RSD hits like a wave—with speed, force, and a total body takeover. It can make someone feel like they are falling apart inside while trying to look okay on the outside.

It isn’t a behavior problem. It’s not attention-seeking, manipulative, or dramatic. People with RSD don’t want attention. They often want to disappear. Their reaction is not a choice—it’s an alarm system …

It isn’t “ low self-esteem,” although low self-esteem often goes hand-in-hand with RSD—especially after years of feeling misunderstood or told we’re “too much.” RSD is better understood as a neurobiological sensitivity to social threat that becomes amplified by lived experience and repeated misunderstanding.