The Language of Bright Anomaly
Glossary of Canonical Language and Concepts
Bright Anomaly language and concepts intentionally as part of our foundational operating system. This concepts in this glossary are ways of describing lived experience without reducing it to pathology, not diagnoses, labels, or instructions. Many of these terms are reframings created to replace language that may carry judgment, urgency, or unnecessary explanation for some people. You don’t need to memorize anything here. You don't even need to understand it or "agree" with it for it to be helpful.
A way of describing minds that process information rapidly and deeply, receiving more signal per moment than average. High-voltage minds are not disordered or broken—they require thoughtful regulation to distribute cognitive and emotional load.
2. High-Voltage Nervous System
A nervous system that registers and responds to sensory, emotional, and environmental input quickly and intensely. High-voltage nervous systems often move between activation and withdrawal as a form of intelligent load management.
3. Neurodivergence as Response
A reframing of neurodivergence as an adaptive response to internal wiring, environment, and signal density rather than a fixed condition or identity. This perspective emphasizes context and adaptation over defect.
4. Difference Without Pathology
Language that allows human variation to exist without being treated as an error. Difference without pathology removes moral judgment and diagnostic pressure while preserving the right to care and support.
5. Regulation Before Understanding
A principle that prioritizes nervous system support before cognitive analysis or meaning-making. Understanding becomes more accessible once the system has sufficient capacity and safety.
6. Non-Clinical Nervous System Support
Forms of regulation that do not involve diagnosis or treatment. These supports work by adjusting conditions—such as sensory input, rhythm, and environment—rather than attempting to change the individual.
7. Signal Load
The total amount of sensory, emotional, cognitive, and environmental information a system receives over time. Overwhelm occurs when signal arrives faster than it can be distributed, not because the system is weak.
When you see these terms throughout our site or products (including the Nervous System Navigator, the Calming Cards, and the audio reflections), feel free to refer back to the definitions here.
Bright Anomaly uses these 7 concepts canonically for regulation, reframing, and storytelling purposes only. These concepts and terms are not meant to replace your existing language or framework and they are not meant to challenge or replace clinical terminology or definitions. Bright Anomaly's concepts exist as additional tools for support, available when they help, ignorable when they don’t.