Thunberg says she first heard about climate change in 2011, when she was 8 years old, and could not understand why so little was being done about it.
[14] Three years later she became depressed and lethargic, stopped talking and eating, and was eventually diagnosed with
Asperger syndrome,
[15] obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD),
[15] and
selective mutism.
[15][16] While acknowledging that her diagnosis "has limited me before", she does not view her Asperger's as an illness and has instead called it her "superpower".