Rejection sensitivity may be cause of teen suicides

Everybody hates rejection.

Many people have been rejected but learnt to live with it. But for individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), rejection means the world hates you and you need to disappear from the earth to save mankind.

This neurodevelopmental condition affects the brain’s self-management system. Everything requires the same emotional attention, and the advice “do not take everything personally” never really works.

ADDitude magazine describes Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD) as an extreme emotional sensitivity and emotional pain triggered by the perception, not necessarily the reality, that a person has been rejected, teased or criticised by people they deem as important in their life.

RSD may also be triggered by a sense of failure or falling short of one’s own expectations or others’ standards and a perception of being rejected, teased or criticised.

A symptom of ADHD, its symptoms include shyness, depressive thoughts, setting high standards for oneself, feeling hopeless, fear of failure, criticising oneself most of the time and seeking self-approval from family and strong emotional reaction by friends and partners.

Many people with this condition have learnt to cope with the disorder by either becoming people pleasers or stopping trying.

The former scan everyone they meet to figure out what the person admires. The latter do nothing with their life as anything is anxiety-provoking. They give up on speaking in meetings, applying for jobs or even dating.

ADDitude adds that RSD can only be managed by medication. Often, psychotherapy does not work and may even worsen the feeling as the individual thinks too much about it.

RSD could be the cause of most suicide attempts in teens and young adults with ADHD.

This is a very sensitive age, when they undergo dramatic changes in their lives. Apart from the biological changes, they experience cognitive ones that allow them think abstractly.

As a teen, I struggled with RSD; well, I still do. These emotions were so extreme that any break from class gave me severe anxiety.

I had a belief that nobody liked being around me. At break time, I would close myself in the washroom and wait for the bell for the next lesson to start or to go home.

Webmed says up to 99 per cent of teens and adults with ADHD are more sensitive than usual to rejection. And nearly one to three say it’s the hardest part of living with ADHD.

RSD symptoms can be mistaken for other mental health disorders such as bipolar, borderline personality, post-traumatic stress (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive (OCD), depression and social phobia.

The difference is that RSD episodes are very intense, though they don’t last long.

But they are sudden, which may make it difficult to get help from a trained psychologist. A therapist can, however, help.

The world can be a very stressful place: discovering what to do with your life and thinking about relationships and promotions.

But it can also be a very beautiful place when you eat right, sleep well, meditate and do things that make you a better person every day.

Parents of teens with RSD symptoms should be closer to them to learn more about managing the symptoms.