Sonia Gray

For decades, neurodifferences have been framed as deficits.

But now we're questioning that narrative.

What if variation is part of the design?

In Season 3, I look at the science, the systems, and the stories shaping what happens next and the tools that can really make a difference.

Kia ora, I'm Sonia Gray, and this is No Such Thing as Normal, Season 3.

We know the rates of mental health distress are very high for neurodivergent young people, but the issue is broader.

Across the board, young people seem to be struggling with anxiety.

The rates of anxiety for 15 to 24 year olds have more than doubled in the past 10 years in Aotearoa.

So are kids really more anxious now?

Or is it just awareness of anxiety that has grown?

That's Daryl Lee Prince, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Auckland.

My ears pricked up when you said their nervous systems are constantly overstimulated.

Why?

I think I know the answer, but I might be wrong.

And maybe this is because none of us have really learnt how to regulate our emotions or even how to identify our emotions.

So as an adult, it's hard to teach regulation or to co-regulate when you don't have that skill yourself.

I'm reminded of a key line from sensory practitioner, Ellen Nathan, from episode 25 of this series.

It all boils down to a sense of safety, and that includes feeling safe enough to feel your emotions, the good and the bad, rather than pushing them down or resisting them.

And as a psychiatrist, Daryl Lee is seeing the consequences when this doesn't happen, and the presentations are becoming more complex.

And those symptoms are things like shutdown, chronic exhaustion, and in some cases, symptoms of psychosis.