When Your Brain Tells You Everyone Hates You... The Hidden Face of Rejection Sensitivity

Have you ever had that sinking feeling that someone’s ignoring you… and your brain instantly spirals into, “They must hate me”?

You're not alone. That’s often Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD) talking, RSD is a common experience, especially for neurodivergent folks. RSD isn’t about being dramatic or needy. It’s about the emotional whiplash of reading too deeply into silence, texts left unread, or subtle shifts in tone.

This kind of thinking can quietly shape our behaviours in ways many don’t notice. Here are some common and totally human things we might do when RSD takes the wheel:

- Counting who messages first. If you’re always the one initiating contact, it starts to feel like maybe you’re not wanted.

- Staying quiet in groups. Not because you don’t have anything to say, but because you’re scared it’ll come out wrong or people will judge you.

- Pushing people away. Better to retreat now than risk being rejected later, right?

- Over-apologising. For being too loud, too quiet, too present for just existing.

- Craving reassurance. “Are we okay?” becomes a frequent (and exhausting) check-in.

Sometimes we lash out, sometimes we isolate, sometimes we try so hard to people-please we forget ourselves in the process. It's messy, and it’s also incredibly human.

If these hits close to home, know this: you’re not broken. You’re not “too much.” You're navigating a brain that feels deeply and scans constantly for danger even in everyday interactions.

What helps? 

Gentle reminders. Safe people. A little self-compassion. Tools like journaling, therapy, and nervous system regulation. And most of all knowing you’re not alone in this.

Your Turn:  What’s something you do when RSD creeps in? Let me know I’d love to hear your story.

Be you, everyone else is taken. 

Love, Tracey