The Misdiagnosis of Spirit and the Healing Power of Neurodivergence in Trans Lineages
Dr. Udim Isang, DPT, EdD, Mbia Idiong, is an award-winning educator, physical therapist, and activist specializing in indigenous healing practices, implicit bias in healthcare, and integrative wellness through movement and mindfulness.
In a world that prioritizes rationality over intuition and linear logic over ancestral wisdom, many spiritual gifts are mistaken for symptoms of disorder. What we often pathologize in clinical settings, visions, voices, sensitivity, and dissociation, may, in fact, be signs of spiritual emergence.
As a trans, neurodistinct healer, I’ve spent years untangling the difference between dysfunction and divine calling. For much of my life, I feared I was broken, perhaps even psychotic. But with time, and through the lens of my Ibibio and Anaang ancestry in Nigeria, I began to understand: I wasn’t falling apart; I was being initiated.
Before colonial psychiatry, gender-expansive people were not anomalies. We were lineage holders. In cultures around the world, from the Mbia Idiong diviners of southeastern Nigeria to the Two-Spirit leaders of Turtle Island, trans and non-binary individuals have long played roles as spiritual guides, healers, and mediators between worlds. Our existence is not modern confusion; it is ancient technology.
Yet today, many of these gifts are labeled as disorders:
Hearing ancestors becomes “auditory hallucination”
Visions are framed as “delusions.”
Sensory attunement is diagnosed as autism or PTSD
These labels are not always wrong, but they are often incomplete. Without cultural context, without ritual, and without community mirrors, spiritual emergence often becomes a crisis.
This is why we must rethink our frameworks, not just in therapy, but in education, leadership, and wellness spaces. What if we approached so-called “mental illness” with curiosity instead of fear? What if we asked: “Is this person experiencing a breakdown or a breakthrough?”
Reflection prompt: What part of your spirit has been silenced, misnamed, or pathologized simply because no one taught you how to honor it?
Read more from Dr. Udim Isang
Dr. Udim Isang, The (Em)Body Doctor & Nigerian Healer
Dr. Udim Isang, DPT, EdD, Mbia Idiong, is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Executive Leadership Educator passionate about indigenous healing, mindfulness, and movement therapy. As a queer, trans, immigrant, and neuro-distinct individual, they/they/it/we advocate for bridging healthcare equity and inclusive wellness practices. Learn more about their transformative work integrating mind, body, and spirit at the intersections of identity and healing.
