The Fear of Disappointment

Hey, MisWired here. And today, I want to talk about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). 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 someone important in their life(Additude.com,September 2019). That means that we tend to over exaggerate criticisms that we've heard over time to the point that they consume us. Personally, I've replayed every criticism I've heard from my family, friends, classmates, and teachers. And during those replays, I've internalized them to the point that I feel like they've become who I am. And it paralyzes me from making decisions that would help me grow as a person and hone my talents. And it got to the point where I question everyone's intention, including the people who haven't done anything to warrant me question their intentions. And when it gets down to it, RSD is such a demoralizing and destabilizing factor for people who have it. And considering that it comes with ADHD and Social Anxiety Disorder, you could have a person who is tearing themselves down, feel like everyone around them are tearing them down, and feel like they don't deserve to exist, you get a recipe for disaster. And as a society, we tend to forget about the emotional side of mental health, to the point that we erode their confidence in everything about themselves. Add on top of that the fact that RSD isn't part of the DSM-V, so it isn't the easiest thing to diagnose, so most people don't even know that they have it. So as a society we have to understand that we have to realize that our words have an effect on people and they might now want to say so, or even have the opportunity to say that they are hurting.