Why recognising neurodiversity and different forms of trauma matters more than ever

People differ neurobiologically. This is well established by research^[1],[2]. The technical term for it is neurodiversity: the diversity of all brains. There is no such thing as a “normal”, neurotypical brain. Neurotypical is a statistical construct, and hardly anyone matches it completely in every area^[3],[4],[5]. Difference is not the exception, it is the rule.

Neurodiversity shows up especially clearly in autism, ADHD, dyslexia or high sensitivity^[2],[6]. They make visible how differently our brains process information and stimuli.

These traits are not simply present or absent. They are distributed along a spectrum^[2]. A spectrum can be compared to a temperature scale: –10 degrees is cold, +40 degrees is warm. There is no objective line at which it becomes “warm” or “cold”. The same goes for “loud” and “quiet”.

Neurodiversity works in exactly the same way. A great many people carry such traits within them, such as autistic or ADHD traits that don’t always reach the threshold for a diagnosis. These characteristics bring challenges and weaknesses in everyday life. But they also bring special abilities. I call this neurodiversity potential. Current research allows only one conclusion: we all perceive differently, and we all function differently.

Different forms of trauma

This is exactly the insight we need to apply to trauma. People process traumatic experiences differently, partly because there are fundamentally different forms of trauma:

• Monotrauma (shock trauma, type I trauma): Caused by a single, drastic event such as an accident, an assault or a natural disaster^[7].
• Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD): Caused by repeated, prolonged traumatisation that one could not escape, for example through abuse, domestic violence or captivity. It can develop at any age. Since ICD-11, C-PTSD has been a diagnosis in its own right^[8],[9],[10].
• Developmental trauma: Caused by early, ongoing adversity in childhood, above all in relationships with the closest caregivers, for example through emotional neglect, chronic devaluation or insecure attachment. It shapes the development of the nervous system, self-image and the capacity for relationships from the ground up^[11].
• Secondary trauma: Caused by witnessing other people’s trauma or being intensely exposed to it^[12].
• Transgenerational trauma: Traumas and their consequences are passed on to the next generations – through attachment and parenting patterns, through unspoken family history and through learned nervous system responses. Research is also investigating biological pathways of transmission^[13],[14].
• Societal (collective) trauma: Arises when entire groups or societies experience traumatic events such as war, persecution, dictatorship, displacement or genocide. It shapes a community’s identity, values and relationship patterns for decades^[15].

These differences lead to completely different therapeutic needs. Your own path to healing cannot simply be taken as a template for how other people heal.

When insight alone is not enough

The experiences of people with complex trauma in particular are fundamentally different from everyday stress or a one-off strain^[8],[10]. Insight alone is not enough to resolve these traumas^[16],[17]. Those affected are, in the truest sense of the word, trapped in their feelings and nervous system responses^[16].

A person with complex trauma can be standing in the street, their mind knowing with 100 percent certainty that there is no real danger. Yet when the trauma is activated, they still feel as if their life were in acute danger^[16],[17]. The threat response runs largely automatically, deep in the body, and logical reasoning can barely stop it^[17],[18]. Real healing and real support only begin where we understand and acknowledge these differences.

That is why we must not leave people with trauma on their own. The attitude “everyone is responsible for themselves” falls short here. These people need our support, because they can be trapped in their feelings.