Different mindsdeserve to find each other.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving persistent inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that can affect daily life. Its presentation and support needs vary between people.

ADD is an older term generally used for the predominantly inattentive presentation of ADHD. It can involve persistent difficulties with attention, organization, or task completion and needs to be assessed in context.

Autism is a diverse neurodevelopmental condition involving social communication and interaction as well as restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Abilities, sensory experiences, and support needs vary widely.

Asperger syndrome is a historical diagnosis now included within the autism spectrum. It is not equivalent to all autism without intellectual disability; language profiles, abilities, and support needs remain highly variable.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that primarily affects accurate and fluent word reading and decoding. It is not explained by low intelligence, and strengths vary between individuals.

Developmental Coordination Disorder affects the acquisition and execution of coordinated motor skills. Dyspraxia is a broader commonly used term and is not always an exact synonym. Its impact and useful accommodations vary between people.

Dyscalculia is a specific learning disorder that affects number sense, memorization of arithmetic facts, calculation, or mathematical reasoning. It is not explained by low intelligence; profiles and support needs vary.

Dysorthographia is a descriptive term for persistent spelling difficulties. Depending on the classification, the formal diagnosis may fall under developmental learning disorder with impairment in written expression rather than a universally recognized standalone diagnosis.

Developmental Language Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting the acquisition and use of spoken language in expression and/or comprehension. It is not explained by low intelligence; profiles and support needs vary. Dysphasia is an older or regionally variable term.

Giftedness or high intellectual ability refers to markedly advanced cognitive abilities assessed with psychometric measures and contextual information. It is not a clinical diagnosis and does not imply a particular personality, emotional sensitivity, creativity, or social difficulty.

High Emotional Potential is a non-clinical label with no standardized diagnostic definition. It is sometimes used for intense emotions or perceived empathy, but it does not establish a particular way of functioning or a diagnosis.

Twice exceptionality is an educational term, not a diagnosis, for the combination of giftedness with a disability, learning disorder, or neurodevelopmental disorder. Each associated condition needs separate assessment; strengths and support needs can mask each other.

Dysgraphia refers to lasting difficulty with the physical act of writing: slow, effortful or hard-to-read handwriting, unrelated to intelligence or effort. It is distinct from spelling difficulties, and helpful accommodations vary from person to person.

Stuttering is a disruption of the flow of speech: repeated sounds or syllables, prolongations, silent blocks where the word will not come out. Its intensity varies a lot with the setting and the listener, and it says nothing about vocabulary or self-confidence: anticipating feared words and working around them often weighs as much as the audible disfluencies.

Auditory processing disorder is difficulty making sense of sound even though hearing itself is normal: following a conversation in noise, telling similar sounds apart, holding on to a long spoken instruction. It is neither hearing loss nor general sensory hypersensitivity, and identifying it takes a specialist audiological assessment.

Intellectual developmental disorder refers to limitations in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behaviour that appear during the developmental period: it is the wording used in current classifications, in place of older labels. Support needs vary enormously, from occasional help to constant assistance, and the term on its own says nothing about someone's independence or about how they are in a relationship.

Chronic tic disorder involves motor tics or vocal tics that last more than a year, but never both kinds together: that is what separates it from Tourette syndrome. A premonitory urge often comes just before the tic, and intensity varies a lot with periods, tiredness or context.

Nonverbal learning disorder describes a profile where spoken language stays a strength, while spatial orientation, motor coordination and reading nonverbal cues take far more effort. Described for about fifty years, it is not a standalone category in the DSM-5: its boundaries are still debated, and it is often confused with dyspraxia or with an autistic profile without intellectual disability.

Bipolar I disorder requires at least one manic episode. Depressive episodes are common but not required; course and care needs vary between people.

Bipolar II disorder involves at least one hypomanic episode and one major depressive episode, with no history of a manic episode. Depression can be severe; impact and care needs vary.

Cyclothymic disorder involves chronic periods of hypomanic and depressive symptoms that do not meet full episode criteria. It can significantly affect functioning and is not simply a mild form of bipolar disorder.

Dysthymia is the former term for persistent depressive disorder, characterized by chronic depressive mood and related symptoms. Severity and impact vary, and assessment distinguishes it from other conditions.

SAD is a common name for a mood disorder with a seasonal pattern, most often recurrent depression. Winter patterns are common, but summer patterns also occur; treatment should be individualized with a professional.

Major depressive disorder combines, over a sustained period, low mood or loss of interest with changes in sleep, energy, appetite or concentration. It is neither a character trait nor a lack of willpower, its course varies, and effective treatments exist.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder involves marked mood, irritability or anxiety symptoms in the phase before menstruation, easing clearly once it begins. It differs from premenstrual syndrome in intensity and impact, and identifying it relies on tracking across several cycles.

GAD involves excessive, persistent, difficult-to-control worry across several areas of life, often with restlessness, tension, fatigue, or concentration or sleep difficulties. Distress and impact vary, and effective treatments are available.

OCD involves obsessions, such as unwanted intrusive thoughts, images, or urges, and/or compulsions performed to reduce distress. It is not simply a preference for order or cleanliness; evidence-based treatments can reduce symptoms.

PTSD can develop after traumatic exposure and includes intrusion, avoidance, negative changes in mood or thinking, and heightened arousal or reactivity. Symptoms vary; they are not a weakness, and trauma-informed professional care can help.

Panic disorder involves recurrent unexpected panic attacks followed by persistent concern or behavior changes related to their recurrence. Distress and impact vary, and effective treatments are available.

Social anxiety disorder involves marked fear of being observed or negatively evaluated, with avoidance or intense distress. It goes beyond ordinary shyness; impact varies, and effective treatments are available.

Agoraphobia is marked anxiety about situations where escape or help might feel hard to reach: public transport, queues, crowds, open spaces, being outside alone. It is not a fear of large spaces in the literal sense, and the avoidance that follows is often what restricts daily life the most.

A specific phobia is intense, out of proportion fear triggered by one particular object or situation: animals, blood and injections, heights, flying, enclosed spaces. The trigger stays narrow and the label says nothing about how brave or how anxious someone is in general: what weighs on daily life is mostly the avoidance built around the object.

Complex PTSD, recognised in ICD-11, combines the symptoms of PTSD (intrusions, avoidance, a persistent sense of threat) with lasting difficulties in emotion regulation, self-image and relating to others, usually after repeated or prolonged trauma. Those three added dimensions are what set it apart from PTSD, and it is often confused with borderline personality disorder even though the two only partly overlap.

Body dysmorphic disorder is an absorbing preoccupation with a flaw in appearance that others do not see or find slight, along with repeated behaviours: checking mirrors, comparing, camouflaging, asking for reassurance. The DSM-5 places it among obsessive-compulsive and related disorders: it is neither vanity nor ordinary body dissatisfaction, and both the feature involved and the intensity vary a great deal from one person to the next.

Selective mutism is a consistent inability to speak in certain social situations, while speech stays normal elsewhere, often at home. The DSM-5 classes it as an anxiety disorder: it is not refusal, not shyness and not a choice, and it says nothing about someone's language level or their wish to connect.

Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty parting with possessions, whatever their value, with clutter that ends up making rooms unusable for what they are meant for. The DSM-5 places it among obsessive-compulsive and related disorders: it is neither neglect nor ordinary untidiness, the distress comes from the idea of discarding, and the extent varies a great deal from one person to the next.

Body-focused repetitive behaviors cover self-directed gestures repeated until they leave a mark: pulling out hair (trichotillomania), picking at skin (dermatillomania), biting nails or the inside of the cheeks. Grouped in the DSM-5 with OCD and related disorders, they release a build-up of tension rather than seek pain, which is what sets them apart from self-harm, and they are often so automatic that the person only notices afterwards.

Borderline personality disorder can affect emotion regulation, self-image, and relationship stability, with possible impulsivity or fear of abandonment. The diagnosis does not define the person, and structured psychotherapies can reduce symptoms.

Avoidant personality disorder involves persistent social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and strong sensitivity to criticism or rejection. It is more than ordinary shyness and can affect several areas of life.

Schizoid personality disorder involves a persistent detachment from social relationships and limited emotional expression. It is not schizophrenia; relationship preferences and support needs vary.

Dependent personality disorder involves an excessive need to be taken care of: difficulty deciding alone, voicing disagreement or starting something without backing, and marked fear of being left without support when a relationship ends. Enjoying company or coping badly with solitude is not enough to define it, and it differs from avoidant personality, where fear of judgement rather than need for support is what dominates.

Narcissistic personality disorder combines a marked need for admiration, an inflated sense of self-importance and empathy that is hard to reach, resting on self-esteem far more fragile than it looks. The word has become a common accusation in break-up stories: here it means a clinical diagnosis, made over time and across a whole life, not a verdict handed down once a relationship ends.

Paranoid personality disorder involves a lasting mistrust of other people's intentions, where ordinary words or gestures get read as possible attacks, deception or betrayal. It is not the same as paranoid delusion: there is no break with reality, and the intensity varies a great deal from one person to another and from one period to another.

Schizotypal personality disorder combines lasting discomfort in close relationships, unusual thinking or perception, and an eccentric style. It differs from schizophrenia in that there is no clear psychotic episode, and both the strength of the traits and the wish for closeness vary widely from one person to another.

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is a lasting pattern built around perfectionism, order and control, in which rules, lists and details end up mattering more than the result or than staying flexible. It differs from OCD: here the demands feel justified to the person themselves, whereas in OCD the obsessions intrude against their will, and simply liking things done properly is not enough for this diagnosis.

Antisocial personality disorder describes a lasting pattern of disregarding and violating other people's rights, present since adolescence and visible across several areas of life. A diagnosis is not a prognosis: the behaviours shift with age and with treatment, they vary widely from one person to the next, and the term is not the same as psychopathy, a neighbouring but separate concept.

Histrionic personality disorder describes a lasting pattern of attention-seeking, with emotional expression that is intense, demonstrative and quick to shift. High suggestibility is often part of it, along with relationships felt to be closer than they actually are. The category is criticised for its historical gender bias, which led to it being diagnosed far more often in women: it says nothing about how genuine the feelings are, and its boundaries overlap heavily with borderline and narcissistic personality.

Sensory over-responsivity is a descriptive symptom or trait in which sounds, lights, textures, smells, or tastes trigger unusually strong responses. It is not a standalone diagnosis; it may occur alone or with different conditions, and helpful accommodations vary.

Synesthesia is a neurological trait in which a sensory or conceptual stimulus automatically and consistently triggers another perception, such as a sound evoking a color. It is usually non-pathological, and experiences vary.

Misophonia describes reduced tolerance of specific sounds or sound patterns with intense emotional and physical responses. It has a consensus definition and is being researched, but is not a standalone diagnosis in the main current classifications.

The Highly Sensitive Person concept describes sensory processing sensitivity as a dimensional psychological trait. It is neither a disease nor a diagnosis, and prevalence estimates vary by scale, threshold, and study.

Aphantasia is the absence or near-absence of voluntary mental imagery: being asked to picture a face or an apple produces no image at all, or almost none. It is neither a disorder nor a memory deficit: the knowledge stays intact, it is the visualising that is missing, and the degree ranges from a complete blank to faint, fleeting images.

Misokinesia is a strong negative reaction, sometimes felt in the body, to the sight of other people's small repetitive movements: a bouncing leg, drumming fingers, a pen being spun. It was only described recently and is distinct from misophonia, which involves sounds: the intensity varies a lot from one person to another, and being irritated by a fidget now and then is not enough to call it that.

Developmental prosopagnosia is a lasting difficulty in recognising faces, present since childhood and without any brain injury behind it; it is thought to concern around 2% of the population. Recognition then runs through voice, gait, hairstyle or context, and failing to recognise someone says nothing about the interest you have in them or about memory in general.

Hyperacusis is an intolerance of sounds at ordinary levels, which are experienced as too loud and sometimes painful, even when measured hearing stays normal. It is distinct from misophonia, which targets specific sounds, and from phonophobia, which is a fear of sound. It calls for an audiological assessment, and wearing earplugs all the time tends to make the problem worse rather than settle it.

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that can combine so-called positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusional beliefs), negative symptoms (social withdrawal, blunted emotion, loss of drive) and cognitive difficulties such as attention or working memory. It is treatable, and the courses it takes vary widely: some people have a single episode, others a fluctuating one, and recovery is among the possible outcomes. Two common beliefs are simply wrong: it makes nobody dangerous, since those affected are far more often victims than perpetrators of violence, and it has nothing to do with split personality, which belongs to an entirely different diagnosis.

Delusional disorder is marked by delusional beliefs that settle in over time, most often around persecution, jealousy, erotomania or a bodily preoccupation. Unlike schizophrenia, the other psychotic symptoms are absent, and functioning often stays preserved outside the theme concerned: work, daily life and relationships can carry on as before. How strong the conviction is and how much room it takes up vary widely from one person to another, and the label says nothing about whether someone is dangerous.

Schizoaffective disorder combines psychotic symptoms with marked mood symptoms, depressive or manic, together with psychotic periods that occur outside mood episodes. It sits on the border between schizophrenia and mood disorders, which is why the diagnosis can take a long time to settle. The intensity of the symptoms, how they change over time and the support that helps vary widely from one person to another.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder combining restricted intake, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted experience of one's body. It is a serious but treatable condition, its course varies, and it cannot be read from someone's body shape.

ARFID refers to a severely limited diet driven by sensory disgust at certain textures, smells or colours, by a lack of interest in food, or by fear of an incident such as choking or vomiting. What sets it apart from anorexia nervosa is the complete absence of any concern about weight or body shape: the body is not the issue, only the act of eating is. Common among autistic people, it has nothing to do with fussiness or with poor parenting, and its intensity varies widely from one person to the next.

Bulimia nervosa combines episodes of eating experienced with a loss of control and the compensatory behaviours that follow: self-induced vomiting, laxatives, intense exercise or fasting. Weight usually stays within the ordinary range, so the disorder is invisible from the outside, including to people who are close. It is a serious but treatable condition, and it differs from binge eating disorder, where the episodes are not followed by compensation.

Binge eating disorder involves episodes of eating large amounts of food with a sense of loss of control, without the regular compensatory behaviours found in bulimia, and with marked distress. It is the most common eating disorder, and it is not the same thing as an occasional excess or a lack of willpower. Its presentation varies a great deal from one person to another, and body size neither confirms it nor rules it out.

Behavioral addiction describes a loss of control over an activity that someone keeps up despite its consequences, until it takes up more and more room and crowds out everything else. Only gambling disorder and gaming disorder are recognised in the international classifications: other excessive habits, whether screens, shopping or sexuality, are still debated and are not recognised as behavioral addictions. Enjoying an activity a great deal is not an addiction: what counts is the loss of control and the impact on daily life.

Substance use disorder refers to use that continues despite its negative consequences, with a loss of control over how much or when, cravings that are hard to ignore, and sometimes tolerance followed by withdrawal signs when use stops. Its intensity varies a great deal between people and across periods of life, and recovery looks like a long road with possible relapses rather than a switch that is flipped once and for all. The diagnosis describes a relationship with a substance that has become problematic: it says nothing about a person's worth, reliability or willpower.

Depersonalization is the persistent feeling of being detached from yourself, from your own gestures or emotions; derealization applies the same impression to the surrounding world, which seems unreal, as if filtered, often described as living behind a pane of glass. Reality testing stays intact: the person knows this is an impression and not an actual change in the world, which sets the state apart from a psychotic experience. Feeling it occasionally is very common; it is how long the state lasts and how much it affects daily life that make it a disorder.

Dissociative identity disorder involves the presence of two or more distinct identity states, along with memory gaps that cover everyday events rather than ordinary absent-mindedness. It is closely linked to early and repeated trauma, and it should not be confused with schizophrenia, which is a different condition. The picture that comes from films, made of dramatic switching and dangerousness, does not describe the reality of most people who live with it.

High creative potential is a non-clinical label with no standardized diagnostic threshold. It may describe some capacities for divergent thinking or creative production, but does not determine a person's overall functioning or worth.

Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic over time, not necessarily at the same time, for more than one year with onset before age 18. Tics and support needs vary; ADHD or OCD may co-occur.

Alexithymia refers to difficulty identifying and putting words to one's own emotions, often alongside a concrete, externally oriented style of thinking. It is not a diagnosis but a transdiagnostic trait measured by questionnaire, common in autism without being specific to it, and it does not mean an absence of feeling.

Epilepsy is defined by repeated seizures linked to abnormal electrical activity in the brain, which can range from brief absences to seizures with loss of consciousness and involuntary movements. The forms it takes and the impact it has vary enormously from one person to the next, and many people are well controlled by treatment, with long stretches without any seizure at all. A single seizure occurring in a particular context, such as a high fever or sleep deprivation, is not enough to speak of epilepsy: the diagnosis rests on repetition and on a medical work-up.

Joint hypermobility means a range of motion that goes beyond the usual limits in one or several joints, sometimes together with pain, fatigue and a feeling of instability, on a spectrum that includes hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Co-occurrence with autism and ADHD is frequently reported, but the association is still being studied. It is not a neurodivergence in itself: many flexible people have no discomfort at all, and the impact on daily life varies widely from one person to the next.

Narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder marked by excessive daytime sleepiness and by irresistible sleep attacks that come on even after a full night in bed. Some people also have cataplexy: a sudden loss of muscle tone triggered by an emotion, often laughter or surprise. It is neither laziness, nor a lack of willpower, nor simple sleep debt, and how strongly symptoms show up varies a great deal from one person to another.

Delayed sleep phase syndrome means a body clock that is lastingly shifted: falling asleep and waking up happen very late, while the sleep itself stays good in quality when nothing constrains it. It is neither insomnia nor a lack of discipline, and the size of the shift varies a great deal from one person to another. The difficulties come mostly from the friction with imposed schedules: morning appointments, working days, and the rhythm of a shared life.

Cognitive after-effects of traumatic brain injury are the difficulties with attention, memory, stamina or emotional regulation that persist after a blow to the head, once the acute phase is over. This is an acquired rather than a developmental atypicality, and it is often counted within neurodivergence in the broad sense because cognitive functioning comes out of it lastingly altered. Recovery varies a great deal from one person to the next and can continue for a long time, so the picture in the first months says little about the picture in the years that follow.