Poster Session 3, 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM: Campus Center Auditorium [A68]

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria: A Psychodynamic Perspective

Presenter: Abby Rae Farnum

Faculty Sponsor: Carter Carter

School: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Research Area: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

ABSTRACT

Between psychology’s various schools of thought lies the discourse of ADHD. The pharmacological enterprise and public favor the neuropsychological understanding of ADHD, which limits the extent to which psychodynamic theory can be integrated. This paper analyzes symptoms of both ADHD and rejection sensitive dysphoria under Freud’s narcissistic wound framework. The discourse of these conditions and its consequences were analyzed using various theories, including dynamic nominalism, and how the language used may perpetuate symptoms through promoting the diagnostic identity, oversimplification of symptoms and their origins, and lack of evidence-based practice. A comprehensive internet search on the evolution of ADHD and rejection sensitive dysphoria as concepts was conducted. Additionally, a social media search, including short-form content on TikTok and Reddit and long-form content on YouTube and podcasts, was conducted using the phrase “rejection sensitive dysphoria.” Only media posted by licensed mental health professionals were considered. Claims without substantial evidence surrounding rejection sensitive dysphoria and ADHD were shared in nearly every post, including reports of inflated percentages of those who experience rejection sensitive dysphoria and faulty premises when explaining the concept of the condition and its symptoms, including loosely referencing to it as diagnostic criteria. Consistently, rejection sensitive dysphoria was explained by licensed professionals as a purely genetic condition that is distinct from other psychopathologies, for which the only promoted treatment recommendation was pharmacological. However, many stated that it could not be treated. With these explicit claims and lack of psychodynamic or other alternative explanations, care is limited to those searching for it.