On pathological psychology and the alternatives to calling yourself "neurodivergent"

[Cred]

@Joseph Maynor  Ralston was mentioned! I feel like we are drifting towards a contemplation about a topic that is unrelated to this thread. I will make a new one.

Edited 3 hours ago by Cred

[Lyubov]

3 hours ago, Cred said:

Do you mean the ND labels?

This is has not yet been not true for me personally. However it has been true for labels from other personality models.In reality, denying my neurodiversity has done massive damage in my life.

Would you like to be more specific? That would help

Specifically neuro diversity, autism, adhd, etc. I’ve been classified in these areas too and I will say ultimately diagnosis and labels have really only harmed me when it came to awakening and taking back the reigns as the creator. If it’s helped you that’s good. I am speaking just for myself. Keep in mind though that I’m not denying anything. I’m not denying I’m different, everyone is different. And I’m not denying I have my strengths and weaknesses and quirks and need to be considerate of those. Ultimately pathology psychology is largely built around the premise of lack or something being wrong with someone. Basis of majority of mental suffering around a person’s self esteem. I embrace a path of simplicity and found nuance and pathological labels only limit awakening. That’s just my opinion, if you have benefited from your world view then by all means hold onto it. 

[Cred]

 

20 minutes ago, Lyubov said:

Ultimately pathology psychology is largely built around the premise of lack or something being wrong with someone

It doesn't have to be this way. Every neurodivergency also has advantages. The good news is, that these strengths will correlate with your personal values, since just like personality, your values are also based on your neurodivergance (i knoooow big claim just casually dropped). 

So for example if you're autistic this means you are really good at unbiased truth seeking which also happens to be important to you since you are here.

[Cred]

@Lyubov  It's helpful you mentioned that these labels were harmful to your awakening, not harmful to your survival.

First I want to remind you of the approach "figure out which traits you have without labeling yourself".

But I also want to defend labels for a sec. Of course I know that identifying yourself with any concept is harmful for an awakening. However, even though buddhists now that, they will still be buddhists bc how else are they supposed to build a sangha if they can't say they're buddhists? 

The Moment you realize that labels are just a language game that we play out of convenience and don't penetrate the self, you'll be able to call yourself what you want, as long as you remove all the fluff again as soon as you are doing the practices. And do you really want to tell me you want to practice every waking hour? Gimme a break.

So why are labels useful in the first place? They are effective. If I see a Nazi charge towards a minority I will not politely tell them: "You are being very unconstitutional you. Don't make me write an angry letter with plenty of exclamationpoints to your mom" like a god damn liberal. I also I will not stand there and empty my fucking cup and wait until laser beams shoot from my eyes.

Very quickly, I will notice that I'm a communist and remember how communists deal with nazis.

Likewise, when your grandma tells you: "Why are you on the internet so much? Why aren't you enjoying your youth? You are thinking too much about abstract topics, I feel sorry for you. If I was your age again, I would be travelling around the world" you don't want to think to youself: "She is right I AM pretty weird. Why is that? Am I living my life wrong? Am I wasting my youth? Am I wasting my potential?", instead you can, again, quickly remember, that you are ND and she is projecting. Then you can politely tell her "I know how I want to live my life, thank you".

Edit: Just in case that wasn't obvious enough, yes this was an actual conversation I just had with my grandma and yes, the first reaction was the one I used to have which led to low self esteem that was indeed not curable through any spiritual practices (the logic, if I realize I'm god, then I will accept myself is complete bullshit) and yes the second reaction is the reaction that I had today and yes, I've never felt more confident and self-assured in my entire life not even close.

Edited 2 hours ago by Cred