NEURODIVERGENCE AS EVOLUTIONARY SURPLUS: THE PATHOLOGIZATION OF COGNITIVE EXPANSION AND THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL COST OF THE UNDIAGNOSED MIND

This paper proposes a fundamental reframing of neurodivergence—encompassing ADHD, Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), bipolar disorder, and related profiles—from pathological classifications to Evolutionary Surplus: cognitive architectures that emerged as functional specialisations in ancestral ecosystems. The work constructs a forensic epidemiological audit documenting the systemic costs of the undiagnosed mind, mapping correlations with a 6.8–13 year reduction in life expectancy for ADHD, a 2–8 times increase in suicide mortality for autism, and critical overrepresentation in prison populations, substance use disorders, and early-onset neurodegenerative diseases. It demonstrates that contemporary psychiatric diagnosis functions as a class privilege, evaluating the biopolitical consequences of treating structural cognitive expansion as individual pathology.