Emotional rejection symptoms


Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD): Symptoms & Treatment

Overview

What is rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD)?

Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is when a person feels intense emotional pain related to rejection. The word “dysphoria” comes from an ancient Greek word that describes a strong — if not overwhelming — feeling of pain or discomfort. Though RSD isn’t an officially recognized symptom or diagnosis, it’s still a term that experts use in connection with recognized conditions.

While rejection is something people usually don’t like, the negative feelings that come with RSD are stronger and can be harder to manage or both. People with RSD are also more likely to interpret vague interactions as rejection and may find it difficult to control their reactions.

What’s the difference between rejection sensitivity and rejection sensitive dysphoria?

RSD and rejection sensitivity are closely linked, but there are subtle differences. To understand the differences, it helps to first know about an issue known as emotional dysregulation.

What is emotional dysregulation?

The human brain has an elaborate network of connections between its different areas. Those areas have different jobs, with some areas managing memories, emotions, input from your senses, etc. As you get older, your brain learns to regulate those signals, keeping them at manageable levels. This is much like the volume control on a TV when it keeps the sound at levels you find comfortable.

Emotional dysregulation happens when your brain can’t properly regulate the signals related to your emotions. Without that ability to manage them, it’s as if the TV volume control is stuck at a disruptively or painfully high level. In effect, emotional dysregulation is when your emotions are too loud for you to manage, causing feelings of being overwhelmed, uncomfortable or even in pain.

Emotional dysregulation can happen with many conditions, especially those affecting your brain’s structure or how it processes information. It happens commonly with personality disorders, mood disorders and more.

Emotional dysregulation and rejection sensitivity

Emotional dysregulation happens with both rejection sensitivity and RSD. Dysphoria doesn’t. People with rejection sensitivity can do one or more of the following:

  • Feel severe anxiety or other negative emotions before an anticipated rejection.
  • Have trouble seeing nonpositive interactions (such as neutral or vague reactions) as anything but rejection and react accordingly.
  • Overreact to feelings of rejection, leading to behavior that reflects negative emotions like anger, rage, extreme sadness, severe anxiety, etc.

While all of those are also possible with RSD, there’s one more component: People with RSD describe feeling an intense — if not overwhelming — level of emotional pain.

Symptoms and Causes

What are the symptoms of rejection sensitive dysphoria?

As mentioned, the key symptom of RSD is intense emotional pain. That pain usually has to be triggered by rejection or disapproval. However, people with RSD often have difficulty describing what it feels like because it’s so intense and unlike most other forms of pain (emotional or otherwise).

People with RSD often show the following traits and behaviors:

  • It’s very easy for them to feel embarrassed or self-conscious.
  • They show signs of low self-esteem and trouble believing in themselves.
  • They have trouble containing emotions when they feel rejected. This is often noticeable in children and teenagers with this condition. Some may react with sudden shows of anger or rage, while others may burst into tears.
  • Instead of losing control of their emotions outwardly, some people with RSD may turn their feelings inward. This can look like a snap onset of severe depression, and sometimes, it’s mistaken for sudden emotional shifts that can happen with bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder.
  • They’re often “people pleasers” and become intensely focused on avoiding the disapproval of others.
  • They may avoid starting projects, tasks or goals where there’s a chance of failure.
  • They compensate for their fear of failure or rejection by going all-out or striving for perfectionism. However, the downside of this is that they often experience intense anxiety and may not easily make self-care or downtime a priority.

Who does rejection sensitive dysphoria affect, and how common is it?

There’s limited available research on exactly who experiences RSD and how common it is. But the condition seems to happen most often in people with ADHD. Experts have also linked it to other personality and mood disorders, but more research is necessary regarding who experiences this issue and how common it is.

What causes rejection sensitive dysphoria?

Experts aren’t sure exactly why RSD happens. But they suspect it involves issues with the structure of your brain and that it happens for similar reasons as ADHD.

Researchers do know that social rejection — even when it’s vague or uncertain — causes similar brain activity to pain. They also know that the brain of someone with ADHD doesn’t regulate internal communication the same way as the brain of someone without ADHD. The brain areas that filter and regulate signals aren’t as active. This means there’s less of a filter on brain activity.

This difference in regulating internal communication is why people with ADHD commonly have trouble processing information from their senses. It also makes them prone to feeling overwhelmed by loud noises, bright lights or sudden changes in what’s happening around them. The brain of someone with ADHD might not be able to regulate pain-like activity, which would explain why rejection is so much more troubling and painful to someone with RSD.

Genetic connections

ADHD is a condition that has a genetic component, which means it commonly runs in families. Likewise, RSD — which has strong links to ADHD — is also more likely to have a genetic link.

Is rejection sensitive dysphoria contagious?

RSD isn’t an infectious condition. You can’t catch it from or spread it to others.

Diagnosis and Tests

How is rejection sensitive dysphoria diagnosed?

RSD isn’t an officially recognized medical condition. It’s also a condition for which there’s limited scientific research available. As a result, healthcare providers may not know much about it or have a great deal of experience with it.

Instead, clinicians may suspect that you have it based on the symptoms you describe and whether you have other conditions like ADHD. Unfortunately, providers may not diagnose it because they aren’t familiar with RSD, or they mistake it for another condition.

Management and Treatment

How is rejection sensitive dysphoria treated, and is there a cure?

While there’s much that experts don’t know about RSD, there are still ways that experts can treat it. The treatment approaches can also take different forms, and it’s common to use multiple treatment approaches at the same time.

Medications

Medications are the main way to treat RSD. The drugs in question typically treat ADHD and related conditions. That’s because treating these conditions affects the same brain areas responsible for RSD symptoms, so treating one condition affects both. Other conditions have very similar effects on the same brain areas as RSD, and treatments for those conditions can often help.

Because RSD isn’t an officially recognized medical condition, there aren’t any medications specifically approved to treat it. Instead, healthcare providers use a practice known as “off-label prescribing.”

Off-label prescribing means a healthcare provider prescribes a medication for conditions other than the ones they’re specifically approved to treat. This kind of prescribing is legal, medically acceptable and justified when evidence shows a medication has a low risk of causing harmful side effects and is effective for off-label use.

The following medication types can treat RSD:

  • Alpha-2 receptor agonists. This type of medication activates a specific type of chemical receptor found on neurons (brain cells) in specific brain areas. Medications that activate those receptors, such as clonidine and guanfacine, make those areas more active. Activating those brain areas makes it easier for your brain to regulate internal communication, reducing the effect of RSD.
  • Stimulant medications. These medications increase the levels of certain neurotransmitters in your brain. Neurotransmitters are chemical messenger molecules that your brain uses to communicate and activate or deactivate certain processes. Increasing certain types of neurotransmitters can increase activity in specific brain areas. That’s how stimulant medications such as amphetamine/dextroamphetamine (commonly known as Adderall®) and methylphenidate (better known as Ritalin®) make brain areas that regulate communication more active.
  • Monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) medications. This class of medications treats depression, but experts also know medications such as tranylcypromine can help with RSD. However, you can’t take these medications at the same time as other common medications for ADHD. You also have to be careful with what you eat because certain foods (such as aged or strong cheeses, aged meats, etc.) can interact with MAOIs and cause a dangerous spike in blood pressure.
Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy (also known as mental health therapy) can help people with RSD. Therapy doesn’t stop RSD from happening or affect the symptoms. Instead, therapy can help a person learn how to process and manage feelings so they’re less overwhelming. That can help a person with RSD feel more in control of their emotions.

What are the possible side effects or complications of treatment?

The possible side effects and complications of the various treatments depend on various factors, especially the treatments themselves. Because of that, your healthcare provider is the best person to tell you what side effects or complications are possible or likely, and what you can do to limit how they affect you.

How do I take care of myself or manage the symptoms on my own?

If you think you have RSD, it’s important to see a healthcare provider to get a diagnosis of a related condition like ADHD and then to follow up with a mental health provider. Some people can learn to manage RSD on their own, but it’s difficult to do so. That’s because RSD happens based on how your brain functions.

People with RSD also commonly have other mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression. In most cases, it takes a combination of medication and mental health therapy to learn to live with this condition. Your provider can recommend treatment options and guide you on what you can do to help yourself as you learn to manage RSD.

How soon after treatment will I feel better?

The time it takes to notice a difference from treatment depends on the treatments you receive. Medications can help with the symptoms, but mental health therapy offers the best chance of learning to live with RSD.

Because no two people’s brains are alike, and conditions like ADHD and RSD affect people differently, the time it takes to notice changes and improvements can also vary. Your healthcare provider is the best person to tell you more about when you should expect to notice changes and what else you can do to help yourself manage this condition.

Prevention

How can I reduce my risk of developing rejection sensitive dysphoria or prevent it entirely?

Unfortunately, RSD happens for unpredictable reasons that experts don’t yet understand. Because of that, it’s impossible to prevent it or reduce your chances of developing it.

Outlook / Prognosis

What can I expect if I have RSD?

People with RSD typically develop behaviors and mental health issues that stem from their fear of rejection. Children with ADHD and RSD also face potential problems with low self-esteem, fear of failure and severe social anxiety. These issues can affect performance in school, building social relationships and friendships, and more. Researchers have also linked rejection sensitivity to a higher risk of having a personality disorder.

Adults with RSD are more likely to experience anxiety, depression and loneliness. People with RSD often avoid situations where the outcome or success is uncertain. This can lead to avoiding job opportunities, forming friendships or romantic relationships, and more.

How long does RSD last?

There’s limited available research to show how long RSD lasts. People may grow out of ADHD as their brains develop, meaning that the condition eventually resolves on its own. For people who don’t grow out of ADHD, a condition like RSD is most likely a permanent, lifelong concern.

However, diagnosis and treatment — especially earlier in life — make it possible for people to adapt and manage it. Eventually, people with RSD may overcome the effects or at least learn how to limit its impacts on their lives.

What’s the outlook for this condition?

RSD on its own isn’t dangerous. But it does have connections to conditions that can be dangerous. Among these are anxiety and depression, which may increase the risk of self-harm or dying by suicide.

When to seek emergency care

You should get immediate help if you have thoughts about harming yourself, including thoughts of suicide, or about harming others. You should also seek immediate help if you suspect someone you know is in imminent danger of harming themselves.

To get help in these situations, you can call any of the following:

  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (United States). This line can help people who are struggling with suicidal thoughts or impulses. To call this line, dial 988.
  • Local crisis lines. Mental health organizations and centers in your area may offer resources and help through crisis lines if you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, self-harm or harming others.
  • 911 (or your local emergency services number). You should call 911 (or the local emergency services number) if you feel like you are (or someone you know is) in immediate danger of self-harm or suicide. Operators and dispatchers for 911 lines can often help people in immediate danger because of a severe mental crisis and send first responders to assist.

Living With

How do I take care of myself?

If you think you have RSD, it’s important to talk to a healthcare provider who specializes or has experience with treating ADHD and its related conditions. A healthcare provider is best prepared and qualified to diagnose RSD and guide you on possible treatments and how to manage this condition.

You should also keep in mind the following:

  • Medications make a big difference. If medication is part of your treatment plan, it’s important to build taking medication into your routine. These medications can help make RSD and its effects easier for you to process and manage.
  • Find a therapist you click with and see them regularly. Learning to adapt your thought processes and behaviors is crucial to managing RSD. Mental health providers like therapists or counselors can help you develop new ways of thinking and strategies that limit the impact of RSD on your life.
  • Make self-care a priority. Stress and anxiety can make RSD feel even worse. Finding ways to limit your stress can help you adapt to RSD.
  • Be nicer to yourself. Failure and rejection are something that everyone experiences at some point in life. Understanding and accepting that’s a part of managing RSD. If you find yourself facing these feelings, finding healthy ways to accept and process how you feel can help you avoid immediate reactions that you might later wish you could take back.
How do I help my child if I think they have RSD?

Children who have ADHD have a much higher risk of also having RSD. If your child shows symptoms of either, you can do the following to help them:

  • Talk to a healthcare provider. Early diagnosis and treatment can make an enormous difference when it comes to the overall effect of RSD and its related conditions.
  • Understand that RSD is real and how it works. Research shows that ADHD is a condition that happens because of specific differences in an affected person’s brain. Those same changes are likely what causes RSD to happen, too. That means children with these conditions are often unable to manage their behavior because of how their brains work, no matter how badly they want to or how hard they try.
  • Be patient. Children with ADHD face challenges (see our article on what it means to be neurodivergent to learn more), and frequent criticism can intensify the effects of RSD and make it feel much worse.
  • Help your child learn resilience. Failure and rejection happen to everyone. Teaching children how to learn from failures and recover can help your child cope with RSD and its effects.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is a problem that interferes with your ability to regulate your emotional responses to feelings of failure and rejection. While rejection is almost always unpleasant, people with RSD experience overwhelming levels of emotional pain. This can lead to long-term mental health issues, fear of failure and behavior changes that negatively affect them throughout their lives.

While RSD isn’t an officially accepted medical condition, there’s growing evidence and understanding of how this condition works. It’s also possible for healthcare providers to treat it using treatments and approaches that help similar or related conditions. If you suspect you have RSD, you should talk to a healthcare provider specializing in conditions like ADHD. These professionals are best equipped to help you understand and learn to manage this issue.

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD): Symptoms & Treatment

Overview

What is rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD)?

Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is when a person feels intense emotional pain related to rejection. The word “dysphoria” comes from an ancient Greek word that describes a strong — if not overwhelming — feeling of pain or discomfort. Though RSD isn’t an officially recognized symptom or diagnosis, it’s still a term that experts use in connection with recognized conditions.

While rejection is something people usually don’t like, the negative feelings that come with RSD are stronger and can be harder to manage or both. People with RSD are also more likely to interpret vague interactions as rejection and may find it difficult to control their reactions.

What’s the difference between rejection sensitivity and rejection sensitive dysphoria?

RSD and rejection sensitivity are closely linked, but there are subtle differences. To understand the differences, it helps to first know about an issue known as emotional dysregulation.

What is emotional dysregulation?

The human brain has an elaborate network of connections between its different areas. Those areas have different jobs, with some areas managing memories, emotions, input from your senses, etc. As you get older, your brain learns to regulate those signals, keeping them at manageable levels. This is much like the volume control on a TV when it keeps the sound at levels you find comfortable.

Emotional dysregulation happens when your brain can’t properly regulate the signals related to your emotions. Without that ability to manage them, it’s as if the TV volume control is stuck at a disruptively or painfully high level. In effect, emotional dysregulation is when your emotions are too loud for you to manage, causing feelings of being overwhelmed, uncomfortable or even in pain.

Emotional dysregulation can happen with many conditions, especially those affecting your brain’s structure or how it processes information. It happens commonly with personality disorders, mood disorders and more.

Emotional dysregulation and rejection sensitivity

Emotional dysregulation happens with both rejection sensitivity and RSD. Dysphoria doesn’t. People with rejection sensitivity can do one or more of the following:

  • Feel severe anxiety or other negative emotions before an anticipated rejection.
  • Have trouble seeing nonpositive interactions (such as neutral or vague reactions) as anything but rejection and react accordingly.
  • Overreact to feelings of rejection, leading to behavior that reflects negative emotions like anger, rage, extreme sadness, severe anxiety, etc.

While all of those are also possible with RSD, there’s one more component: People with RSD describe feeling an intense — if not overwhelming — level of emotional pain.

Symptoms and Causes

What are the symptoms of rejection sensitive dysphoria?

As mentioned, the key symptom of RSD is intense emotional pain. That pain usually has to be triggered by rejection or disapproval. However, people with RSD often have difficulty describing what it feels like because it’s so intense and unlike most other forms of pain (emotional or otherwise).

People with RSD often show the following traits and behaviors:

  • It’s very easy for them to feel embarrassed or self-conscious.
  • They show signs of low self-esteem and trouble believing in themselves.
  • They have trouble containing emotions when they feel rejected. This is often noticeable in children and teenagers with this condition. Some may react with sudden shows of anger or rage, while others may burst into tears.
  • Instead of losing control of their emotions outwardly, some people with RSD may turn their feelings inward. This can look like a snap onset of severe depression, and sometimes, it’s mistaken for sudden emotional shifts that can happen with bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder.
  • They’re often “people pleasers” and become intensely focused on avoiding the disapproval of others.
  • They may avoid starting projects, tasks or goals where there’s a chance of failure.
  • They compensate for their fear of failure or rejection by going all-out or striving for perfectionism. However, the downside of this is that they often experience intense anxiety and may not easily make self-care or downtime a priority.

Who does rejection sensitive dysphoria affect, and how common is it?

There’s limited available research on exactly who experiences RSD and how common it is. But the condition seems to happen most often in people with ADHD. Experts have also linked it to other personality and mood disorders, but more research is necessary regarding who experiences this issue and how common it is.

What causes rejection sensitive dysphoria?

Experts aren’t sure exactly why RSD happens. But they suspect it involves issues with the structure of your brain and that it happens for similar reasons as ADHD.

Researchers do know that social rejection — even when it’s vague or uncertain — causes similar brain activity to pain. They also know that the brain of someone with ADHD doesn’t regulate internal communication the same way as the brain of someone without ADHD. The brain areas that filter and regulate signals aren’t as active. This means there’s less of a filter on brain activity.

This difference in regulating internal communication is why people with ADHD commonly have trouble processing information from their senses. It also makes them prone to feeling overwhelmed by loud noises, bright lights or sudden changes in what’s happening around them. The brain of someone with ADHD might not be able to regulate pain-like activity, which would explain why rejection is so much more troubling and painful to someone with RSD.

Genetic connections

ADHD is a condition that has a genetic component, which means it commonly runs in families. Likewise, RSD — which has strong links to ADHD — is also more likely to have a genetic link.

Is rejection sensitive dysphoria contagious?

RSD isn’t an infectious condition. You can’t catch it from or spread it to others.

Diagnosis and Tests

How is rejection sensitive dysphoria diagnosed?

RSD isn’t an officially recognized medical condition. It’s also a condition for which there’s limited scientific research available. As a result, healthcare providers may not know much about it or have a great deal of experience with it.

Instead, clinicians may suspect that you have it based on the symptoms you describe and whether you have other conditions like ADHD. Unfortunately, providers may not diagnose it because they aren’t familiar with RSD, or they mistake it for another condition.

Management and Treatment

How is rejection sensitive dysphoria treated, and is there a cure?

While there’s much that experts don’t know about RSD, there are still ways that experts can treat it. The treatment approaches can also take different forms, and it’s common to use multiple treatment approaches at the same time.

Medications

Medications are the main way to treat RSD. The drugs in question typically treat ADHD and related conditions. That’s because treating these conditions affects the same brain areas responsible for RSD symptoms, so treating one condition affects both. Other conditions have very similar effects on the same brain areas as RSD, and treatments for those conditions can often help.

Because RSD isn’t an officially recognized medical condition, there aren’t any medications specifically approved to treat it. Instead, healthcare providers use a practice known as “off-label prescribing.”

Off-label prescribing means a healthcare provider prescribes a medication for conditions other than the ones they’re specifically approved to treat. This kind of prescribing is legal, medically acceptable and justified when evidence shows a medication has a low risk of causing harmful side effects and is effective for off-label use.

The following medication types can treat RSD:

  • Alpha-2 receptor agonists. This type of medication activates a specific type of chemical receptor found on neurons (brain cells) in specific brain areas. Medications that activate those receptors, such as clonidine and guanfacine, make those areas more active. Activating those brain areas makes it easier for your brain to regulate internal communication, reducing the effect of RSD.
  • Stimulant medications. These medications increase the levels of certain neurotransmitters in your brain. Neurotransmitters are chemical messenger molecules that your brain uses to communicate and activate or deactivate certain processes. Increasing certain types of neurotransmitters can increase activity in specific brain areas. That’s how stimulant medications such as amphetamine/dextroamphetamine (commonly known as Adderall®) and methylphenidate (better known as Ritalin®) make brain areas that regulate communication more active.
  • Monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) medications. This class of medications treats depression, but experts also know medications such as tranylcypromine can help with RSD. However, you can’t take these medications at the same time as other common medications for ADHD. You also have to be careful with what you eat because certain foods (such as aged or strong cheeses, aged meats, etc.) can interact with MAOIs and cause a dangerous spike in blood pressure.
Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy (also known as mental health therapy) can help people with RSD. Therapy doesn’t stop RSD from happening or affect the symptoms. Instead, therapy can help a person learn how to process and manage feelings so they’re less overwhelming. That can help a person with RSD feel more in control of their emotions.

What are the possible side effects or complications of treatment?

The possible side effects and complications of the various treatments depend on various factors, especially the treatments themselves. Because of that, your healthcare provider is the best person to tell you what side effects or complications are possible or likely, and what you can do to limit how they affect you.

How do I take care of myself or manage the symptoms on my own?

If you think you have RSD, it’s important to see a healthcare provider to get a diagnosis of a related condition like ADHD and then to follow up with a mental health provider. Some people can learn to manage RSD on their own, but it’s difficult to do so. That’s because RSD happens based on how your brain functions.

People with RSD also commonly have other mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression. In most cases, it takes a combination of medication and mental health therapy to learn to live with this condition. Your provider can recommend treatment options and guide you on what you can do to help yourself as you learn to manage RSD.

How soon after treatment will I feel better?

The time it takes to notice a difference from treatment depends on the treatments you receive. Medications can help with the symptoms, but mental health therapy offers the best chance of learning to live with RSD.

Because no two people’s brains are alike, and conditions like ADHD and RSD affect people differently, the time it takes to notice changes and improvements can also vary. Your healthcare provider is the best person to tell you more about when you should expect to notice changes and what else you can do to help yourself manage this condition.

Prevention

How can I reduce my risk of developing rejection sensitive dysphoria or prevent it entirely?

Unfortunately, RSD happens for unpredictable reasons that experts don’t yet understand. Because of that, it’s impossible to prevent it or reduce your chances of developing it.

Outlook / Prognosis

What can I expect if I have RSD?

People with RSD typically develop behaviors and mental health issues that stem from their fear of rejection. Children with ADHD and RSD also face potential problems with low self-esteem, fear of failure and severe social anxiety. These issues can affect performance in school, building social relationships and friendships, and more. Researchers have also linked rejection sensitivity to a higher risk of having a personality disorder.

Adults with RSD are more likely to experience anxiety, depression and loneliness. People with RSD often avoid situations where the outcome or success is uncertain. This can lead to avoiding job opportunities, forming friendships or romantic relationships, and more.

How long does RSD last?

There’s limited available research to show how long RSD lasts. People may grow out of ADHD as their brains develop, meaning that the condition eventually resolves on its own. For people who don’t grow out of ADHD, a condition like RSD is most likely a permanent, lifelong concern.

However, diagnosis and treatment — especially earlier in life — make it possible for people to adapt and manage it. Eventually, people with RSD may overcome the effects or at least learn how to limit its impacts on their lives.

What’s the outlook for this condition?

RSD on its own isn’t dangerous. But it does have connections to conditions that can be dangerous. Among these are anxiety and depression, which may increase the risk of self-harm or dying by suicide.

When to seek emergency care

You should get immediate help if you have thoughts about harming yourself, including thoughts of suicide, or about harming others. You should also seek immediate help if you suspect someone you know is in imminent danger of harming themselves.

To get help in these situations, you can call any of the following:

  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (United States). This line can help people who are struggling with suicidal thoughts or impulses. To call this line, dial 988.
  • Local crisis lines. Mental health organizations and centers in your area may offer resources and help through crisis lines if you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, self-harm or harming others.
  • 911 (or your local emergency services number). You should call 911 (or the local emergency services number) if you feel like you are (or someone you know is) in immediate danger of self-harm or suicide. Operators and dispatchers for 911 lines can often help people in immediate danger because of a severe mental crisis and send first responders to assist.

Living With

How do I take care of myself?

If you think you have RSD, it’s important to talk to a healthcare provider who specializes or has experience with treating ADHD and its related conditions. A healthcare provider is best prepared and qualified to diagnose RSD and guide you on possible treatments and how to manage this condition.

You should also keep in mind the following:

  • Medications make a big difference. If medication is part of your treatment plan, it’s important to build taking medication into your routine. These medications can help make RSD and its effects easier for you to process and manage.
  • Find a therapist you click with and see them regularly. Learning to adapt your thought processes and behaviors is crucial to managing RSD. Mental health providers like therapists or counselors can help you develop new ways of thinking and strategies that limit the impact of RSD on your life.
  • Make self-care a priority. Stress and anxiety can make RSD feel even worse. Finding ways to limit your stress can help you adapt to RSD.
  • Be nicer to yourself. Failure and rejection are something that everyone experiences at some point in life. Understanding and accepting that’s a part of managing RSD. If you find yourself facing these feelings, finding healthy ways to accept and process how you feel can help you avoid immediate reactions that you might later wish you could take back.
How do I help my child if I think they have RSD?

Children who have ADHD have a much higher risk of also having RSD. If your child shows symptoms of either, you can do the following to help them:

  • Talk to a healthcare provider. Early diagnosis and treatment can make an enormous difference when it comes to the overall effect of RSD and its related conditions.
  • Understand that RSD is real and how it works. Research shows that ADHD is a condition that happens because of specific differences in an affected person’s brain. Those same changes are likely what causes RSD to happen, too. That means children with these conditions are often unable to manage their behavior because of how their brains work, no matter how badly they want to or how hard they try.
  • Be patient. Children with ADHD face challenges (see our article on what it means to be neurodivergent to learn more), and frequent criticism can intensify the effects of RSD and make it feel much worse.
  • Help your child learn resilience. Failure and rejection happen to everyone. Teaching children how to learn from failures and recover can help your child cope with RSD and its effects.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is a problem that interferes with your ability to regulate your emotional responses to feelings of failure and rejection. While rejection is almost always unpleasant, people with RSD experience overwhelming levels of emotional pain. This can lead to long-term mental health issues, fear of failure and behavior changes that negatively affect them throughout their lives.

While RSD isn’t an officially accepted medical condition, there’s growing evidence and understanding of how this condition works. It’s also possible for healthcare providers to treat it using treatments and approaches that help similar or related conditions. If you suspect you have RSD, you should talk to a healthcare provider specializing in conditions like ADHD. These professionals are best equipped to help you understand and learn to manage this issue.

Emotional burnout: signs, causes, overcoming

Emotional burnout can be described in two words - no strength. None. Nothing.

And there is no desire to do even what you love.

A burnt-out person is covered with apathy and either pessimism or fatalism, his productivity drops and his ability to work disappears. Problems with sleep and appetite begin. Favorite hobbies are abandoned. Everything falls out of hand and nothing really works.

A person sluggishly moves by inertia, if there is any way, but in fact he wants one thing: to hide in a corner, cover himself with a blanket, and so that no one turns over.

People most often suffer from burnout: every day is the same."

Writers burn out from loading when you sacrifice sleep for a couple of pages and don't really rest. But especially from the emotional return.

Very burnt out are those who:

  • write book after book a lot and without rest,
  • force themselves to write “according to the norm”, for example, being afraid of losing readers (network authors), being late for an important literary competition or disrupting publishing deadlines ,
  • get tired of creative work – “wear out”, but can’t afford to stop and take a break even for a couple of months – again, for fear of losing readers or skills,
  • suffers from self-doubt and “who needs it”, from reader silence and attempts to reach out “to heaven” - to a silently indifferent readership,
  • is hard pressed by publishing refusals and loses motivation.

. But to overcome it just as quickly, in a few days, and it will not work to return to the usual norm. nine0003

Emotional burnout is difficult to diagnose and accept, because the momentum continues, life does not stand still, things are done, and sometimes it just seems that you are very tired. You sin on hack work or additional projects at work, on the lack of sun or winter beriberi, on a cold that does not go away or ... (your option).

But if you:

A) stopped eating and sleeping normally (or, on the contrary, sleep and eat excessively, but this does not add strength),

B) abandoned your favorite activities and hide from everything on your phone - in endless empty social networks, in series or relaxed books, the contents of which you don’t remember later,

emptiness - and not a single image, not a single random thought and line, no bedtime stories,

- then it's time to admit: you are burnt out.

What to do about emotional burnout?
  1. Recognize it.

As you know, recognition of the disease is the first step towards recovery . And, of course, recognize the need for "treatment" and follow the rules of recovery.

Yes, burnout is not a disease. It can develop into severe depression if it is started, but still it is not a disease. This is devastation. A person has been giving too much energy to work, writing and other areas of life for a long time - much more than he "produces". And as a result, he squeezed himself out so that he didn’t even have the strength to recover, only mad fatigue. And it needs to be acknowledged. nine0003

  1. Improve sleep and nutrition.

If you sleep little and badly, “superficially”, waking up from the slightest noise, and after a long time you cannot fall asleep, then it is better to use sedatives sedatives (they will tell you in a pharmacy or a neurologist, just describe the symptoms correctly). If you sleep a lot, wake up with difficulty, and then feel lethargic all day - the same, sedative, only invigorating (Eleutherococcus, etc. )

If you eat poorly and little, forget to eat, keep a plate with vegetables or fruits, nuts or dried fruits, as well as chocolate (psychiatrists prescribe good chocolate for depression as a medicine). If there is a lot - the same thing, only buy bitter chocolate. nine0003

And drink plenty of water (again, put a 1.5-liter bottle on the table) to stir up your metabolism.

  1. Put stories aside. Temporarily.

Writing with emotional burnout is very dangerous. To write a couple of lines, you have to force yourself for half an hour, and it takes an abyss of strength. Which are not there. Do not force yourself, by no means.

If you are afraid of losing touch with history or you are running out of time, for at least a week instead of writing a text, write plans - future, reverse according to the existing text. Reread and tidy up drafts. Write down short scenes that will then fit into the text, the stories of the characters or the world. nine0003

Write something that does not cause rejection and is easy to do, without “must”. Or edit the text. Or read it like a reader by downloading it to your phone or reader, noting good moments and praising yourself for the work done.

  1. Move.

Give up social networks or series in favor of walking or sports . Move. Even if there is little free time, you can always find a minute for "pulls" and the simplest exercise. As well as to go through the stop on foot. Overcome lethargy. Otherwise, the forces will not appear. nine0003

  1. Read.

Again, instead of empty studies and empty books, take a good one - one that you have long wanted to read, but never had the time. If it is difficult to perceive large amounts of information, take up the stories. Or aphorisms. For example, Al Quotion has a wonderful collection of short atmospheric sketches - "Improvisation Spare Part". Read what will fill - thoughts, images, ideas.

  1. Create.

Anything, any creativity will do. Again, anti-stress coloring books and pencils are inexpensive, and you can always find five minutes for coloring. And this is by no means a kindergarten, this is the simplest therapy - you work with your hands, you see bright colors, you take time for yourself in the “must” flow. And drop by drop filled with strength.

And if there is time, then will suit any creativity, from modeling and embroidery to working in Photoshop or a collage and booktrailer layout program for your story. nine0003

  1. See.

Good, high-quality and atmospheric films and series, theatrical performances and musicals, exhibitions (at least online) and museum expositions (there are many online trips around the Hermitage on the Internet). And it would be nice to find time for and review your favorite - something that has always charged with emotions.

  1. Go back…

…to the old sources of inspiration . Yes, to what always charged with emotions and set you up for work, for which you thought well and ideas appeared - music, walks, cooking, a cup of coffee by the window in a cafe, five minutes of meditation in a circle of lit candles ...

And if old sources suddenly stop working, look for new ones, based on what you like. They are there and waiting to be found.

  1. Understand.

This will pass. It's not forever. If you stop chasing yourself and start to get energized, burnout will pass, and you will be filled with strength again. This is not a quick process - it can take a year. But after all, a person also burns out not in two days, but in years without a break. Be patient , and gradually the strength will return. nine0003

  1. Say no.

And don't make any impossible promises. And do not take on extra work or other people's affairs in order to please, curry favor or feed your perfectionist. Only your work. Only your duties. Everything. Each other's business sucks out the forces that are needed for creativity.

If you don't know how to refuse, learn (and at the same time you will understand who is your friend and who is a parasite). If you understand that you will not fulfill the promise (at all, without loss of strength, in the near future), do not take it. Again, these are your creative powers. And also inform your perfectionist: either we endlessly try to be an excellent student in everything and do not write, or somewhere we get fours and finish the novel. nine0003

And, of course, trips and travels help a lot, that is, a change of scenery. And if there is an opportunity to leave - at least for a week or for holidays, at least to a neighboring city or to a dacha, even to someone else's (and to the forest, to nature) - leave.

Yes, the “no strength” state will slow down and resist the trip (by the way, it will resist everything in general, even coloring, convincing you that you are “too tired”). But if you defeat him, you will take the first step from burnout to recovery. nine0003

If you need extra help - theory to know what's going on, practice with exercises, just inspiring "pendulums" - then you can use the novelty from the "School of Inspiration" - collection for writing practice "Create without barriers" .

This is not really a course and there are not many tutorials. But each article is accompanied by a "working" task - to understand how to deal with stupor in practice. How to at least start coping, try different options. nine0003

And either choose the right one, or understand the principle, get inspired and come up with your own.

Interesting?) Follow the link - ORDER A COLLECTION

Psychologists have pointed out alarming symptoms in the relationship between family and school / Education / Nezavisimaya gazeta

Tags: family, school, parents, teenagers, psychology, education, olga karabanova

A child needs attention both at 6 years old and at 15 equally. Photo Interpress/PhotoXPress.ru nine0003

Parents show their children emotional rejection, teenagers do not want to grow up, and the school is losing its authority - such a description of the family, school and modern childhood was given by Olga Karabanova, head of the department of developmental psychology at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov at the round table "Family and School - Dialogue for the Future" at the Russian Academy of Education (RAO).

The purpose of the event was announced, as stated in the announcement, "to develop proposals for the joint work of expert parents and representatives of pedagogical science to address topical issues of involving parents in upbringing and education, as well as the development of parental education and family education." And the key, it seems, was the report of Olga Karabanova, who gave a brief description of parenthood and childhood in the Russian Federation. At least she was closest to the stated topic. And her conclusions were based on data from modern research. nine0003

And here the situation is quite interesting. Firstly, there is such a widespread point of view in our establishment, launched by university speakers, that there was no real pedagogical science in the country. It was Soviet, but it is, they say, original. It was based on "disrespect for the personality of the child." The individuality of the child was excluded, as was the diversity of his future human trajectories.

Secondly, there is a great interest in childhood and parenthood research from leading economic universities. And they have a significant impact on the educational agenda. (Let me remind you that in Soviet times there was the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences (APN), which conducted numerous studies and determined state policy in the field of education.) nine0003

Thirdly, in all this political activity there is no influence of RAO. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the fact that different universities are engaged in research in the field of childhood. The more surveys, observations, analysis, the better. But I would also like to hear the voice of the assignees of the APN - apologists for pedagogical science.

Therefore, the report of Olga Karabanova, published by her within the walls of the renewed RAO, is of interest. The speaker takes the position that, despite numerous statements by childhood researchers in the Russian Federation, the Russian family retains “child-centrism”, although there are unfavorable changes and rather alarming trends. What are these trends? nine0003

Olga Karabanova reports that every fifth woman in the Russian Federation under the age of 35, thinking about her future, leaves no room for parenthood at all. The researcher draws our attention to who they are - the modern parents of today's children. Of course, they are different, but ... this is just the generation whose childhood and youth were spent in difficult perestroika and post-perestroika times. What happened? At the time, their own parents were trying to put their family responsibilities on the backburner because it was literally about survival in general. But on the other hand, the school had not yet been touched by destructive processes, it was still “Soviet” and fulfilled its socially significant role in society. Therefore, the inattention of parents was compensated by the participation of the school in the educational process. Today's youth is raising children according to the same scenario that they went through themselves. But the school has changed. nine0003

The next point is that the crisis of childhood is not a far-fetched problem, but the most real one. According to experts, this is a crisis of eventfulness and mediation and the loss of an ideal form associated with it. The classics of pedagogy believed that the ideal form, the image of adulthood, is the central category that defines the integrity of childhood. The image of a perfect (ideal) adult is the only way and support for children to imagine their future. All attempts to design children's lives must ultimately be based on a clear idea of ​​the ideal form. Without such support, they lose their meaning. Today we are dealing, says Olga Karabanova, with the unwillingness of children to grow up, with infantilism. nine0003

Another picture is superimposed on this picture - parents lose their status. Today, children learn a lot from the same children as themselves (the same Internet technologies). And they put parents in an awkward position, because the previous forms of education do not work in this situation. Plus, a new information environment is added to this, through which new values, new ideas, new solutions to educational problems, sometimes dangerous for the child's mind, are being dragged.

If we talk about the features of parenthood, then it is impossible to talk about all at once, Karabanova emphasizes. Parents, of course, are all different. We can talk about disturbing trends that are present in some part of the parents. Strong concern here is the impoverishment of communication, communication between parents and children. Sociologists have calculated how much a child communicates with a parent per day. It's nine minutes. As Olga Karabanova says, you can not pay much attention to these numbers, because the chronological time of communication with the child does not mean anything. Little communication does not mean inconsistent communication. But there is an impoverishment of communication. nine0003

Families today have 1-2 children. And this is loneliness, hard experienced by a child in a family. The picture of emotional relations has also changed. Parents demonstrate emotional coldness and rejection (for various reasons). And the children in the family experience this quite strongly. Even in the case of relatively favorable emotional relationships in the family, adolescents still, as studies show, talk about the lack of attention of adults to them, about parental indifference, about the lack of interest in their needs. And here, Olga Karabanova believes, there is some contradiction. Parents believe that teenagers do not care about them. And teenagers write that their parents do not pay enough attention to them. The researchers conducted such a "test". They turned to the child with a question: “If something bad happens to you, who will you turn to first of all?” And answers were given. “To the parent,” the majority answered. This is the first person to whom the child is ready to open up. And as polls show, it does not open. nine0003

The strong anxiety of psychologists is caused by the hypoprotection of parents. And no less - the dominant hyperprotection. Hypoprotection is characterized by a lack of guardianship and control, true interest and attention to the affairs of the child, and in its extreme form - neglect. And hyperprotection is excessive guardianship, petty control, a system of continuous prohibitions and the inability for the child to ever make his own decisions. Hyper-custody betrays the desire of parents to protect children, to monitor their attempts to do something in their own way, to limit activity and independence, to prescribe a course of action, to scold them for the slightest mistakes, to resort to sanctions.


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