...it will get better.

The fact is, for a neurodivergent, life doesn't have to suck until they die, but for many people it often feels like this is true. I know it did to me for many years. This was in part because of my depression, in part due to my inability to have lasting relationships, and in part to feeling alone and misunderstood in my trauma.

While I am a testament to all these things, I'm also a testament to a neurodivergent life and is happy, fulfilling, and filled with people who love and care enough to stick around when I need them to most. Perhaps a better title would be, Life Sucks Right Now, Might for a Long Time Yet, but It Will Get Better. Not as snappy, but maybe truer to what I hope to convey in this novel.

So, why this title and not something a little more "sun shiny?" It’s mainly because I believe people inherently think ND people can just "snap out of it" or "get over it already," and this is one of the greatest obstacles the ND people face. We need understanding and support from loved ones and a society the knows this isn't a choice the ND make each day. No one wakes up and decides to be depressed each day or to be on the Autism spectrum. While in the middle of crisis it feels a lot like Life Sucks and Then You Die.

This time in our society is especially important because the discussions about neurodivergence are shaping the mental health world right now. Even the definition of ND seems fluid. The base definition being people whose brains function differently, to a definition that encompasses all mental illness, to the more scientific one involving brain chemistry. Each of these have merit and it’s important to add our voices, the voices of the ND, to the discussion.

In recent times it has become more important that people are allowed their own narrative. It has become more important that traditionally silenced groups are heard. It has become important that people are allowed to enter into the conversations about what is happening in their lives and how to make positive changes.

In this social environment it is left to the ND to make our voices heard so the discussions do not pass us by and we can make the changes that neuronormative people may not know need to be made without our input. The discussions will happen, the decisions will be made, and policies will be enacted. We must be involved in whatever ways we can.

Like every sub group within society, the ND have many gifts and talents to offer, and these are usually what make our life's better. If you can write, write! If you play music, play! If you can counsel people, counsel! These are the things that will change "and then you die," into "for now, and then things will get better!"