For Those Who Feel Too Much: Hope for Neurodivergent People in Difficult Times
- Suzanne Comelo
- Nov 5
- 6 min read
When the world feels unbearably loud, unjust, or unkind, your sensitivity isn’t the problem — it’s part of what might help heal it.
Feeling overstimulated, outraged, or hopeless in today’s unkind, uncertain world? Learn how neurodivergent people can navigate the greater risk for "existential depression," soothe nervous-system overwhelm, and rediscover meaning and hope in turbulent times.
“Your sensitivity is not the problem. It’s the proof that you are awake.”
The World Is Heavy — and You Feel It More Deeply
If you’re neurodivergent—whether you identify as being Autistic ADHD, having sensory-processing differences, giftedness, or high sensitivity—you may find yourself absorbing more of the world’s pain: injustice, cruelty, systemic neglect, uncertainty, and change.
Because your nervous system registers nuance, intensity, and incongruence more acutely, you may ask the deeper questions:
“Why is this happening?” “Is anything true or fair?” “What is my place in all of this?”
These aren’t simply negative thoughts. They’re signs that your nervous system and mind are alive, aware, and refusing to turn away. But when the stimulation, injustice, and chaos mount, they can turn into something more: existential depression.
Existential depression is not just sadness or burnout—it’s a deep, soul-level distress rooted in meaning, fairness, and belonging (Medical News Today, 2022).
Why Existential Depression Matters for Neurodivergent People
What Is Existential Depression?
Existential depression involves persistent feelings of meaninglessness, isolation, freedom-overwhelm, and questioning why life can be so unfair. It can look like major depressive disorder, but its root is different: it stems from worldview, moral injury, and unmet values rather than chemical imbalance (Restifo, 2023).
Increased Risk for Neurodivergent People
Heightened awareness: Many neurodivergent people are introspective, analytical, and deeply perceptive—traits that make them more prone to wrestling with existential questions.
Early sensitivity: Research shows that gifted and neurodivergent individuals often experience existential awareness at a younger age and with greater intensity (Webb, 2020; Neurodiversity Podcast, 2023).
Chronic misfit: Many live in environments not designed for their sensory or communication needs. The constant adaptation, masking, and exclusion can amplify despair and hopelessness.
Systemic inequities: In schools, workplaces, and social systems, neurodivergent individuals frequently encounter invalidation, dismissal, or inequity—compounding existential distress (Pantazakos, 2023).
The result is that many neurodivergent people are at higher risk for existential depression and burnout, not because they’re fragile—but because they’re attuned.
The Unique Justice and Fairness Sensitivity of Neurodivergent Minds
Justice sensitivity — a heightened awareness of fairness, equity, and harm — is common among Autistic and ADHD individuals. Research suggests that neurodivergent people often demonstrate stronger moral reasoning, deeper empathy, and a lower tolerance for hypocrisy or inconsistency than their neurotypical peers (Simply Psychology, 2025; Verywell Mind, 2024).
This sense of justice is a profound strength: it fuels integrity, compassion, and advocacy for fairness. But it also comes with pain. When others act unjustly or when systems reward cruelty, the neurodivergent nervous system can react as if a moral wound has occurred — because to many, it has.
It can be much harder to “let it go” or to distract yourself when your body and mind are attuned to truth, equity, and coherence. What others may dismiss as “overreacting” is often an accurate registration of moral incongruence — the body saying, this isn’t right.
Justice-Sensitive Individuals May Feel:
Deep distress at social injustice, prejudice, or cruelty — not just empathy, but visceral anguish.
Powerlessness in the face of systemic inequity or hypocrisy, especially when others seem indifferent.
Physical and emotional dysregulation — racing heart, tight chest, tears, or shutdown — when confronted with unkindness or moral violation.
For neurodivergent people, these reactions are not overreactions; they are the body’s way of registering moral truth. When the world repeatedly violates fairness or compassion, the neurodivergent nervous system can experience moral injury — the body’s protest when deeply held values are betrayed.
I've described it as a form of rejection sensitivity, but turned outward — a visceral, physical distress on behalf of others rather than oneself. Many describe it as feeling injustice in their bodies: a surge of heat, pain, nausea, tears, or collapse. This empathy-driven moral pain is often mislabeled as “too sensitive” or “too emotional,” yet it’s actually the nervous system bearing witness to the suffering of the collective.
Over time, these repeated moral injuries can lead to chronic exhaustion, despair, hopelessness or existential depression. Healing begins when we validate that sensitivity, honor its purpose, and build nervous-system safety around it — not by silencing it, but by helping it rest, recover, and re-engage.
The Intersection: Why Today’s World Feels Especially Unbearable
We live in times of widespread injustice, rapid change, and visible suffering. In Today’s World, Neurodivergent People Face:
More sensory and emotional overload — from constant news cycles, social media noise, and unrelenting global crises.
More moral injury — ongoing exposure to injustice, inequity, and cruelty that offends deeply held values.
Less meaningful dialogue — fewer spaces for nuanced conversation, empathy, or shared humanity, and more polarization and conflict.
More pressure to mask or perform in environments designed for neurotypical norms, rather than authentic connection or neurodivergent pacing.
Less margin for rest, recovery, and safety — leaving the nervous system perpetually overstimulated and under-supported.
Together, these conditions create the perfect storm for existential fatigue — when the nervous system and moral compass are both overwhelmed by a world that feels too loud, too fast, and too unkind. The result is nervous-system overload that blurs into existential despair. In these moments, what you need isn’t to “toughen up,” but to restore your body’s sense of safety and belonging.
Practical Tools for Restoring Hope and Regulation
1. Recognize Over-Stimulation and Pause
Notice physical cues: tight chest, buzzing mind, clenched jaw, restlessness.
Name what’s happening: “My nervous system is overstimulated.”
Take sensory breaks—quiet, movement, deep breaths, nature, or grounding.
2. Honor Your Justice Sensitivity
Acknowledge it as a strength, not a flaw. Your sensitivity to fairness and harm is a sign of integrity, not fragility.
Set boundaries around media exposure, news cycles, and activism intensity. You can stay informed without staying flooded.
Choose micro-actions over total engagement. Small, consistent acts of fairness and compassion sustain you longer than overextension and burnout.
Debrief with safe others who share your values — co-regulation restores calm and reminds your body that you’re not alone in caring.
De-shame your limits. Protecting your nervous system is part of the work. You don’t have to destroy your health to contribute meaningfully to change.
When you honor your justice sensitivity as both a moral compass and a nervous-system responsibility, you model sustainable empathy — the kind that lasts.
3. Anchor in Values, Not Outcomes
Instead of “How do I fix everything?”, ask “Which value will I live today?”—kindness, truth, creativity, fairness.Micro-actions aligned with these values restore meaning and self-efficacy.
4. Choose Environments That Fit
Neurodivergent people thrive when sensory load is reduced and authenticity is allowed. Advocate for what you need: breaks, clear communication, lower lighting, or movement. Psychological safety matters more than conformity (Pantazakos, 2023).
5. Build Rhythms of Grounding and Connection
Ground: daily breathing, nature, or gentle stimming.Reflect: weekly check-in—what drained me? what restored me?Connect: spend time with others who affirm your neurodivergence. Belonging repairs existential isolation.
When to Seek Help
If you notice persistent emptiness, loss of interest, disconnection from meaning, or suicidal thoughts, reach out for professional help—ideally with a neurodivergent-affirming therapist familiar with existential issues.
Recent research supports existential depression as a distinct and treatable experience (Restifo, 2023). With proper support, neurodivergent individuals often find renewed purpose and regulation once safety and self-acceptance are restored.
Closing Reflection
Being neurodivergent means you feel more, see more, and care more. That depth is your power—but it must be balanced by nervous-system care.
In a world that prizes speed, certainty, and conformity, your task is to go gently, live from your values, and remember that hope doesn’t begin in denial — it begins in returning to a grounded state. Hope grows not from ignoring what hurts, but from regulating enough to stay present with what matters. Each time you return to your breath, your body, your values, you’re choosing connection over collapse — and that choice itself is an act of quiet resistance.
“Your sensitivity is not the problem. It’s the proof that you are awake.”
Take one small step today to restore your sense of safety and meaning. You don’t have to fix the world — you just have to stay present in it.
And frankly, the world could use more of what neurodivergent people bring: our values of fairness, authenticity, depth, and care; our longing for truth, equity, and belonging.
Your sensitivity isn’t what’s wrong with the world — it’s part of what might help heal it.
References
Bjelland, J. (2022). Survival holiday guide for the sensitive neurodivergent: 10 tips for overcoming
overwhelm. Julie Bjelland LMFT Blog. https://www.juliebjelland.com
Calm Team. (2023). How to regulate your nervous system and restore calm. Calm.com.
Medical News Today. (2022, April 5). What to know about existential depression.
Pantazakos, T. (2023). Addressing the autism mental health crisis: The promise of neurodiversity-
affirming practice.Frontiers in Psychology.
Restifo, S. (2023). Existential depression: A meaningful diagnostic entity? Journal of Descriptive
Psychopathology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37288818/
Simply Psychology. (2025, March 25). Justice sensitivity in autistic people.
Verywell Mind. (2024, May 29). Justice sensitivity is plaguing autistic & ADHD individuals—Here’s what
to know.
Webb, J. (2020, August 24). Existential depression in gifted individuals. Davidson Gifted Blog.
© Suzanne Fischer Comelo, Neurodivergent CoachingAll rights reserved.
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