Neurodivergent neuroception and building a personal safety inventory
Navigating a world not designed for neurodivergent minds can cause them to experience profound fatigue. This exhaustion frequently stems from a fundamental, often unconscious process called neuroception. Coined by Dr. Stephen Porges, neuroception is our nervous system's continuous, subconscious surveillance for safety, danger, and life threat. It is the hidden conductor of our physiological state, determining whether we feel safe enough to connect, or must mobilize into defense. For many neurodivergent individuals, this internal surveillance system can operate with a uniquely sensitive calibration, profoundly impacting social engagement and daily functioning.
Neuroception is not a cognitive decision. It is a primal, bodily process that scans environments, people, and interactions for cues of safety or threat. In the neurodivergent community, sensory processing differences, past experiences of social mismatch, and the constant demand to mask one's natural neurology can lead to a neuroceptive bias. The system may more readily detect potential threats in ambiguous social cues, overwhelming sensory environments, or in unstructured situations.
This is not an overreaction, but a logical adaptation to a world that often feels unpredictable or demanding. The consequence is a nervous system that may linger in states of mobilization, such as anxiety or irritability, or shutdown, manifesting as dissociation or numbness, even in ostensibly safe situations. Social engagement becomes a costly endeavor not merely due to social complexity, but because the foundational requirement for connection is harder to achieve.
This is where cultivating conscious awareness and building a personalized safety inventory becomes a vital tool. A safety inventory is a deliberate, compassionate audit of what your nervous system recognizes as regulating and secure. It moves the process from the subconscious into a tangible resource. Begin by gently inquiring, in a quiet moment, about the people, places, objects, and activities that reliably bring a sense of calm or ease. These are your neuroceptive anchors. Safe people might be those with whom you can be unmasked, or who communicate with directness and predictability. Safe places could be a specific corner of your home, a quiet library, or a familiar natural setting. Regulating objects often engage the senses in a soothing way, such as a weighted blanket, a particular texture, noise canceling headphones, or a comforting scent. Grounding activities are those that rhythmically engage the body or focus the mind without demand, like repetitive knitting, deep pressure, certain forms of stretching, or detailed crafts. Documenting this inventory creates a map back to regulation when the world feels too much.
Integral to this process is the non-negotiable role of rest. Neuroception is metabolically demanding. A nervous system perpetually scanning amidst sensory and social complexity is perpetually working. True rest, therefore, is not a luxury but a prerequisite for accurate neuroception and mental health. It is in states of deep rest, such as non sleep deep rest, quiet solitude, or sleep itself, that the nervous system can down-regulate from defensive states. This restoration allows the neuroceptive system to reset, improving its ability to discern true threat from mere novelty or overwhelm. Prioritizing rest is an act of recalibrating your internal safety monitor.
By honoring our unique neuroceptive patterns, we move from pathologizing our responses to understanding them as intelligent communication. Building and utilizing a safety inventory empowers neurodivergent individuals to proactively create islands of regulation in their daily lives. When we couple this with sacred respect for restorative rest, we support a nervous system that can more fluidly access the state where life, and connection, truly flourish, the state of safety.
