For years I have had issues with receiving feedback. I don’t know that anyone likes to receive negative feedback or criticism, but for those of us with ADHD it is a lot more intense than what you may experience. It goes 2 ways for me, I either become incredibly defeated and turn to mush or my heart starts racing and I become irritated; both situations are less than ideal for resolving a situation, and both absolutely knock me off the tracks for the rest of my day.
“RSD is extreme emotional sensitivity and pain triggered by the perception that a person has been rejected or criticized by important people in their life.”
– Dr. William Dodson M.D., ADDitude Magazine.
Extreme. Emotional. Sensitivity…and Pain!
For me, it comes on in an instant, like a switch is flipped. I don’t know how to avoid it. There is no adjustment that the other person can make to their tone or choice of words to help me avoid RSD. There is no internal dialogue I can use to become mindful in the moment and deescalate. I am trying a new medication specifically for RSD. I “believe” there have been at least a couple of instances where I was in a scenario that would have thrown me out of commission, but instead I was able to stay present in the conversation. I can’t say with certainty if the medication is helping or not.
RSD is very frustrating for both the sufferer and the people they are interacting with. Just understand that this is not an excuse. We are not trying to get out of accountability for our words or actions. RSD is debilitating for us, and we are trying the best we can to cope with it.
Jessica McCabe made a great video explaining RSD over at HowToADHD
We released a digital collectible called RSD Richard. He is a giraffe with ADHD who also is affected by Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria.