Recognition Sensitive Euphoria – RSD’s Evil Twin?

 

Imposter syndrome is definitely NOT an ADHD thing. Although we could probably make a claim to owning it, or at least squatting in it so long that we could have a solid crack at establishing some kind of legal ownership bid.

As we exit summer and the kids go back to school and attentions turn back to doing ‘proper’ work, I’ve been really excited to get out and start talking to people and businesses about the things I’ve been planning, building and polishing over the summer break. 

But there’s a terrible, awful and debilitating feeling that starts to wash over me the second I move from the planning and building phase and into delivery: that I’m not good enough.

As soon as I have to contend with anyone outside of my safe little bubble reviewing, judging and potentially – buying- what I’ve been working on, my sense of confidence, authority and self belief violently shatters and I’m left wondering what on earth to do next. 

 

What’s Causing This

One of the problems is that your ADHD brain doesn’t just react to criticism differently, it also The first part down to good old fashioned RSD, rejection-sensitive dysphoria, a tendency to overreact to even the mildest hint of criticism, usually catastrophically. 

Most people have heard of RSD by now. Fewer have heard of its flip side: RSE, recognition-sensitive euphoria, the enhanced ability to be lifted, briefly, by praise and encouragement. The problem is in that word “briefly.” The feeling doesn’t stick. So the moment someone’s about to review, judge or buy what you’ve built, you’re not just bracing for possible criticism, you’re also having to consider that even if it goes brilliantly, the good feeling won’t last long enough to actually mean anything.

And this isn’t only an ADHD thing, which makes it worse in a way, not better. A major review of 62 studies and over 14,000 people found reported rates of imposter syndrome ranging anywhere from 9% to 82%, source, depending entirely on how it’s measured. (That’s not crappy research. It just means almost everyone has some kind of experience with it) The version that shows up for ADHD brains is just louder and harder to shake, because the RSD/RSE cycle keeps refilling it.

There’s another reason why it shows up more often for us too.  All brains have an inherent negativity bias.  But for ADHDers, especially late diagnosed ADHDers – with half a lifetimes worth of falling short, feeling like we haven’t lived up to our full potential and struggling with all the shame that comes with it – all of that means that we’re going to expect the worst, pretty much most of the time.

 

What You Can Do About Recognition Sensitive Euphoria and RSD

If the shattering feeling shows up the moment someone else gets to judge your work:

You can’t out-think RSD and RSE with logic alone, because the problem isn’t your logic, it’s how brutally the feeling arrives regardless of the reality. What actually helps is building something more reliable than the feeling itself.

• Start a Win Jar: Keep a written record of concrete wins, not to prove anything to anyone else, but because your own memory is not a reliable narrator here. When the shattering feeling hits, you need to remind yourself of the good things you have achieved.
• Notice the specific moment RSE fades. If praise lifts you for an hour and then evaporates, that’s the mechanism, not evidence that the praise was wrong. Naming it in the moment (“this is RSE wearing off, not the truth catching up with me”) can loosen its grip.
• Before you step into delivery, decide in advance what the “Minimum Viable Product” looks like. If you wait to feel ready, you’ll wait forever, because ‘ready’ isn’t a place we’re familiar with.

 

If you manage someone whose confidence seems to vanish the moment their work goes public:

Your most capable people may also be your most privately self-doubting ones, and those two things travel together far more often than leaders expect.

• Be specific with your praise, not just frequent with it. A generic “great work” is easy for an ADHD brain to dismiss as politeness. Naming the exact thing that landed well is much harder to argue away.
• Don’t mistake hesitation before a big delivery moment as a lack of readiness. It might be the opposite: someone who’s entirely capable, quietly convinced they’re not.
• Build in a genuine, evidenced vote of confidence before the moment that matters, not just feedback after it. Timing changes what the encouragement can actually do.

 

This exact pattern, ‘brilliant work, but personal conviction that it isn’t good enough’, is precisely what workplace neurodiversity training helps managers learn to spot and respond to properly. 

 

I’ve spent this past few months building a full day Neurodiversity in the Workplace training programme.  Built for managers, leaders and anyone with a direct report, you’ll be able to:

 

• Recognise common neurodivergent presentations at work, including under stress
• Have more confident, supportive conversations with neurodivergent colleagues
• Identify practical reasonable adjustments – many with zero cost
• Challenge your assumptions and biases about neurodivergence
• Apply the NiB four-pillar framework to their day-to-day management practice
• Understand your company’s legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010

 

Contact me and I’ll share more information.