Also known as Neurotypical Insensitivity Disorder (NID)
Code: X00.0 (Pending inclusion in the DSM-Never)

Diagnostic Criteria

To meet criteria for NSD, an individual must exhibit at least three of the following core traits, persisting across multiple settings (e.g., workplace, social events, public transport):

A. Sensory and Perceptual Insensitivity

1. Disregard for loud environments, bright lighting, or strong chemical smells
2. Frequent use of sensory-offensive devices (e.g., leaf blowers, perfume cannons, speakerphones)
3. Inability to detect when others are overstimulated or uncomfortable

B. Cognitive Narrowness and Depth Aversion

1. Inability to engage in abstract, deep, or technical conversation for more than 90 seconds
2. Panic, confusion, or boredom when confronted with complexity
3. Persistent redirection of meaningful conversation to reality shows, jokes, weather, or minor traffic delays

C. Excessive Normative Socialization

1. Compulsive engagement in socially scripted exchanges (e.g., “How are you?” without expecting an answer)
2. Strong preference for groupthink and fear of intellectual solitude
3. Discomfort or aggression when confronted with nonconformity, difference, or sincerity

D. Attention Deficit Toward Meaningful Tasks

1. Shortened attention span for tasks not involving social validation or superficial reward
2. Frequent workplace context-switching under the guise of “multitasking”
3. Pathological need to interrupt silence or focus with unnecessary commentary

Subtypes (Specifiers):

1. Subtype I: Small Talk Dominant (NSD-ST)
   • Presents primarily with compulsive trivial verbal output and conversational derailment.
   • Typical phrases: “Did you watch the game?”, “it’s just a joke”, “Can you believe this weather?”, “Happy Hump Day!”
2. Subtype II: Sensory-Agnostic (NSD-SA)
   • Lives comfortably in acoustically and visually hostile environments; often responsible for them.
   • Think: neon-lit, open-plan offices with microwaved tuna sandwiches.
     
3. Subtype III: Executive Function Avoidant (NSD-EF)
   • Demonstrates resistance to structured thought or deep focus; thrives in meetings with no outcomes.
   • May compulsively start new tasks before finishing old ones.
     
4. Subtype IV: Social Script Addicted (NSD-SSA)
   • Hyperfixated on etiquette, performative empathy, and peer approval.
   • Often found in middle management and public relations.
     
5. Subtype V: Deep Engagement Phobic (NSD-DP)
   • Avoids intellectual or emotional depth like it’s radioactive.
   • Capable of turning a discussion on mortality into one about brunch.

Associated Features

• High usage of PowerPoint
• Comfortable with pop psychology, hostile toward neuroscience
• Often mistake busyness for productivity
• May form cliques or committees to avoid solitude or direct decision-making

Differential Diagnoses

• ADHD: Shares distractibility, but ADHD often includes creativity and focus in areas of interest
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Markedly different profile; autistic individuals typically exhibit sensory sensitivity, not insensitivity, and value substance over social scripting
• Sociopathy: NSD is not malicious—just profoundly oblivious

Prognosis and Course

Chronic and socially reinforced. Rarely self-recognized.

Symptoms may worsen in open-plan offices, cruise ships, or LinkedIn.

Mild cases may achieve self-awareness through exposure to silence, philosophy, or autistic friends.

Neurotypical Insensitivity Disorder (NID)

Neurotypical Insensitivity Disorder (NID) is a neuropsychological condition characterized by the following core symptoms:

1. Sensory Dullness: A markedly reduced sensitivity to environmental stimuli such as loud noises, harsh lighting, or chemical odors, often resulting in behavior that disregards the discomfort of others.
2. Autistic Deficit: A lack of autistic-associated strengths such as pattern recognition, deep-focus, perceptual sensitivity, or task perseverance.
3. Compulsive Trivialization: A compulsive drive to engage in shallow, repetitive, and emotionally performative verbal exchanges (small talk), often to the exclusion of meaningful communication.
4. Focus Fragility: An impaired ability to sustain concentration or engage deeply with complex or meaningful subjects over time.

Prognosis: Chronic and often undiagnosed due to its normalization within majority cultures. Currently not listed in the DSM but frequently observed in open-plan offices, reality TV, and networking events.

Treatment: Exposure to meaningful conversation, mindfulness training, and deliberate engagement with silence and focused tasks. Caution: May resist treatment due to lack of insight into condition.

If Autism is frequently described as a spectrum disorder, so there should be an opposite end to that spectrum. This is a slightly tongue-in-cheek attempt to provide that missing perspective.

NSD is also a spectrum disorder, so people may exhibit only mild or selective symptoms that enable them to operate more or less normally within society. But they may find a diagnosis of NSD helpful in working with people with an alternative orientation.