Why healing isn't linear, especially for neurodivergent people.

Healing is often imagined as a straight line.

Symptoms reduce.

Function improves.

Life moves forward.

But nervous systems don't work that way.

They learn in loops.

Progress often looks like improvement followed by regression.

Especially when new layers of awareness emerge.

For neurodivergent people, this can be confusing and demoralising.

You understand yourself better.

You accommodate more.

And yet, new difficulties appear.

This isn't failure.

It's recalibration.

As masking drops or awareness increases, the system reveals what was previously suppressed.

Healing often makes things visible before it makes them comfortable.

This is why patience matters more than optimism.

And why comparison is unhelpful.

Your nervous system has a unique history.

It learned what it needed to learn to survive.

Unlearning those patterns takes repetition, not insight.

If your progress feels uneven, it doesn't mean you're doing it wrong.

It means your system is learning something new.

And learning, almost always, is messy.