Greetings!
Recognition Responsive Euphoria
Over the past few years, Dr. William Dobson has helped multitudes of people of all ages who have ADHD by developing the concept of “rejection sensitive dysphoria,” or RSD. The painful syndrome of feeling acute and profound dejection at even the slightest perceived insult or “dis” is common among those of us who have ADHD.
I’ve observed a sister syndrome of RSD in my 69 years of living with ADHD and my 38 years of treating the condition in children and adults. This sister syndrome is, in my experience, even more common that RSD. I call it:
“
Recognition Responsive Euphoria
,”
or RRE.
Perhaps because people who have untreated ADHD are so accustomed to making mistakes and receiving criticism, they become positively giddy when they receive positive recognition. The best way to get them charged up and motivated is to praise—legitimately, honestly—some element of a project they’re working on, an outfit they’re wearing, a proposal they’re developing, an idea they’re hatching.
