ADHD and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria

[soc_puppet]

[Content Note for suicide mention at the link]

I'm sharing this absolutely everywhere I think is appropriate, because it is game changing for me.

How ADHD Ignites Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria: "Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is an extreme emotional sensitivity and emotional pain triggered by the perception – not necessarily the reality – that a person has been rejected, teased, or criticized by important people in their life. RSD may also be triggered by a sense of failure, or falling short – failing to meet either their own high standards or others’ expectations. [...] RSD can make people with ADHD anticipate rejection — even when it anything but certain. This can make them vigilant about avoiding it, which can be misdiagnosed as social phobia. Social phobia is an intense anticipatory fear that you will embarrass or humiliate yourself in public, or that you will be scrutinized harshly by the outside world."

[Image description for the link: Cartoon man paddling through the ocean using an umbrella as a boat]

Hahaha (sob), I even have to deal with RSD when posting this. "But what if it's not fandom applicable enough?" Hush, brain, it's definitely fandom applicable!

Ahem. For anyone who's ever been absolutely terrified to post something fannish because "what if no one likes it," this might just be the answer you're looking for.

Comments

[soc_puppet]

I mean, I know of some links between ADHD and caffeine, so it's not totally implausible. (Namely: Pregnant people who consume a lot of caffeine are more likely to have children with ADHD than pregnant people who don't; and caffeine is a stimulant and has been used as a sort of "home remedy" for ADHD, the same way some people use St. John's Wort for depression.)

To the Grant Cave! We need to form a Research Team to get to the bottom of this!

[lauredhel]

I don't think it's a stretch to guess that the pregnant people who were continuing to imbibe a lot of caffeine may well have been self-treating their own undiagnosed ADHD in that scenario.

[shehasathree]

I was going to suggest that.

In my family we have:
1) my mother, who gave up drinking anything more strongly caffeinated than weak black tea when pregnant, bc it made her too jittery otherwise, and
2) my Dad, who drinks ~500mL of coffee every night before bed and sleeps fine (he doesn't even need an alarm clock to wake up on time).

(Neither of my parents have official diagnoses of anything, but my Dad fits a lot of the ADHD stereotypes.)