If you are unsure about where you fit in, or whether the life you are living is right for you, it may be time to explore your identify further. Or you may know who you are privately, but not know how to start ‘being you’ out in the world. Perhaps you are confident about who you are, but are having difficulty dealing with other people’s attitudes. I am a cisgender woman, autistic and ADHD, and identify as neuroqueer. I work affirmatively with all identities.

Anyone who is different from the majority in any way – for instance through cultural difference, sexual or gender identify, neurotype, disability, or any difference – will have additional challenges to those who ‘fit in’. You may be confused about your identity, or feel desperate to ‘be normal’. Anyone who is different in any way will almost inevitably have had the experience of being regularly corrected and excluded. This is in itself traumatising, and almost inevitably leads to anxiety, as well as to other mental health difficulties such as depression, addiction, and obsessive behaviour patterns.

Understanding who you are, and what you can and can’t change about yourself, can be vital groundwork in moving forward and feeling better about yourself. Trying to be someone we’re not is bound to make us anxious. Working out who we are, and where we belong, can be essential in finding acceptance – both self-acceptance, and amongst others.

I am LGBTQ+ and GSRD affirming.