The Psychiatrist Who Discovered RSD: "RSD Dies When You Do THIS!" | Dr. William (Bill) Dodson

ADHD Chatter

Alex Partridge

Education, Mental Health, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 81 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. William (Bill) Dodson, M.D., LF-APA, is a board-certified adult psychiatrist and has spent his career helping patients achieve the best possible outcomes from ADHD treatment. Dr. Dodson has been instrumental in advancing the field’s understanding of the emotional component of ADHD, most notably through his recognition of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (“RSD”) as a core feature. His work with patients with highly complex psychiatric needs has earned him international acclaim. He has written more than 120 articles and produced 17 webinars for ADDitude and the Attention Deficit Disorder Association. He serves on ADDitude’s Medical Advisory Panel. Chapters: 00:54 What is RSD and how people experience it 07:11 Why did you coin the phrase ‘RSD’ 12:55 Is RSD a lonely experience 19:05 Is RSD your inner child throwing a tantrum 22:26 The link between emotional dysregulation and RSD 28:22 The darkest side of RSD 34:59 Dealing with regrets after an ADHD diagnosis 37:01 Tiimo advert 42:59 RSD is women VS men 45:16 How long an RSD trigger lasts 47:18 Can RSD be comparable to PTSD 49:16 RSD in romantic relationships 01:04:50 Can RSD cause agoraphobia or OCD 01:07:25 Tools to stop RSD 01:11:40 Other names for RSD 01:14:01 Audience questions Visit Dr William’s website 👉 https://www.dodsonadhdtreatment.com Pre-order Alex’s latest book about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria 👉 https://linktr.ee/adhdchatter?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=9ffd8709-06df-444c-9936-c136fbd14d6e Buy Alex's book entitled 'Now It All Makes Sense' 👉 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-All-Makes-Sense-Diagnosis/dp/1399817817 Get 30% off an annual Tiimo subscription 👉 https://www.tiimoapp.com/offers/adhdchatter Producer: Timon Woodward Recorded by: Hamlin Studios Trailer editor: Ryan Faber DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This for me is very surreal. It's not every day I get to speak to somebody who coined one of the most used, recognizable, yet I think, painful acronyms in ADHD history.
0:14.4	ADHD royalty, I truly believe you are.
0:19.0	I was saying just before we started, I got my diagnosis two and a half years ago,
0:24.0	and your work was one of the first I dived into. So on a personal note, thank you ever so much.
0:30.7	My pleasure. Thank you.
0:33.4	Let's start off, Bill, with a simple but probably not an easy question about rejection sensitivity dysphoria, and I'll refer to it as RSD from this point on.
0:46.1	And then perhaps we'll build up to some more advanced and specific details about RSD.
0:52.6	But to start with, what is RSD and how is it experienced?
0:59.5	RSD is a phenomenon that I first noticed because I'm a practitioner. I'm not a researcher.
1:08.6	And so when you sit with a thousand people,
1:12.2	and you hear the same thing coming from every single one of them,
1:17.1	you may not know that it's important, I mean what it is,
1:20.0	but you know that it's important.
1:22.5	And so I have to give all the credit to my patients
1:26.6	because they were the ones who described it to me.
1:30.7	And what RSD is is an exquisite sensitivity to the perception, doesn't have to be real,
1:38.8	the perception that someone has withdrawn their love, approval, or respect.
1:45.5	And, I mean, nobody likes being criticized, nobody likes being rejected.
1:50.2	But for people who have an ADHD-style nervous system, it is catastrophic.
1:56.8	In fact, that's why the name of it includes the word dysphoria,
2:03.7	was literally Greek for unbearable.
2:08.5	And so it's like sort of other people's experience or projection,
	...

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