‘Disordered’, Or Just Different?

Many diagnostic acronyms, and thereby, diagnoses, end with ‘D’ for ‘disorder’. Bipolar Disorder. Autism Spectrum Disorder. But what if we eliminated the ‘D’? What if Bipolar Disorder was just Bipolar and Autism Spectrum Disorder was just Autism Spectrum, or even Autism? Are these things really disorders, or just different ways of being? My first introduction to this idea of ‘disorders‘ possibly just being differences was through an episode of the Listenable podcast with musician Alex the Astronaut in a brief discussion led by Dylan Alcott (more here).

This idea of differences as opposed to disorders is also reflected in the concept of ‘neurodiversity‘, which is described as differences in the way people’s brains work. Neurodiversity encompasses diagnoses including autism, dyspraxia, dyselxia and ADHD (still learning the best way to eliminate the final ‘D‘ from that one). There may be a place for the inclusion of ‘disorder’ that, not being a trained medical professional like a doctor, I am not aware of, though it seems to me that in some ways, ‘disorder’ is a term with a similar definition to disability.

The term ‘disorder‘ in the context of diagnostic labels can sometimes suggest that something is wrong. But is it really wrong, or is it just different to the majority of people? I feel like this is important to consider, because if someone believes a part of them, over which they have no control, like the parts of them affected by disability, for example, are wrong, it can be damaging, particularly when deeply internalised. So perhaps eliminating the extra ‘D‘ in diagnostic labels, even if only for yourself, can go toward reframing the idea that this aspect of you with a diagnostic label is ‘wrong‘ and help reinforce the idea that maybe, it’s not necessarily ‘wrong’, just different to most other people. To put it another way, what if your differences make you kind of like a flamingo in a flock of pigeons? Or an octopus in a sea of slugs?