I Have ADHD Podcast 364 From Walking on Eggshells to Walking in Self-Trust
10 snips
Dec 30, 2025 Explore the depths of rejection sensitivity, especially how it impacts those with ADHD. Discover how childhood experiences wire hypervigilance in adults. Kristen shares personal anecdotes of misreading neutrality in relationships and how it perpetuated a 'walking on eggshells' mindset. Learn practical steps to build self-trust and discern between real and perceived rejection. With insights on co-regulation and emotional soothing, this discussion emphasizes healing as a journey towards safer, more fulfilling connections.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Rejection Feels The Same Whether Real Or Perceived
- Rejection sensitivity is a deeply distressing emotional response to real or perceived rejection.
- The emotional reaction is identical whether rejection is real or imagined and it hijacks attention and productivity.
Early Criticism Creates Hypervigilant Brains
- Children with ADHD receive far more corrective feedback and rejection than peers, wiring hypervigilance into the nervous system.
- That repeated criticism builds a lifelong lens that interprets ambiguous signals as threat.
ADHD Adds Gasoline To Old Fear Patterns
- ADHD symptoms (impulsivity, emotional intensity, mistakes) amplify threat detection and rejection sensitivity in adulthood.
- Old walking-on-eggshells patterns get carried into jobs, friendships, parenting, and partnerships.
