A systemic psychotherapist argues that human suffering should be understood within its social and relational contexts, rather than solely through a psychiatric lens that individualizes distress. This perspective challenges the prevalent medical model, which, as cultural critic Mark Fisher noted, often misattributes natural reactions to difficult circumstances to individual brain chemistry, thereby supporting capitalism's tendency towards isolated individualism.
However, recent years have seen a significant increase in psychiatric diagnoses, transforming them into a primary framework for interpreting not just mental health struggles but also a vast array of human experiences. This diagnostic surge is particularly evident under the umbrella of neurodiversity. For instance, autism assessment referrals in England have quintupled between 2019 and 2024, and ADHD medication prescriptions have risen by 51%. Public figures frequently disclose diagnoses of autism, ADHD, or both, while social media is inundated with content that reinterprets everyday feelings through a 'neuro' framework, labeling social anxieties as 'rejection sensitivity dysphoria' or mid-life crises as 'autistic burnout'.
Prominent autism researcher Uta Frith has criticized the overextension of the autism diagnosis, suggesting it has become so broad as to lose its original meaning as a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition marked by distinct social-communication challenges and restricted behaviors. Frith's concern is that, lacking biological markers, diagnoses rely heavily on subjective reports, often overlooking contradictory evidence like reciprocal communication and theory of mind. This leads to many individuals receiving diagnoses who may experience social anxiety but do not exhibit the pervasive social-communication difficulties characteristic of a neurodevelopmental condition. Similarly, psychiatrist Dr. Sami Timimi's book, Searching for Normal, highlights the rapid expansion of ADHD, from a rare diagnosis in adolescent boys to affecting 5% of UK children and 10% in the US, despite the absence of genetic, neurochemical, or brain imaging biomarkers. Diagnoses depend significantly on self and parental reports using subjective questionnaires, without adequate consideration for age-appropriate developmental norms, leading to an increasingly narrow definition of 'normal' behavior.
While concerns about overdiagnosis are growing, a more profound question arises: why do so many people increasingly identify as neurodivergent and seek this recognition? The answer likely extends beyond psychiatric discourse. Although psychiatric frameworks provide the language, the widespread appeal of this particular perspective suggests deeper societal trends. Timimi points out that when the contested 'neuro' aspect of neurodivergence is set aside, the demand for diagnosis essentially represents a claim to difference, asserting that those with the label have experiences and needs that diverge from 'neurotypical' individuals. This phenomenon, which can be observed across neurodiversity blogs and social media, typically begins with a narrative of pre-diagnosis epistemic dispossession, where individuals feel lost, overwhelmed, isolated, and misunderstood, lacking understanding of their own needs and capabilities. Diagnosis, in this context, serves not merely as a medical event but as an ontological one, transforming a history of confusion into a coherent identity. Moreover, the world and its institutions are often portrayed as unaccommodating to the neurodivergent self, with 'neuro-actualization' providing a path to resistance through a rights-based framework for identifying and meeting individual needs. The striking resemblance between these accounts of the pre-diagnosed self and Marx's concept of alienation, particularly alienation from species-being, suggests a profound connection. Marx argued that humans are inherently social beings who understand themselves through shared experiences and see themselves as part of a collective. Alienation occurs when individuals are reduced to components of systems that serve external purposes. In late capitalism, alienation has reached dystopian levels, leading to what sociologist Zygmunt Bauman termed 'liquid modernity,' characterized by social atomization and enforced individualism. This detachment fosters a judgmental perception of others and diminishes community, replacing embodied social life with a tech-mediated, contactless existence. Even consciousness becomes exploitable, as the attention economy promotes distraction and fragmentation, drawing individuals away from their inner lives and towards screens. In essence, late capitalism creates an environment where feelings of inadequacy, overwhelm, loneliness, and misunderstanding are commonplace.
The act of diagnosis simultaneously expresses and reinforces the experience of alienation, limiting explanations to individual brain structure rather than acknowledging the collective human experience, our ways of living, or the need for systemic change. The suggestion that these experiences might be more universal is often met with anger and accusations of invalidating neurodivergent experiences, which are deemed inaccessible to neurotypical understanding. This contradiction, inherent in liquid modernity, individualizes distress, making the self the sole source of explanation and transforming identity into a competitive pursuit. As sociologist Ulrich Beck observed, one's life becomes a 'biographical solution to systemic contradictions.' Diagnosis offers the promise of validating individual experiences and needs within a competitive identity market, leveraging the language of disability rights to assert these needs. This 'neuro-identitarianism' aligns with a broader 'hyper-liberal' cultural shift, where, as philosopher John Gray argues, self-defined identity has become paramount, reducing politics to self-affirmation rather than the pursuit of structural change or the common good. This fragmentation has tangible consequences. In the UK, the escalating costs of special educational needs provision are reaching unsustainable levels, forcing parents into adversarial battles with local authorities for their children's support. Simultaneously, schools are struggling with overcrowded classrooms, exhausted teachers, and reduced universal provisions due to austerity. Since 2012, the number of 16-to-24-year-olds claiming disability benefits has doubled to 400,000, with nearly half now citing autism or ADHD. Diagnosis has become a superficial remedy, offering state benefits without addressing a dysfunctional labor market that neglects young people and is dominated by precarious, low-paying jobs that often do not cover living expenses. Neuro-identitarianism, therefore, reflects a larger pattern: as essential services like housing, healthcare, education, and employment deteriorate, resistance increasingly takes an individualized, short-sighted form, diluting collective pressure for systemic reform. A profound irony is that those with the most severe needs, often functionally impaired and unable to advocate for themselves, are increasingly marginalized amidst the noise created by neuro-influencers. While neuro-identitarianism is an understandable response to the alienation of late capitalism, fulfilling a human need for subjective recognition intensified by atomized societies, its tragedy lies in creating special interest groups defined by difference. By competing for recognition alongside other identity-based movements, it forecloses the possibility of broader solidarity, denying common experiences of an inhospitable world. Ultimately, it estranges people from their shared humanity, thus reproducing the very alienation it aims to resolve.
Our collective journey towards understanding human experience requires moving beyond individualized diagnoses and embracing a holistic perspective that acknowledges the profound impact of societal structures and collective alienation. By recognizing shared challenges and fostering solidarity, we can advocate for systemic changes that nurture individual well-being and strengthen community bonds, leading to a more just and empathetic society for all.