7 Symptoms a Person Dealing with Rejection Disorder Exhibits

If we were to ask you to count how many people have loved you or have wanted to be around you throughout your life, and you come up with blanks instead of names, then there’s a chance that you are dealing with rejection disorder.

You may have been told more times than you can count that you’re too sensitive or that you take things too personally whenever you express feelings about not feeling accepted. Dealing with rejection is a tough part of life that everyone experiences at some point, but if you have to live in a perpetual state of feeling rejected even when no one has pushed you away it can be a sign of a deeper issue.

If this is true for you, you probably have been asking yourself questions like:

• Why do I always feel so excluded from friendships and relationships, career, and other social opportunities?
• How can I cope with the rejection I feel when my emotions and fears feel so raw and extreme?
• Is my intense sensitivity to rejection holding me back from living a full life?

The first thing you must understand is that these intense and constant feelings of rejection are not your fault and sometimes are an indicator of a condition often known as rejection-sensitive dysphoria, RSD, which has now been renamed to rejection sensitivity, RS, by the DSM-5.

This is the body that officially regulates when and how mental conditions are recognized as a disorder. RSD is not yet officially categorized as a stand-alone disorder, but more of a brain-based symptom used to diagnose emotional dysregulation, a misunderstood part of ADHD.

Living this way is understandably distressful and will continue to affect your relationships, work, and overall well-being, so you need to know for sure if you have this problem.

Common Symptoms of a Person Dealing with Rejection Disorder

If you have RSD or any other form of rejection disorder:

• You try to avoid social situations, not speak up in meetings or classes, or avoid taking risks to cope with the fear of rejection.
• You feel intense emotional or physical pain whenever you are rejected or criticized, even if those around you don’t mean to make you feel that way.
• You find it difficult to recover from criticism as it makes you feel overwhelming emotions of sadness, shame, anxiety, or anger in response to anything you perceive as rejection or criticism.
• You have sudden, strong emotional responses, sometimes even before any actual rejection or criticism happens, and for you, it’s more about the anticipation of negative judgment.
• You obsessively think about negative past experiences, especially those involving when someone pushed you away or did not want you.
• You are sensitive and always alert that you won’t fit in or be wanted by others.
• You have overwhelming fears of embarrassment or of letting others down, out of fear that your mistakes will make others withdraw their love, support, or connection to you.

Some experts have studied a good number of people who are also dealing with rejection sensitivity and found that sufferers of high RS say they feel more anxious than low RS sufferers in anticipation of conflicts with romantic partners. You probably experience these behaviors and traits due to your heightened sensitivity to perceived rejection or criticism.

How to Manage and Control RSD

Many of the people interviewed in such studies have shared their recovery journeys using neuroplastic therapies, which prove that it is possible to unlearn feelings of hurt or pain. Managing and controlling RSD can also involve a combination of strategies to help you keep it under control, including support groups, alternative medicine, and practices like yoga and meditation that can help you reclaim your life and begin to feel appreciated.

If you’re tired of these intense emotions, working with a therapist in Orange County who understands RSD can provide personalized strategies and support to cope with rejection and feel accepted again. The counselors and therapists at Orange County Christian Counseling in California are ready to help you manage your RSD. Contact our office today.