Neurodivergence and Bottled Water
Everyone knows that single use plastics are Not Good™. It’s popular opinion that bottled water is pointless, a scam, a waste of money, and utterly terrible for the environment. However, as a neurodivergent person, I drink exclusively bottled water — and I try not to feel guilty about it.
Drinking water can be a huge struggle for many neurodivergent people. Some autistic people can struggle with interoception. This means that they may struggle to know what is going on with their bodies, which can include struggling to recognise signals such as hunger or thirst. If you struggle to know when you’re thirsty, drinking water becomes a challenge. In this situation, it is important to make the task as easy and hassle-free as possible.
Sensory Issues
Some might argue that all water ‘tastes the same’. But for people who are sensory sensitive, this is not the case at all. Tap water can have a strange chemical taste. For me, if I only have the option of tap water available, I would simply drink no water at all. I would then get steadily more dehydrated (without realising it), until I started to feel quite ill. Obviously, water is vital to health, so if a person can’t tolerate tap water, then they have to find another option.
