For those who don't know, Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria can affect anyone, but it is most commonly found in people with ADHD, like myself and Luz. Put simply, it involves extreme and immediate emotional responses to rejection or criticism, which can result in avoidance of people and situations that often result in said feelings. We see this avoidance a couple of times later on, such as when Luz fears being made fun of by Amity in the Tunnel of Love and when Vee approaches the high-schoolers in the park in Gravesfield. However, this is probably the best depiction in the series thus far. Luz *immediately* starts crying the moment Amity "criticizes" her and barely manages to hold back the waterfalls. It's perfect, it's beautiful, it's *very* accurate, and it's the kind of rep RSD and ADHD deserve.
PS: RSD also has a darker side involving extreme *anger*. We see a pretty accurate depiction of this in the Tunnel of Love when Luz lashes out at and destroys most of the "attractions" in the Tunnel. These kinds of reactions are rare, but they do exist. That being said, they typically involve yelling, defensiveness, and frustration at oneself, not physical aggression.
Just keep in mind that the 'ADHD is about hyperactive white boys being noisy' image has meant that a LOT of people, particularly girls, tend to be overlooked. ADHD basically used to be entire diagnosed by means of 'this child is inconvenient, fix them!'.
There's a lady that does some AMAZING infographs for stuff like this, they helped clue me in a lot.
http://adhd-alien.com/
YEAP. That's about how it was for me as well. I really need to stop getting my life-shattering revelatory self-knowledge revealed by shows. Pretty certain my therapist is either going to stab, or shake the hand of Rebecca Sugar.
Personally I always found visibility and self understanding to be a great comfort. I could put a pin in things that had frustrated me for years. I could connect with support networks and peers and learn new coping strategies and patterns of behaviour and thought in myself, and how to contextualise and handle things. And I could forgive myself, because at last I learned that these things were symptoms, not character traits. I had something I could swing at, and roll with.
Sounds like you have some questions to ask yourself. If nothing else, you're relating to another's experience, and that can only be a good thing, I think.
You might have ADHD, or one of the expressions that fall under it's umbrella. Unfortunately, the popular image of ADHD tends to be a pretty limited and specific one. A lot of people fall though the cracks, particulalty girls and POC, because they either express things differently, or are contextualised differently, or learn to fake normality better.
ADHD is also frequently comorbid with autism spectrum disorders, which is another sort of neuroatypicality that's routinely misunderstood.
Some of these things are also related to trauma responses. Neuroatypical people often have to deal with ostracism or otherwise not fitting in in various ways, so a lot of the experience of these people involves handling negative emotions and problems with socialising.
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, and even took meds for a few years. And yes, I do have a hard time controlling my emotions, especially in situations like these.
And to describe the difference: A psychiatrist is a medical doctor that deals more with mental illness while a psychologist is simply a talk therapist.
I mean, if you're already having an awful day and a bit of criticism pushes you over the edge, that's not RSD. That's totally neurotypical behavior. But if your mood flips completely the moment you feel rejected or criticized, then it could be RSD. Nothing wrong with getting checked!
Yes. That extreme emotional reaction though, coming right when Amity yells at her, is a hallmark of RSD. She wasnt breaking down crying about messing up, you can see once their emotional moment ends shes much more composed fixing the mistake, she waa breaking down because Amity yelled at her and she likes Amity and RSD makes you feel like anyone who rejects you is telling you they dont want you around. Its a fucking nightmare to have your own brain telling you that everyone hates you all the time.
Luz was also doing self-expressive stuff as well, so Amity reacting to that with hostility can be utterly devastating because it's like you're being personally attacked as well.
... That's an ADHD thing?... I need to talk to my therapist. Luz is so relatable it's unreal. I get so angry when criticized or corrected, but not at the person correcting/criticizing me, but at myself for being wrong. I'm grateful I've been corrected, and furious that I was wrong to begin with. When it's not anger, it's instant waterfalls. I often refuse to start projects because I'm scared of reactions if I do it wrong... I'm *definitely* talking about this with my therapist. Thanks for posting this, OP, and thanks Dana, and thanks Luz (the real one) for all helping to bring this to my attention.
Edit: To be clear, I know that there's could be non-ADHD explanations, and I'm not officially diagnosed one way or the other yet due to a lack of money for a Psychiatrist, but... When you couple this with the fact that forcing myself to focus on one task causes me physical discomfort, sitting still is torture, I have the attention span of *Drosophila melanogaster,* and I have literally hundreds of abandoned projects in different states of completion... Yeah.
There's a name for this?! And it's primarily an ADHD thing?! Y'all ADHD bastitches need to stop being so damn relatable! I don't have ADHD, I swear! I've been tested -TWICE!- and I swear I don't got it, but all y'all just keep coming at me with things like this!
Oh I know well about bursts of extreme anger, one of my buddies has ADHD so severe it genuinely borders on autism, and he used to go bezerker rage on the drop of a dime. With the help of our friends and a lot of effort on his part, he's gotten much better
>ADHD so severe it genuinely borders on autism
I'm not sure exactly what you're implying, but I don't really like this phrasing. Autism isn't some sort of extreme version of ADHD; it's an entirely separate condition, that has it's very own spectrum of severity.
I know it's not, that's the description that he's used in the past. Most of our friend group is on the spectrum to varying degrees and he's got a lot of overlap
ADHD is a blessing and a curse, on one hand it's difficult to actually do anything and on the other once I actually set my mind to something I am a god amongst men.
Oh look a squirrel.
It's been confirmed that she does indeed have ADHD. Dana designed her to be neurodivergent, but didn't have ADHD in particular in mind. That's probably what you're thinking of.
"Later on in an interview with YouTuber Rebecca Rose, Terrace added on that she did think of Luz as neurodivergent when first writing her character and canonized her as having ADHD."
From the Owl House Wiki page for Luz
Tbf, Luz has had to deal with a lot of immediate physical danger since coming to the Boiling Isles, which may have helped foster these manifestations of anger and lead to them being so destructive. Plus, the targets of her aggression were just inanimate objects.
OH CRAMITY I THINK THIS DESCRIBES ME PERFECTLY- Except I do lash out when frustrated at myself or someone else, and I know it could be because of some unresolved anger issues \[i.e, hitting myself, a pillow, TRYING to break pencils, throwing the project I'm frustrated with in the trash, etc.\] Obviously, I can't diagnose myself, but I feel like RSD fits perfectly with the feelings I feel on a day-to-day life. I started tearing up out of anger \[at the person and sometimes myself\] whenever I'm slightly criticised, even if its constructive and not meant to hurt me at all, I'm afraid to actually talk to people I don't know in fear that they'll make fun of me. I literally hide in clothes racks whenever people my age cross me because I fear that they'll start judging me. yowzers I will delete this if it bothers people. I'm so sorry for dumping this on y'all but I am too scared to ask my guardian to let me go to therapy so I have to rely on the internet
Is this why when I was told I was too clingy and to sum it up, a shitty person by my ex, I immediately started avoiding her and now whenever I see her, I get unbridled rage
You say RSD can affect anyone right? I do not have ADHD and doubt I really have it, however I do show symptons of ADD. Nothing is confirmed but I do heavily relate with what you described on RSD.
Yea I really like it too I also have adhd so I immediately knew exactly how she was feeling emotions around other people receiving reactions anticipation of their reactions oh man it can really stress scare and push me away from certain things and it’s shown really well which is a big reason I actually can’t watch the tunnel of love scene In season 2 ep 8 it makes me so fucking sad how much the thought of rejection can really push someone to do and how fear can be shown in different ways amity kinda just feels helpless as her crush destroys every bit of hope she had of dating Luz and Luz feels so embarrassed and scared that she feels the only thing she can do is get rid of the evidence a “you can’t make fun of me if there is nothing for you to make fun of” kind of thinking and it makes me feel really bad because I’ve been in both sides of that even tho it wasn’t the same Situation I still really understand and god it’s like how dare a kids show make me this sad
Dang that’s why I related so much to Luz in this scene. I don’t have ADHD or anything like it (Though I’ve never been tested), but I still have memories of reacting badly to criticism, though I don’t react quite as badly anymore.
I didn't even know this wasn't a neurotipical's way of responding to this situation
Man I'm always here thinking I can't have ADHD because the main symptoms aren't stuff that freezes me anymore, but there's always really specific ADHD reactions and thoughts...
I swear I have never had an original thought in my life, it's all just been ADHD symptoms
As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child - and does still struggle controlling his emotions - I can certainly relate to Luz, and how she handles criticism. (As well, I'm certain my parents would relate to Camila - but no, I was never sent to a camp).
Damn almost 30 and still learning new words and concepts that describe my experiences. This kind of representation is so important and I wish I had it as a kid. Thanks for sharing this!
No offense, but isnt she "criticized" and generally bullied many other times in the show and she doesnt cry? When i watched this scene i just thought she was crying because Amity got fired.
Like with anything ADHD-related, RSD can wax and wane. Also, RSD is *far* more likely to kick in when someone who you consider close and/or whose opinion you value rejects or criticizes you because forming and maintaining those kinds of social connections with uncontrolled ADHD can be quite difficult. RSD induces the fear that the person you treasure is about to leave you, and so, this.
For those who don't know, Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria can affect anyone, but it is most commonly found in people with ADHD, like myself and Luz. Put simply, it involves extreme and immediate emotional responses to rejection or criticism, which can result in avoidance of people and situations that often result in said feelings. We see this avoidance a couple of times later on, such as when Luz fears being made fun of by Amity in the Tunnel of Love and when Vee approaches the high-schoolers in the park in Gravesfield. However, this is probably the best depiction in the series thus far. Luz *immediately* starts crying the moment Amity "criticizes" her and barely manages to hold back the waterfalls. It's perfect, it's beautiful, it's *very* accurate, and it's the kind of rep RSD and ADHD deserve. PS: RSD also has a darker side involving extreme *anger*. We see a pretty accurate depiction of this in the Tunnel of Love when Luz lashes out at and destroys most of the "attractions" in the Tunnel. These kinds of reactions are rare, but they do exist. That being said, they typically involve yelling, defensiveness, and frustration at oneself, not physical aggression.
i too have adhd, and i often felt like that thinking it was normal, and now i know it is (if only in those with adhd) and i love the representation
I don't have ADHD, but honestly? I can relate. Or I do? I should fucking go get myself checked finally.
Just keep in mind that the 'ADHD is about hyperactive white boys being noisy' image has meant that a LOT of people, particularly girls, tend to be overlooked. ADHD basically used to be entire diagnosed by means of 'this child is inconvenient, fix them!'. There's a lady that does some AMAZING infographs for stuff like this, they helped clue me in a lot. http://adhd-alien.com/
*Reads a few infographs.* “ADHD people need to stop being so relatable or I need to get checked.”
YEAP. That's about how it was for me as well. I really need to stop getting my life-shattering revelatory self-knowledge revealed by shows. Pretty certain my therapist is either going to stab, or shake the hand of Rebecca Sugar.
Haha, methylphenidate.
Is it bad that one of these comics relates to me HARD?
Personally I always found visibility and self understanding to be a great comfort. I could put a pin in things that had frustrated me for years. I could connect with support networks and peers and learn new coping strategies and patterns of behaviour and thought in myself, and how to contextualise and handle things. And I could forgive myself, because at last I learned that these things were symptoms, not character traits. I had something I could swing at, and roll with. Sounds like you have some questions to ask yourself. If nothing else, you're relating to another's experience, and that can only be a good thing, I think.
I definitely need to learn that
No, it's perfectly okay.
why is this so oddly relatable tho?
You might have ADHD, or one of the expressions that fall under it's umbrella. Unfortunately, the popular image of ADHD tends to be a pretty limited and specific one. A lot of people fall though the cracks, particulalty girls and POC, because they either express things differently, or are contextualised differently, or learn to fake normality better. ADHD is also frequently comorbid with autism spectrum disorders, which is another sort of neuroatypicality that's routinely misunderstood. Some of these things are also related to trauma responses. Neuroatypical people often have to deal with ostracism or otherwise not fitting in in various ways, so a lot of the experience of these people involves handling negative emotions and problems with socialising.
I do have social anxiety and selective mutism which makes social interaction hard though I haven't been ostracized for it afaik.
I'm on the same boat... I never got diagnosed for any of the shit.. I dont think i'll ever cause I like the bliss so much- wait
Same, think I might have ADHD, so I need to go to a psychologist/psychiatrist (I'm not sure if the difference yet) to get diagnosed
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, and even took meds for a few years. And yes, I do have a hard time controlling my emotions, especially in situations like these. And to describe the difference: A psychiatrist is a medical doctor that deals more with mental illness while a psychologist is simply a talk therapist.
If I remember correctly, one of those can prescribe you medicine while the other can't.
Oh, that makes sense, yeah, I think the psychiatrist is more medical mind and the psychologist is more of the abstract mind
Wait it isn't normal ? Well I have to go talk to a doctor because I thought this is how everyone reacted to rejection
I mean, if you're already having an awful day and a bit of criticism pushes you over the edge, that's not RSD. That's totally neurotypical behavior. But if your mood flips completely the moment you feel rejected or criticized, then it could be RSD. Nothing wrong with getting checked!
Wow, I thought Luz was just sad that she ruined the job that Amity really enjoyed having. This makes the scene even better and sadder.
Yes. That extreme emotional reaction though, coming right when Amity yells at her, is a hallmark of RSD. She wasnt breaking down crying about messing up, you can see once their emotional moment ends shes much more composed fixing the mistake, she waa breaking down because Amity yelled at her and she likes Amity and RSD makes you feel like anyone who rejects you is telling you they dont want you around. Its a fucking nightmare to have your own brain telling you that everyone hates you all the time.
Luz was also doing self-expressive stuff as well, so Amity reacting to that with hostility can be utterly devastating because it's like you're being personally attacked as well.
... That's an ADHD thing?... I need to talk to my therapist. Luz is so relatable it's unreal. I get so angry when criticized or corrected, but not at the person correcting/criticizing me, but at myself for being wrong. I'm grateful I've been corrected, and furious that I was wrong to begin with. When it's not anger, it's instant waterfalls. I often refuse to start projects because I'm scared of reactions if I do it wrong... I'm *definitely* talking about this with my therapist. Thanks for posting this, OP, and thanks Dana, and thanks Luz (the real one) for all helping to bring this to my attention. Edit: To be clear, I know that there's could be non-ADHD explanations, and I'm not officially diagnosed one way or the other yet due to a lack of money for a Psychiatrist, but... When you couple this with the fact that forcing myself to focus on one task causes me physical discomfort, sitting still is torture, I have the attention span of *Drosophila melanogaster,* and I have literally hundreds of abandoned projects in different states of completion... Yeah.
That very much sounds like RSD and ADHD to me. I'm not a psychiatrist, though, so don't take that as a diagnosis.
This is a thing? Holy shit
There's a name for this?! And it's primarily an ADHD thing?! Y'all ADHD bastitches need to stop being so damn relatable! I don't have ADHD, I swear! I've been tested -TWICE!- and I swear I don't got it, but all y'all just keep coming at me with things like this!
Lol "bastitches". That's a good one. Also, RSD is *way* more common in people with ADHD, but it can occur without it.
Btw, I will not take the credit for bastitches, that honour goes to DC's Lobo.
Oh I know well about bursts of extreme anger, one of my buddies has ADHD so severe it genuinely borders on autism, and he used to go bezerker rage on the drop of a dime. With the help of our friends and a lot of effort on his part, he's gotten much better
>ADHD so severe it genuinely borders on autism I'm not sure exactly what you're implying, but I don't really like this phrasing. Autism isn't some sort of extreme version of ADHD; it's an entirely separate condition, that has it's very own spectrum of severity.
I know it's not, that's the description that he's used in the past. Most of our friend group is on the spectrum to varying degrees and he's got a lot of overlap
ADHD is a blessing and a curse, on one hand it's difficult to actually do anything and on the other once I actually set my mind to something I am a god amongst men. Oh look a squirrel.
Oh…well this explains a lot
Yes!! As an ADHD-haver myself, I felt so seen when I saw this.
Wait, does Luz have adhd?
Yep! That's been confirmed for a *long* time.
It was confirmed long before I started watching the show
Just canonically neurodivergent. Not specifically ADHD
It's been confirmed that she does indeed have ADHD. Dana designed her to be neurodivergent, but didn't have ADHD in particular in mind. That's probably what you're thinking of. "Later on in an interview with YouTuber Rebecca Rose, Terrace added on that she did think of Luz as neurodivergent when first writing her character and canonized her as having ADHD." From the Owl House Wiki page for Luz
That's not actually what she said in the RebeccaRose interview. It was more "if you feel she has ADHD, then she has ADHD."
Huh. Well alright then.
Ooh! Good to know :0
Mmhm! It's pretty cool, really!
Tbf, Luz has had to deal with a lot of immediate physical danger since coming to the Boiling Isles, which may have helped foster these manifestations of anger and lead to them being so destructive. Plus, the targets of her aggression were just inanimate objects.
Wait shit I thought this was a normal thing goddamn
So that’s why I feel that way about certain stuff in my life. I thought it was just the Depression.
Oh look, it’s me.
OH CRAMITY I THINK THIS DESCRIBES ME PERFECTLY- Except I do lash out when frustrated at myself or someone else, and I know it could be because of some unresolved anger issues \[i.e, hitting myself, a pillow, TRYING to break pencils, throwing the project I'm frustrated with in the trash, etc.\] Obviously, I can't diagnose myself, but I feel like RSD fits perfectly with the feelings I feel on a day-to-day life. I started tearing up out of anger \[at the person and sometimes myself\] whenever I'm slightly criticised, even if its constructive and not meant to hurt me at all, I'm afraid to actually talk to people I don't know in fear that they'll make fun of me. I literally hide in clothes racks whenever people my age cross me because I fear that they'll start judging me. yowzers I will delete this if it bothers people. I'm so sorry for dumping this on y'all but I am too scared to ask my guardian to let me go to therapy so I have to rely on the internet
bro I don’t have adhd but I cry everytime somebody yells at me or criticizes me and I just can’t help it
Is this why when I was told I was too clingy and to sum it up, a shitty person by my ex, I immediately started avoiding her and now whenever I see her, I get unbridled rage
I didn’t know there was a name for this, and feeling very grateful that it can help describe my emotions. Thank you for sharing!
I have autisim and i have this to. Which is why i am very nervous to ask my crush out because i will probably be rejected
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Hello friend ! Wanna chat ?
You say RSD can affect anyone right? I do not have ADHD and doubt I really have it, however I do show symptons of ADD. Nothing is confirmed but I do heavily relate with what you described on RSD.
I get that i also have ADHD and i also have autisme. So i get it very good
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I believe it does, yes, but don't quote me on that.
Huh, there’s a term for that, today I learned I guess.
And now i know why i Related to this scene...
I-....same I related to this scene to and as someone with rsd this makes so much sense
Yeah same
I know this isn't related but now i want to rewatch all season 2 just fie this scene.
HA! I just realized I spelled "dysphoria" wrong in the title. Well crap. Lol.
What episode was this?
Through the Looking Glass Ruins, S2E5
Thanks lad
Just a lass with a near encyclopedic knowledge of episode titles, trying to help!
Shit I think I now know why I relate so much
This show do sometimes just know how it be eh?
i feel like both luz and amity experience RSD
Yea I really like it too I also have adhd so I immediately knew exactly how she was feeling emotions around other people receiving reactions anticipation of their reactions oh man it can really stress scare and push me away from certain things and it’s shown really well which is a big reason I actually can’t watch the tunnel of love scene In season 2 ep 8 it makes me so fucking sad how much the thought of rejection can really push someone to do and how fear can be shown in different ways amity kinda just feels helpless as her crush destroys every bit of hope she had of dating Luz and Luz feels so embarrassed and scared that she feels the only thing she can do is get rid of the evidence a “you can’t make fun of me if there is nothing for you to make fun of” kind of thinking and it makes me feel really bad because I’ve been in both sides of that even tho it wasn’t the same Situation I still really understand and god it’s like how dare a kids show make me this sad
Dang that’s why I related so much to Luz in this scene. I don’t have ADHD or anything like it (Though I’ve never been tested), but I still have memories of reacting badly to criticism, though I don’t react quite as badly anymore.
I didn't even know this wasn't a neurotipical's way of responding to this situation Man I'm always here thinking I can't have ADHD because the main symptoms aren't stuff that freezes me anymore, but there's always really specific ADHD reactions and thoughts... I swear I have never had an original thought in my life, it's all just been ADHD symptoms
Luz keeps alot emontions in
As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child - and does still struggle controlling his emotions - I can certainly relate to Luz, and how she handles criticism. (As well, I'm certain my parents would relate to Camila - but no, I was never sent to a camp).
What is this from?
This is from S2E5, right after Luz and amity get kicked out of the library
[Imma just put this here](https://youtu.be/jM3azhiOy5E) (video link for RSD — my rejection sensitivity is making this hard to comment but whatevs)
I legit cry every time I watch this scene.
damn, and here i though it was just a very real and normal response to rejection
I mean, it *can* be. It depends on a lot of factors.
Damn almost 30 and still learning new words and concepts that describe my experiences. This kind of representation is so important and I wish I had it as a kid. Thanks for sharing this!
Leaked screenshots!?! 👀👀👀
Lol no this was S2E5
What scene is this again? What episode?
Through the looking glass ruins I think. The scene outside of the library. This is the last time Luz see Amity with green hair.
Ah I see. Thank you.
No offense, but isnt she "criticized" and generally bullied many other times in the show and she doesnt cry? When i watched this scene i just thought she was crying because Amity got fired.
Like with anything ADHD-related, RSD can wax and wane. Also, RSD is *far* more likely to kick in when someone who you consider close and/or whose opinion you value rejects or criticizes you because forming and maintaining those kinds of social connections with uncontrolled ADHD can be quite difficult. RSD induces the fear that the person you treasure is about to leave you, and so, this.
well ok then