Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria: What It Is, Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

All of us feel bad about feeling rejected by others, however, there are people who that feeling is more overwhelming, so they have a harder time getting over it and getting out ahead.

When a person suffers from what has been termed rejection-sensitive dysphoria, he often experiences suffering. when you feel rejection by other people, either this rejection or may even be imaginary in some cases. Therefore, that person has a great sensitivity towards criticism or judgments towards her person, as well as towards rejection.

In this article we will explain in more detail what is rejection sensitive dysphoria and we will also expose some signs that could allow us to detect when a person suffers from this type of dysphoria and we will also see what mental disorders it is usually associated with.

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What is rejection sensitive dysphoria?

When a person experiences rejection sensitive dysphoria has a greater sensitivity towards criticism, appreciation and rejection by other people

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, experiences that everyone has experienced to a greater or lesser extent at some time in life.

However, in cases of rejection-sensitive dysphoria, these experiences can feel unbearable for the person and, on many occasions, a bad experience on a social level will be the starting point for the person to work very hard and obsessively in various aspects of their life in order to please others (physically, academically, in the way they dress, at work, etc.).

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria It can even cause the person to be continuously alert to any possible sign of disapproval, criticism, rejection or dislike of him., so that on many occasions some action that hurts their feelings could come from an act on the part of another person that has been misinterpreted and, in reality, what you think the other person has done disparagingly, has actually been the result of their imagination.

Therefore, these misinterpretations could affect their relationships, in a way that a rejection would occur, what could be termed as negative self-fulfilling prophecy.

Among the causes associated with rejection-sensitive dysphoria are negative social experiences suffered (p. eg, having suffered bullying, rejection by their peers at school, having excessively critical or rejection parents sentimental) and has also been related to a genetic predisposition in the case of antecedents within its family.

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Diagnosis of rejection sensitive dysphoria

In the diagnostic manuals for mental disorders (DSM-5 and ICD-11) there are no official criteria to diagnose rejection-sensitive dysphoria. However, this psychopathological picture has been widely recognized among health professionals. mental health, in addition to having numerous studies on the matter, so it is convenient to have it Present.

Rejection-sensitive dysphoria shares a series of common symptoms with other mental health problems, so before “diagnosing” rejection-sensitive dysphoria it would be advisable find out if the symptoms in front of you are due to another mental health condition.

To find out if it is rejection-sensitive dysphoria, a series of questions could be asked, such as the following:

What do you feel after experiencing criticism or rejection from others? Have you ever experienced a neutral act on the part of another as a rejection? Are you too worried about failing in some area of your life? Have you been told repeatedly that you are too sensitive? Are you worried about being judged by other people? Do you like to please other people? From 1 to 10, what grade would you give to your level of self-esteem?

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Symptoms

The symptoms that have been most associated with cases of rejection-sensitive dysphoria are as follows:

Symptoms of anxiety
Avoid situations that you feel could lead to rejection of yourself.
Be very perfectionist in various areas.
Tendency to act in order to please others in order to be socially accepted.
Belief that you are not being accepted and / or liked by other people.
Have low self-esteem.
Negative cognitive biases.
Acts of impulsivity with feelings of anger in situations of social rejection
Rumiative thoughts about experiences suffered from social rejection.
Rejection-sensitive dysphoria can significantly interfere with a person's life.
Rejection-sensitive dysphoria can negatively interfere with all of your relationships.

In the most severe cases, people with rejection-sensitive dysphoria can become very fearful of the possibility of being rejected. reaching the point of social isolation in order to prevent possible future rejections by other people, which forms a vicious cycle of weakening of your relationships and further isolation so that you feel like you are still being rejected higher.

While it is true that we all feel bad about living any type of negative social experience or rejection by others, people with rejection-sensitive dysphoria also they are more likely to obsess over any negative social experiences, so that it costs them more than other people to forget and overcome this experience.

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Mental disorders in which it is more common

Rejection-sensitive dysphoria has been linked to a wide variety of mental disorders, among which are the following: mood disorders (depression and bipolar disorder), social phobia, schizoid personality disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), borderline personality disorder (BPD), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the latter two being the ones with the most studies regarding their relationship with rejection-sensitive dysphoria.

In a study conducted with people with ADHD and others with ASD, a high prevalence of cases with rejection-sensitive dysphoria was found, who had high emotional sensitivity.

It was also observed that they may have difficulties regulating their emotions and communicating, so that this leads them to have a perception of being rejected by other people, which may also lead to to misinterpretations regarding the acts of other people, sometimes being neutral acts with no intention of offending no one.

What's more, This high sensitivity to rejection makes those who suffer from it more likely to suffer from symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as having thoughts of self-harm, so special care should be taken in therapy when find cases of rejection-sensitive dysphoria, focusing especially on the treatment of symptoms associates.

On the other hand, it should be noted that anyone could suffer from rejection-sensitive dysphoria without having any mental disorder.

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Rejection sensitive dysphoria in people with ADHD

Sensitivity to justice, self-esteem, behavior problems, ADHD symptoms, and rejection-sensitive dysphoria were measured in a study with 1235 young Germans.

The results showed a high relationship between rejection-sensitive dysphoria and ADHD symptoms, which led to the development of a hypothesis about the contribution of sensitive dysphoria to rejection and sensitivity to justice in the onset and also in the maintenance of problems commonly related to ADHD symptoms. Therefore, it would be appropriate to take into account rejection-sensitive dysphoria in psychological therapy sessions with people with ADHD.

Studies in this regard have found that ADHD symptoms could worsen the suffering of rejection-sensitive dysphoria and thus intensify the feeling of being rejected.

Likewise, these studies found that more than 60% of people with ADHD reported having symptoms related to rejection-sensitive dysphoria (for example, suffering excessive negative emotions that they could not control); while in people without ADHD, symptoms of rejection-sensitive dysphoria were found in 15% of cases.

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Treatment

In cases of comorbidity between ADHD and rejection-sensitive dysphoria, the most widely used treatment within the The national health system is usually medication, which is often used to treat the core symptoms of ADHD. In addition to medication, psychotherapy and recommendations for lifestyle changes are often used. in order to establish a series of healthy habits in the life of the patient.

The cognitive behavioral therapy (TCC) is the one that has a greater number of studies that have demonstrated its effectiveness in these cases, with psychologists who use this model in therapy, the goal of helping the patient identify those destructive or ineffective patterns in their behavior and thoughts, as well as They are in charge of teaching and training with the patient a series of effective techniques in order to manage rejection, stressful situations and other problems associates.

CBT can be effective in helping people with rejection-sensitive dysphoria to recognize those negative emotions that are so often They cause discomfort in your life, learning to detect if they could be excessive and also to process negative emotions in a healthy.