ADHD | Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria 😩
Summary
TLDRThis video discusses Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), a lesser-known but significant emotional side effect of ADHD. RSD is characterized by intense negative emotions triggered by perceived rejection or judgment, possibly due to the ADHD brain's reduced ability to regulate emotions. It can lead to heightened sensitivity to criticism, feelings of embarrassment, guilt, and shame, and a tendency to assume the worst in social situations. The video suggests that while RSD is not officially recognized in the DSM-5, individuals struggling with it might benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy and learning emotional coping mechanisms.
Takeaways
- 🧠 Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) is a significant but under-recognized side effect of ADHD, characterized by intense emotional reactions to perceived negative judgments by others.
- 🌪 RSD is linked to emotional dysregulation in ADHD, where emotions can feel more intense due to the impact of ADHD on the brain's limbic system and anterior cingulate cortex.
- 🧩 The anterior cingulate cortex in individuals with ADHD is often smaller and less active, contributing to difficulties in inhibiting and controlling emotions, which may explain RSD's occurrence.
- 🤔 RSD can manifest in various social situations and does not require direct rejection; indirect cues can be perceived as judgmental and trigger RSD.
- 🔽 People with ADHD and RSD may have lower self-esteem due to a lifetime of criticism, which can exacerbate emotional sensitivity and RSD symptoms.
- 🚫 RSD can make individuals overly sensitive to criticism, even constructive feedback, as they struggle to separate emotions from the intent behind the criticism.
- 😖 RSD can lead to feelings of embarrassment, guilt, shame, and a tendency to be hard on oneself, often assuming negative intentions from others.
- 🤯 The condition can cause excessive agitation, disappointment, and idealism, with a tendency to assume the worst in social interactions and relationships.
- 🔄 RSD involves rumination, where individuals dwell on past experiences or potential future rejections, leading to anxiety and sleep disturbances.
- 🍋 RSD can also result in feelings of jealousy and exclusion, as individuals perceive others receiving more acknowledgment or attention.
- 🏆 RSD can create a fear of not meeting personal or societal expectations, often leading to high standards that interfere with logical reasoning and decision-making.
- 🤝 RSD can lead to people-pleasing behaviors, which can be detrimental as individuals constantly chase approval and struggle to maintain their self-worth.
- 🏥 While RSD is not officially recognized in the DSM-5, individuals experiencing severe RSD symptoms may benefit from psychiatric consultation and cognitive behavioral therapy tailored to ADHD.
Q & A
What is Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD)?
-Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) is an intensely negative emotional reaction in response to the perception of a negative judgment by others. It is a classic sign of ADHD and can manifest in various social situations based on perceived judgment.
How does ADHD affect emotional regulation?
-ADHD affects emotional regulation by impacting the limbic system, which controls emotional regulation components such as the anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala. In ADHD brains, the anterior cingulate is usually smaller and less active, leading to a decreased ability to inhibit and control emotions.
What role does the limbic system play in RSD?
-The limbic system, particularly the anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala, is responsible for emotional regulation. In individuals with ADHD, the anterior cingulate is often smaller and less active, which can contribute to the development of RSD.
Why are people with ADHD more susceptible to RSD?
-People with ADHD are more susceptible to RSD due to their brain's decreased ability to inhibit and control emotions, leading them to feel emotions more intensely and react negatively to perceived judgments or rejections.
What are some common emotional responses associated with RSD?
-Common emotional responses associated with RSD include intense embarrassment, guilt, shame, disappointment, agitation, and a tendency to assume the worst of people.
How does RSD affect a person's social interactions?
-RSD can make a person overly sensitive to criticism, even if it's constructive, and lead to feelings of rejection, jealousy, and exclusion. This can result in social anxiety, avoidance of social situations, and difficulties in forming and maintaining relationships.
What is the relationship between RSD and rumination?
-Rumination is a form of excessive worry and dwelling on past experiences, which is often exacerbated by RSD. Individuals with RSD may spend hours worrying about potential rejections or negative outcomes based on past experiences.
How can RSD impact a person's self-esteem?
-RSD can compound a person's self-esteem issues by making them overly sensitive to criticism and perceived judgments, leading to feelings of inadequacy and a belief that they are constantly failing to meet expectations.
What are some coping mechanisms for managing RSD?
-Coping mechanisms for managing RSD can include cognitive behavioral therapy, learning to manage emotions, and possibly seeking medications that help regulate mood. It's essential to develop strategies to control responses and mediate emotional reactions.
Is RSD recognized as an official disorder in the DSM-5?
-No, RSD is not yet an official disorder listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders (DSM-5). It is a relatively new label that is only now starting to be researched in depth.
What advice does the speaker give for those struggling with RSD?
-The speaker suggests consulting a psychiatrist for possible medications and seeking cognitive behavioral therapy from a specialized ADHD psychotherapist. Developing coping mechanisms and managing emotions are crucial for adults with ADHD.
Outlines
😖 Understanding Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria in ADHD
This paragraph delves into Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), a significant but under-recognized emotional side effect of ADHD. RSD is characterized by an intense negative emotional reaction to perceived negative judgment from others. The speaker explains that the limbic system, responsible for emotional regulation, is less active in individuals with ADHD, which may contribute to RSD. The condition can manifest in various social situations and can be exacerbated by a history of criticism, leading to lowered self-esteem. RSD can make individuals overly sensitive to criticism, prone to intense feelings of embarrassment, guilt, and shame, and may result in a tendency to assume the worst of others' intentions. The speaker also discusses the impact of RSD on self-perception and the potential for it to cause social anxiety and avoidance behaviors.
🤔 Coping with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria in Adulthood
The second paragraph addresses the challenges of managing RSD in adulthood, particularly for those with ADHD. The speaker notes that RSD is a newly researched condition not yet listed in the DSM-5. They suggest that while medication might help regulate mood, cognitive behavioral therapy from an ADHD-specialized psychotherapist is likely more beneficial in learning coping mechanisms. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of daily efforts to overcome emotional challenges associated with ADHD and RSD. The speaker invites viewers to share their experiences with RSD in the comments and encourages them to like, subscribe, and look forward to future content.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡ADHD
💡Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD)
💡Emotional Dysregulation
💡Limbic System
💡Anterior Cingulate Cortex
💡Amygdala
💡Perceived Judgment
💡Constructive Criticism
💡Rumination
💡People Pleaser
💡Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Highlights
RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria) is a prominent but little-known side effect of ADHD.
RSD is considered a classic sign of ADHD when accompanied by other symptoms.
ADHD can make emotions feel more intense, hitting ten times harder than the average person.
Emotional dysregulation is a part of having ADHD, parallel to RSD.
RSD involves an intensely negative emotional reaction to perceived negative judgment by others.
The limbic system, including the anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala, controls emotional regulation in the brain.
In ADHD, the anterior cingulate is smaller and less active, leading to decreased emotional control.
RSD can manifest in various social situations based on perceived judgment, not necessarily direct rejection.
ADHD individuals often face criticism, which can compound low self-esteem and emotional sensitivity.
RSD makes individuals sensitive to criticism, even if it's constructive.
ADHD can program individuals to expect the worst and take things more literally.
RSD can lead to feelings of intense embarrassment, guilt, and shame.
RSD can cause individuals to be overly idealistic and assume the worst of people.
Rumination, or dwelling on past experiences, is a common trait in individuals with RSD.
RSD can make individuals excessively fearful about living up to their own and societal expectations.
High expectations and societal pressures can exacerbate RSD in individuals with ADHD.
RSD can lead to a desire to please everyone, potentially labeling individuals as 'people pleasers'.
RSD can cause intense fear of not being liked, leading to social anxiety and avoidance behaviors.
RSD is not yet an official disorder listed in the DSM-5, but is gaining attention in research.
Psychotherapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy, is recommended for managing RSD.
Learning coping mechanisms to manage emotions is essential for adults with ADHD.
Transcripts
what's up a DHD crew today I'm gonna
talk about our SD or rejection sensitive
dysphoria one of the most prominent but
little-known side effects of ADHD is
something called RSD
and it's actually a classic sign that
you could have it in fact they say it's
a dead giveaway that you could have it
if you have other symptoms as well a lot
of people like myself might have grown
up feeling very overwhelmed I might have
had the belief that life is
exceptionally difficult to deal with
more so than other people the reality is
is the ADHD makes emotions hit you ten
times harder than the average person now
this is in parallel with what's known as
emotional dysregulation which is another
part of having ADHD so what is rejection
sensitive dysphoria anyway simply put
it's an intensely negative emotional
reaction in response to the perception
of a negative judgment by others inside
the brain there's something called the
limbic system which controls the
emotional regulation components such as
the anterior cingulate cortex and the
amygdala in the ADHD brain however the
anterior cingulate is usually around
three to five percent smaller and is far
less active which results in a decreased
ability to inhibit and control emotion
so this may explain why rejection
sensitive dysphoria would occur and this
can reveal itself in many different
forms and in different social situations
it's all about perception it's about the
perceived judgment so it doesn't have to
be a direct rejection as such it can
actually be rather indirect and
interpreted as such and if you've grown
up with ADHD you've likely had a lot of
criticism throughout your life which is
in fact compounded your self-esteem into
even lower depths which only exacerbates
the issue that you have with emotional
sensitivity RSD is likely to make a
person very sensitive to criticism even
if it's meant to be constructive
criticism that person can't really
detach their emotions from the knowledge
that it's meant to be for the wrong
benefit
it doesn't really compute so in a way
ADHD is kind of programmed you to expect
the worst
to take things more literally and more
seriously in fact it feels like a
personal attack on who they are at their
very core in relation to this it can
cause you to feel more prone to feelings
of intense embarrassment guilt and shame
than a person normally would are you
particularly hard on yourself
RSD can leave you frequently
disappointed excessively agitated and
overly idealistic you might assume that
people are doing things to make you feel
bad on purpose you might assume that
they don't like you and you might always
assume the worst of people as an example
this could be perhaps in a social
situation where a person makes a comment
that's slightly blunt that's perceived
to be a jab at you so if you feel
slighted by a person's comment you can
feel kind of rejected and irritated by
that it can just make you really blow
things out of proportion but RSD cannot
also make you fearful in anticipation of
rejection or what you think might happen
from past experiences this is called
rumination where you end up dwelling on
things for hours on end worrying
excessively over things that could
happen even if they have a low chance of
happening I've been doing this all my
life where I've been pacing around the
room or revisiting painful memories at
night when I'm trying to fall asleep and
I'll play over the memory over and over
and over and I'll cringe out loud and
I'll call myself out and cuss and I'll
just dwell on it in another situation
you might feel intensely jealous of
somebody else because you perceive that
they've had a bit more acknowledgement
than you have for something and so you
feel excluded which makes you feel
rejected RSD can make you excessively
fearful about living up to your own
expectations and if you've got ADHD
you're likely to have very high
expectations for yourself because of
societal expectations in return and if
you've been constantly failing to meet
these expectations placed by society
throughout your life for growing up
you're probably going to have this
really high standard and it's going to
interfere with your logic and reasoning
RSD can make you want to please everyone
and try to fulfill everybody's
expectations and you might be labeled as
a people pleaser and this can be very
toxic to your life because you've always
you're always trying to chase the
action and it can ruin you these are
things like intense fear of not being
liked which can lead to social anxiety
and avoiding things because of that
anxiety intense fear of being rejected
in the workplace or a social group
intense fear of being romantically
rejected so you actually avoid making a
move on somebody you're interested in in
the first place out of fear fear of
rejection is pretty darn strong with RSD
when I'm experiencing RSD I often feel
like it's my inner child who hasn't
grown up screaming out in retaliation
but in reality it's involuntary you
can't really control it it's always
going to be there in the back of your
mind but it's up to us to learn how to
control it and to mediate our responses
but it's exceptionally difficult for
adults with ADHD to do this and be like
other adults you know because there's so
much pressure to do everything correctly
when you put ADHD into the mix it just
makes things a lot more stressful
according to Psychology Today
it's a new label that is only now
starting to be researched in depth
individuals who have this condition
respond extremely negatively to the
perception of being rejected it goes far
beyond the run-of-the-mill discomfort
that most of us experience it is not as
of yet however an official disorder
listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Disorders dsm-5 so to finish
off if you've got severe issues with RSD
you might want to consider consulting a
psychiatrist for perhaps medications
that can help regulate your mood but I
would recommend that it's probably best
to seek out cognitive behavioral therapy
from a specialized ADHD psychotherapist
learning coping mechanisms to manage our
emotions is an essential part of being
an adult with ADHD and so we have to
take little steps every day to try and
overcome these issues that we face
because medication alone can't always
fix the issue and that's what I preach
on this channel so let me know in the
comments below what do you hate the most
about RSD what are some experiences that
you've had that have really hurt you
because of your emotions I'd be
interested to know so thanks for
watching and give us a like if you
enjoyed the content
subscribe if you haven't already and
I'll see you next time bye bye
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