"Neurotypical" used by people without autism

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Am I the only one who finds people who don't have autism but have some mental disorder (depression, BPD, bipolar, etc.) incredibly annoying? The term was invented to protect autistic people and others with neurological disorders, which are different from mental disorders. Personally it seems to me these people don't want to be classified as neurotypicals because it makes them look "less special". Even worse, whereas the word was just made as an alternative to "normal people," so as not to imply autistic people are abnormal or defective, these people have turned it into an insult. I don't use Tumblr regularly but browsing the neurotypical tag, it's impossible to miss the countless people shaming and hating neurotypicals. I feel like I'm now forced to associate with these types of people, and I can't use the word without sounding disgustingly pretentious. What do you guys think?

I'm not annoyed by people with mental disorders in general. I am bothered by people who have mental disorders only (no neurological difference) considering themselves neurodivergent. And I am bothered by the snowflakes who believe that anyone can just claim to be anything they want to claim. Neurodivergence is just one of the many labels they like to claim.

I was actually thinking about posting about this issue myself. I found an article written by someone claiming to be neurodivergent because of depression, which makes no sense because people can recover from depression and a huge number of people get depression. So is she temporarily neurodivergent? And what is she diverging from if so many people have experienced the same thing?

I suspect that a lot of these people are young, so maybe they will stop with this nonsense once they mature. Anyways I have seen people on WP complain about neurotypicals, and I assumed that at least some of them were autistic. I don't think it's just the people with mental disorders doing that.

Are there actually massive amounts of nonautistic people specifically and people without neurological differences generally claiming to be neurodivergent? Or is this like the "aspie wannabee" idea prevalent on wrong planet a few years back? That idea made people both doubt their own professional diagnosis, fearful of seeking a diagnosis or disclosing that they are or might be autistic lest they be associated with fakers, whiners, and excuse makers. IMHO there is still lingering damage from that.

There's people debating where to draw the line between neurological and psychological. Some say that the two should be one field, since they both deal with the brain. So maybe they're using that basis to say they're neurodivergent. If they want to do that, it's fine with me. I just think that 'NT' is a short and easy way to refer to normal people.

The way I see it, is that if your brain permanently differs from the typical brain, you're neurotypical - which means you're born with a neurodiverse brain and it will last your lifetime. This counts for autism spectrum disorders, adhd, etc. Therefore it cannot, in my opinion, be used by people who are merely depressed for example. People with temporary or treatable mental disorders aren't neurodiverse, unless they already have a neurological condition to begin with.

@ASPartOfMe

The problem is while they're definitely a minority, they're a very, very loud minority that everyone knows about. I personally despise the website and would like to be able to just ignore it, but I've seen time and time again its users taking an actual real-world problem and turning it into a meaningless label for any special snowflake to throw around. For example, in the real world I have transgender friends who've been ostracized by their families and shunned by entire groups of people, who are miserable with what they can't control. These people are fighting everyday for a voice and for respect, some times to their literal deaths, and then Tumblr sees this and thinks, "oh wow, how cool! Well, I identify as cloudgender/wolfkin/some other made-up BS." Again, a minority, but a loud enough minority to where the people who actually suffer from gender dysphoria aren't taken seriously anymore, and now it's fifty times harder for them to stick up for themselves when they're forced to associate with that group. My point is, I don't want the same to happen to autistic people, I don't want the labels "autistic" and "neurotypical" to become meaningless, because we need that representation, and we need to be taken seriously.

Why is Tumblr the only place for wannabes? Why don't they hang out here or anywhere else?

I am more amused by the term. I don't think there needs to be an us vs them mentality.

[quote=Or is this like the "aspie wannabee" idea prevalent on wrong planet a few years back? That idea made people both doubt their own professional diagnosis, fearful of seeking a diagnosis or disclosing that they are or might be autistic lest they be associated with fakers, whiners, and excuse makers. IMHO there is still lingering damage from that.[/quote]

There are aspic wannabe's, really...wow? Why in the name of god why would anyone want to do that, its not like being socially inept, obsessive, permanently anxious and viewed as a bloody misfit is cool.

To be honest I could have done without it

Amazing, I still can't get my head round it, I feel sorry for them.