ADHD Chatter PodcastADHD + Autism Expert: How To Stop RSD Instantly! Is Your ADHD Actually AuDHD? | Dr Alex George
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Managing ADHD overwhelm, masking costs, and RSD with AuDHD insights
- Dr. Alex describes ADHD overstimulation as a shutdown-like state often triggered by crowded, noisy social environments, sometimes surfacing as agitation or anger when coping capacity is exceeded.
- They argue that long-term masking—especially from childhood—functions like self-harm by disconnecting a person from their identity, increasing exhaustion, anxiety, loneliness, and reliance on coping strategies like alcohol.
- Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD) is framed as a severe, visceral emotional threat response that can drive conflict, rumination, relapse, and in extreme cases suicidal thinking, especially with depression or comorbid OCD.
- Dr. Alex shares why he’s pursuing an autism assessment, citing sensory soothing needs (hairdryer), social-pattern difficulties, rigidity around routine, and the high co-occurrence of ADHD, ASD, and OCD.
- The conversation pivots to actionable supports—naming overstimulation, building time/space before reacting to RSD, asking for clarity, and using exercise (especially running) as a powerful regulator for ADHD mood and cognition.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasOverstimulation is often social, not digital—and needs an exit plan.
Dr. Alex finds busy rooms with multiple conversations and background noise more dysregulating than online content because it’s harder to control inputs; pre-planning how long you’ll stay and how you’ll leave reduces the “straw that breaks the camel’s back” effect.
Name the state out loud before it becomes conflict.
Saying “I’m overstimulated; I’m taking 10 minutes” helps prevent snapping at loved ones and reduces the shame/rumination cycle that follows misunderstandings.
Masking from childhood can be psychologically costly and isolating.
Both describe masking as a survival strategy in school that can produce exhaustion, anxiety, and a hollow sense that praise or connection “doesn’t count” because it’s directed at a performed persona.
RSD isn’t just sensitivity; it can be a health and safety risk.
They discuss how RSD can trigger catastrophizing, impulsive reactions (rage-quitting, relationship threats), substance use as pain-delay, and even suicidal thinking when the emotional brain overwhelms logical processing.
Create “reaction distance” instead of trying to stop RSD feelings.
Their most practical tool is delaying responses—stepping away for hours or using a 24-hour rule—because the emotional spike is hard to bypass but often drops quickly if you don’t act while triggered.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesRejection sensitivity dysphoria isn't just about being a bit sensitive. I think it is a risk to life and certainly a risk to health.
— Dr. Alex George
Self-harm. I think masking from a young age is a form of self-harm.
— Dr. Alex George
It's much better to be accepted for who you are than who you pretend to be.
— Dr. Alex George
A person who's undiagnosed with ADHD lives on average eight years shorter life if they're a woman, and six years if a, if they're a man. And that is a stark reality, and that is an absolute fact.
— Dr. Alex George
The problem is isn't you, it's the bloody system. It's the society.
— Dr. Alex George
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
