rsd is not a condition. rsd is not a diagnosis. rsd is not a medically recognized symptom of adhd and the experience ârsdâ describes is not exclusive to adhd at all. this does not mean people with adhd canât experience rejection sensitivity, but ârsdâ as an âadhdâ thing is a concept with no emprical backing developed by one man, with claims of it being brain-based without any evidence behind that claim, as well as many other claims surrounding the ânatureâ of rsd. adhd is a condition characterized by executive dysfunction, which can involve emotional dysregulation, but acknowledging that is different from the framework of ârsdâ and seeing people on this site pass this around without critical thought and even claiming rsd is âadhd only >:(â makes me sick. youâre buying into whatâs basically pop psychology instead of scientific research.
emotional dysregulation and rejection sensitivity is by no means adhd exclusive, and people with adhd experiencing those things doesnât need to have its own special label or whatever when thereâs no meaningful difference between someone with adhd experiencing those things and someone without adhd experiencing those things. thatâs not logical and a ridiculous mentality of ârsd is adhd ONLY because our rejection sensitivity is SPECIALâ completely goes against building common ground with other neurodivergent people for petty and invalid reasons.
the amount of misinfo going around about adhd on this site is uncanny. please investigate claims others make about disability and do your research - actual research, which doesnât include tumblr posts that lack citation and oft unreliable sources like ADDitude Mag and WebMD. it would be INFINITELY more productive to operate on a shared experience of emotional dysregulation and rejection sensitivity among varying groups of neurodivergent people than to feed into this nonsensical idea of âadhd-only special super rejection sensitivity.â
if you allow me to second this op, i became aware of the whole rsd thing being bullshit during my research for my current graduation work. i looked through many articles, hundreds even, in english, portuguese, spanish⊠granted, i did not exhaust EVERY possible science research website, but i favored ones that had good rep and that i already knew could help me get easy resources. still, no mention of rejection sensitive dysphoria, for my research that contained adhd as a keyword.
i feel like the case that happens here is that people see adhd and rsd through the lens of false correlation, and by that i mean, they observe a phenomenon that DOES happen, which is people with adhd feeling alienated from their peers and having a negative sense of self when it comes to social situations, and immediately think: âoh! this happens a lot with people who have adhd? must be a symptom!â when rather, it is related, yes, but it is more of a risk.
and this risk is not related to the very existence of adhd, but rather to outside circumstance, specifically ableism and underdiagnosis. during my research, some articles would cite going undiagnosed until adulthood as a higher risk for comorbid anxiety and depression. also, negative labels and rejection from family and peers contributed to low self esteem, negative self perception and oh shocker!/s social anxiety (sources, if you want them, sorry some of them are in portuguese: 1, 2, 3, 4).
its not that adhd CAUSES any of this. its just that its a high risk because of ableist environments and often a lack of diagnosis, which leads to you feeling pretty fucking bad about yourself and wondering why are you so different. i mean, i know i did. but i think thats something that can happen with ANY disorder, specially disorders that can persist through your whole life and affect pretty much every corner of your life. i may even be confident enough to say that, if i had done a research on autism, i may have found pretty similar results. ableism and rejection is something common to the experiences of pretty much all of us neurodivergent people!! there is literally no need to confuse a common experience with something that only this disorder or that disorder can have.
donât apologize, this is good!
TL;DR:
rsd/rejection sensitive dysphoria is not a diagnosis.Â
itâs not a symptom of adhd.
some dude made it up.
being very sensitive to rejection can happen to anyone.Â
since adhd can involve emotional dysregulation, it can be especially hard for people with adhd.
being very sensitive to rejection is a result of trauma relating to rejection.
this means it can be treated. you donât have to live with it. you can get better!
