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The Naming Ceremony: Is Diagnosis a Modern Shamanic Ritual?

Phased
While the clinical world is often obsessed with "disorders," most of us know that’s a fundamentally broken way to describe our experience. Lately, I’ve been thinking that for many in the neurodivergent community, getting that formal recognition—or finding your own path to self-understanding—feels less like a medical report and more like a naming ceremony.
I have to give a huge nod to TheCatWoman for this spark. In a recent chat, she used the brilliant analogy: trying to run a neurodivergent brain on neurotypical psychology is like trying to run Windows on an Apple. It got me thinking—if the "operating systems" are that different, then the people who originally built these theories weren't really scientists in the modern sense. They were more like 20th-century shamans trying to map a spirit world they didn't fully understand.
In ancient cultures, a naming ritual was a way to reintegrate someone whose "spirit" seemed at odds with the world. Once named, the "problem" became a "trait," and the person could finally take their rightful place in the tribe. Whether that name comes from a formal assessment or through the "vision quest" of self-diagnosis, it’s a powerful moment of literal recognition. It's like finally identifying with your own spirit animal—finding the creature that actually matches your tracks, rather than trying to pretend you’re a wolf when you’re actually a horse.
I also noticed NAS recently asking the community to share their own tips for securing reasonable adjustments. I suspect they may have been pivoting from my earlier post about being fed up with the lack of them! In this shamanic framework, when a group asks the tribe for their "how-to" guides, they are gathering the communal wisdom needed to help us become the Architects of our own Sacred Space.
These adjustments—whether it's noise-cancelling, flexible hours, or literal task lists—are the protective boundaries that stop our "Apple" OS from overheating in a "Windows" world and the horses getting predated by the wolves.
For those of you who have found your "Name"—whether through a clinician or your own research—did it feel like a clinical label, or did it feel like a ceremony that finally brought your soul home?
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  • I am struggling a lot lately just because I want to believe that these groups or bonds we are forming are our own and not contrived by some greater entity that doesn’t have our quality of life as a priority. 

    I have felt attending a late diagnosed group recently that whilst I felt this was warm and welcoming, the structure of this to me appears like nt group categorisation. Even within the ms teams meeting we were required to break off into mini chat groups. Talk about stimming toys etc, a lot of it feels really unnatural to me. Without wanting to sound too distrusting or pessimistic feels like top down organisation in a neurotypical way, not run or designed by nds although they are certainly the concern of the group chat. 
    I see all of this as further human ritual, identifying, naming, separating subdividing are all methods used to excercise control. It does concern me if I question systems and intent behind rituals. But why do we still feel the way we do? Because in many cases history has proven these to be the continued normalisation of discrimination. Shamans are also in some ways charlatans and rely on others being misinformed or believing in them. Information is so widespread and fragmented now that’s virtually impossible to impose belief on someone in that way. 

    It’s important to look at all of the outside possibles that may not have been considered. What if we are preconditioned to believe what other people want to serve their goals, what if Neurotypicals are sending us (on a long distance run around) wasting our time?  Because many of the things I have gone through are illegal, yet it seems the laws and society are in no rush to change - there’s no plausible explanation for why that is?

  • in reply to pietro_21
    I want to start by sincerely apologizing for the delay in responding to your post  ; I’m navigating my own "processing traffic jam" and wanted to make sure I could give your words the focus they deserve.
    I really hear the weight of what you’re saying about "contrived" structures. There is a massive difference between the organic bonds we form on our own terms and the top-down rituals designed by systems that don't always prioritize our actual quality of life.
    When a group forces you into "NT group categorization"—like being required to break off into mini-chat groups to talk about specific toys—it can feel deeply unnatural. It often triggers a sense of distrust because, as you rightly pointed out, naming and subdividing have historically been used as methods of control and normalization. You aren't being "pessimistic" by questioning the intent behind these rituals; you are being analytically honest about a system that feels like another "long distance run around."
    This is exactly why I’ve been focusing on building my own "bridges" rather than following preconditioned goals. For me, "self-healing" isn't about fitting into a new set of boxes; it’s about stripping away those human rituals and trusting my own internal sense of equilibrium.
    We don't need to believe in "shamans" or "charlatans" to find a sense of belonging. Sometimes the most radical thing we can do is reject the rituals that don't serve us and connect through our shared experience of navigating these illegal or illogical systems. Thank you for bringing that critical inquiry to the thread—it’s a necessary anchor for all of us.
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  • in reply to pietro_21
    I want to start by sincerely apologizing for the delay in responding to your post  ; I’m navigating my own "processing traffic jam" and wanted to make sure I could give your words the focus they deserve.
    I really hear the weight of what you’re saying about "contrived" structures. There is a massive difference between the organic bonds we form on our own terms and the top-down rituals designed by systems that don't always prioritize our actual quality of life.
    When a group forces you into "NT group categorization"—like being required to break off into mini-chat groups to talk about specific toys—it can feel deeply unnatural. It often triggers a sense of distrust because, as you rightly pointed out, naming and subdividing have historically been used as methods of control and normalization. You aren't being "pessimistic" by questioning the intent behind these rituals; you are being analytically honest about a system that feels like another "long distance run around."
    This is exactly why I’ve been focusing on building my own "bridges" rather than following preconditioned goals. For me, "self-healing" isn't about fitting into a new set of boxes; it’s about stripping away those human rituals and trusting my own internal sense of equilibrium.
    We don't need to believe in "shamans" or "charlatans" to find a sense of belonging. Sometimes the most radical thing we can do is reject the rituals that don't serve us and connect through our shared experience of navigating these illegal or illogical systems. Thank you for bringing that critical inquiry to the thread—it’s a necessary anchor for all of us.
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