What is rejection sensitive dysphoria?

Rejection sensitive dysphoria is extreme emotional sensitivity to rejection or perceived rejection and is often (but not always) associated with ADHD or autism.

THREAD

RSD is not your run-of-the-mill “I fear rejection.” It can be debilitating and physically painful. In fact, many people with RSD experience physical discomfort in their chest or stomach when faced with rejection in any capacity.

“Rejection” can refer to bigger things like being broken up with but it can also refer to smaller and more subtle things like being left on open on Snapchat messages or getting a weird look from a co worker.

RSD often looks like obsessive overthinking about and reviewing of social interactions and conversations. Someone with RSD may spend days hyper fixating on a single text from their crush that they perceive to be a sign of disinterest.

People with RSD are often described as “people pleasers” and will go out of their way to get people to like them and avoid any possibility of the slightest rejection. This can manifest similarly to social anxiety they begin avoiding social situations in anticipation of rejection.

RSD can also look like:

- Fear of failure

-Feelings of hopelessness

- High expectations of self

- Excessive approval seeking

- Low self esteem

- mood swings and emotional outbursts

It may also take people with RSD longer to get over breakups

It’s important to note that RSD has a lot of common symptoms with BPD and other mental illnesses, and just because you relate to this thread doesn’t necessarily mean you have RSD. However, not a lot of people KNOW about RSD, so I figured a brief overview might be helpful.

A single cause of RSD isn’t known but there are a number of factors that are thought to contribute to/cause it, including history of rejection, neglect or bullying/abuse.

To learn more about RSD: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/friendship-20/201907/what-is-rejection-sensitive-dysphoria%3famp