Is It Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria or Complex Trauma?

Art by Jesse Meadows

There’s a new pathological term picking up speed in the ADHD community: Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria. It describes that feeling we are all familiar with, the intense pain of criticism, both real and perceived, and the tendency to avoid situations in which we might experience it.

It’s not in the DSM yet, but many people are advocating that it should be. When I first read…