Mindly Different
Coaching for the beautifully different mind
Category: Brain injury
-
How to Prepare and Perform Without Burning Out For many students, exams are stressful.For neurodivergent students – exams can feel like a full-body neurological event.It’s not just about knowing the material.It’s about how the brain functions under pressure. If you’ve ever gone blank despite studying, felt physically ill before an exam, struggled to focus in…
-
When Alcohol Meets a Neurodivergent Nervous System For many people, alcohol is woven into holiday rituals – a glass of wine with dinner, a toast with family, a festive cocktail offered as a sign of belonging. Refusing can feel awkward, even antisocial, “Do not cheers with water!” Drinking is often framed as relaxation, celebration, and…
-
Neurodiversity, Nutrition, and Seasonal Overload For many people, the holidays bring warmth, connection, and tradition. For others – especially those with neurodivergent nervous systems – they also bring a sudden and profound shift in how the body is fueled. Meals become irregular. Sugar intake increases sharply. Highly processed foods replace familiar, grounding staples. Alcohol becomes…
-
Holidays are often described as a time of joy, connection, and celebration. For many families, they come with traditions, expectations, and emotional meaning. But for people with neurodivergent nervous systems – whether innate or acquired – the holidays can also be deeply taxing. If someone you love becomes quieter, leaves early, seems irritable, withdrawn, overwhelmed,…
-
Supporting a neurodivergent brain during the holidays isn’t about forcing resilience – it’s about working with how the nervous system actually functions. Small, intentional adjustments can dramatically reduce overload and your post-holiday exhaustion.Remind yourself: I don’t need to attend everything.I don’t need to stay as long as others.My wellbeing matters as much as tradition.
-
When Celebration Meets a Sensitive Nervous System For many people, Christmas is imagined as warmth, connection, tradition, and joy. Lights glow, music fills the air, conversations overlap, expectations rise. It is meant to be a time of togetherness. For neurodivergent nervous systems – both innate and acquired – Christmas can feel very different.Not because there…
-
What Your Nervous System Is Responding To Sensory sensitivity is often described as a fixed trait – something you either “have” or don’t. But many people discover, sometimes unexpectedly, that their tolerance for stimulation shifts over time. Sounds that once faded into the background become intrusive. Crowded spaces start to feel heavy. Light, touch, or…
-
Why It Can Intensify With Age or After Injury Many people assume that sensory sensitivity is something you either “grow out of” or learn to manage better with time. And for some, that is true.But for many others, the opposite happens.Sounds become sharper. Crowded spaces feel heavier. Light, touch, movement, or social stimulation start to…
-
What Happens When You Pass as Neurotypical for Too Long Many neurodivergent people learn early (explicitly or implicitly) that parts of who they are must be hidden to be accepted. The stimming must stop. The discomfort must be suppressed. The confusion must be concealed. The overwhelm must be disguised behind practiced smiles and perfectly modulated…
-
The Hidden Physiology of Neurodivergent Burnout Some people can push through long days, loud environments, dense information, shifting plans, and endless social expectations with minimal impact. Others – especially neurodivergent individuals or those with sensitive, reorganizing, or chronically stressed nervous systems – find that the same demands lead to profound exhaustion, emotional flooding, or shutdown.…
Mindly Different 