Neurodivergence and substances: why the risk is not the same for everyone
Valérie-Anne O'Callaghan: A growing narrative circulates that psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca, or cannabis could resolve what conventional therapy cannot. This resonates particularly strongly with a specific population: neurodivergent individuals who have spent years searching for answers and who often live with anxiety, depression, or […]
The neurodivergence market: who wins when you recognize yourself
Valérie-Anne O'Callaghan: A person watches a video describing traits they recognize in themselves. They search for information. Within days, their feed is flooded with content on the topic: quick tests, lists of signs, accounts that explain their life better than they could. After a few weeks, the offers start appearing: a course, […]
Osteopathy and the neurodivergent nervous system: what changes on the treatment table
Valérie-Anne O'Callaghan: A manual therapy session requires several things at once: entering a new space, lying down in someone's presence, allowing physical contact, remaining still for a long time, and trusting that whatever happens will be tolerable. For a nervous system that processes sensory information more intensely and […]
Interoception and neurodivergence: when the body warns too late
Valérie-Anne O'Callaghan: Some people don't know they're hungry until they feel dizzy. They discover thirst when they get a headache. They don't register tiredness until their eyes close mid-sentence. They rush to the bathroom because there was no cell service until that moment. And others perceive every heartbeat, […]
Grief after an adult diagnosis: what no one tells you comes next
Valérie-Anne O'Callaghan The usual story about a late diagnosis ends in relief. Finally an explanation, finally the pieces fall into place, finally you know you weren't broken. All of that happens. And there's usually something else that almost no one announces, which arrives shortly after and is considerably more uncomfortable. When the relief ends […]
The problem of double empathy: misunderstanding goes both ways
Valérie-Anne O'Callaghan For decades, the dominant explanation for social difficulties in autism took a very concrete form: autistic people lack the ability to infer the mental states of others. This was called theory of mind, or rather, its absence. From this emerged entire intervention programs dedicated to teaching autistic people […]
Neurodivergent exhaustion and mitochondria: what the evidence says and where the leap begins
Valérie-Anne O'Callaghan: A claim circulating these days has been shared tens of thousands of times: neurodivergent burnout is a cellular rather than a psychological phenomenon, and mitochondrial science explains why standard recovery advice fails with autistic and ADHD individuals. The claim has some truth to it, some […]
Late diagnosis in women: why it took so long to arrive
Valérie-Anne O'Callaghan: I recently received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder with high abilities, after turning fifty. I had suspected it for years, and yet I waited a long time to seek it out. I am writing this because mine is a common case. The literature describes the journey quite accurately, and acknowledging it in writing saves other people some of the effort.
How a dysregulated nervous system governs your thoughts
Why do your thoughts sometimes seem to escape your control? We tend to believe that we think first and then we feel. That the mind calmly analyzes the situation and the body obeys. In moments of stress, the order is reversed. The body detects a threat, enters a state of defense, and from that state […]
The nervous system of a woman who isolates herself in the face of stress
When isolation ceased to be a refuge and became a silent suffering. Her nervous system decided, long ago, that being alone was the safest option. She didn't choose it. Her body learned it, in a time when she had no other choice. From the outside, she seems calm. She speaks little, doesn't bother anyone, takes care of her own business […]