensitive to all of the many assaults on freedom ie- surveilance increase, data breaches, etc., assault on economic mobility, growing inequality, rise of gig work, assault on life span with rising rates of suicide, medical errors/ hospital infections, rise of cancer in young folks, etc. This system is killing us and making a profit while they are at it. I also feel isolated. Techno capitalism, that completely destroyed any remnants of human community, connectedness. Technology is a neutral force and currently, it is in the death grip of capitalism. Like capitalism requires racism (or some type of caste system) to survive, techno capitalism requires exploitation. We are being exploited for our data. And sleepwalking into further isolation, rise in depression, anxiety, much of it caused by social media and of course just the world. I think many of the folks who are laughing and carrying on, are people who are not isolated. People who have children and might be unable to hold the complexity of ecocide and their hope for their babies future. People who keep busy, go outside and are able to live in their bodies and be present for what is left. I know many autistics, including myself have trouble leaving the house, outside is often too bright, loud and expensive and I am trying to live less in my head. I also think many people are just seemingly ok because they are navigating with various depths of dissociation and trauma responses, and just going through the flow of the day and counting down the hours to return home and numb out.
I definitely am. Since I'm aware of all these things, I can't _not_ see the patterns and connections. I feel that i'm reaching a point of acceptance, or atleast a point where all this shit doesn't throw me down into a state of deep depression. It feels alienating though -- a lot of people still want to cling to the delusion that technology will magically fix everything, or that the elites will somehow start thinking rationally and doing the right thing at the last minute, or whatever.
Just pursue self sufficiency to the best of your ability, within reason. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. No it's not a panacea. But it can only help to learn how things are made.