Episode 49: ADHD and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), Part 2: How to Reduce and Even Eliminate Its Symptoms
Listen Here
*Tracy mentions using guanfacine and clonidine. This is an error. According to Dr. William Dodson he has had success with prescribing guanfacine OR clonidine and a stimulant. "If the first medication does not work, it should be stopped, and the other one tried. They should not be used at the same time, just one or the other."
Our podcast on Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria or RSD (Ep. 19) is among our most downloaded episodes. Members of our Facebook Group also continue to post about RSD. Since it’s such a popular topic, I wanted to close the loop on RSD with the optimism that you have come to from me. I do not feel that I delivered that in Episode #19.
Since recording that first episode on RSD, I’ve discovered that there’s actually a lot you can do to reduce and even eliminate symptoms of RSD and that’s what this episode is all about. Here we discuss:
The Cliff Notes version of what RSD is (If you haven’t listened to Episode #19, you can do that here.)
How RSD and social phobia differ
How RSD and bipolar disorder differ
The reason why those of us with ADHD and RSD tend to have low frustration tolerance, less patience, and more difficulty with temper and excitability than those without the conditions
What flooding is
Join us as we discuss what women with RSD have done to reduce and even eliminate their symptoms? This includes:
Learning about their ADHD and RSD
Medication
A change of environment
Discussion of the new term VAST
The importance of choosing your Gold Star people and resources
The three things that will always help to motivate those with RSD
What it means to be an amplifier
The importance of acknowledging your creativity
How planning ahead prior to an RSD episode can help to reduce and even eliminate symptoms
The importance of “taking the emotion” out of it and considering other perspectives that may be more accurate than what we can see when our RSD flares up
Why you need to continue to trust your own intuition
Tracy’s suggestions on RSD, ADHD, and dating
Resources:
I have created the Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) Protocol for ADHD as a resource for you. When we have a plan, we’re less reactionary and more successful in managing not only our RSD but also our ADHD. You may download it here.
As humans, we have a fundamental need to belong and to maintain close bonds with others. Anything that threatens this need can set off psychological alarm bells, prompting us to do whatever we can to prevent rejection from occurring or to save face if it does.
"Challenges with processing emotions start in the brain itself. Sometimes the working memory impairments of ADHD allow a momentary emotion to become too strong, flooding the brain with one intense emotion." Thomas Brown, Ph.D., explains why (and how) ADHD sparks such intense anger, frustration, and hurt.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) makes it harder to focus, pay attention, and sit still. Most people who have ADHD are also very sensitive to what other people think or say about them. This is sometimes called rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD), which is not a medical diagnosis, but a way of describing certain symptoms associated with ADHD.
Host Tracy Otsuka is a lawyer, not a doctor, a life-long student, not a coach. She’s also the creator of Coretography a patent pending system that helps smart, driven women understand their own unique ADHD brain and use it to their advantage.
Tracy will be talking about ADHD. Your super powers, your symptoms, your solutions and work-arounds and how you proudly stand out. Tracy credits ADHD for some of her superpowers and much of her success in life.
