By Sandra Kwan
Fear of rejection and lack of social acceptance co-exists among most neurodiverse individuals. Often, this fear of being socially rejected by peers can negatively impact one’s sense of self, which in turn, can further potentiate symptoms of a condition. Conversely, rejection-sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is depicted as an inclination to assume vague interactions as rejection and includes strong feelings of pain and discomfort. RSD and rejection sensitivity share similarities, but they may manifest differently in each person and hold vast differences in the severity of the implications on an individual's day to day life. To best understand RSD in relation to rejection sensitivity, it is beneficial to learn the differences between the terms emotional dysregulation and dysphoria.
Emotional dysregulation