Social Anxiety
The Layered Vulnerability: Why ADHD, RSD, and “Not Being Seen” Create the Ideal Target for Predator Priests
When the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team broke the story of systemic clergy sexual abuse in 2002, the reporters exposed a chillingly calculated modus operandi. The perpetrators did not choose their victims at random. As real-life Spotlight journalist Michael Rezendes later noted, these predators were highly opportunistic: "They looked on the margins. They were like a wolf waiting for […]
The Layered Nervous System: How ADHD, RSD, and Childhood Sexual Trauma Intersect in Young Adulthood
When an ADHD young adult is carrying the weight of sexual assault trauma, opening up to family isn't just a matter of "finding the right words." The combination of Trauma Shame and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) creates a severe psychological barrier. Because the ADHD nervous system experiences emotions at an extreme volume, the thought of exposing these vulnerabilities feels […]
The Play Deficit and ADHD: Why the Loss of Unstructured Play Has Made Adolescent RSD More Explosive Than Ever
For decades, researchers and parents have struggled to comprehend the escalating mental health crisis among teenagers. In adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), this crisis frequently manifests as an overwhelming, paralyzing state known as Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). Characterized by extreme, unbearable emotional pain triggered by perceived or actual rejection, teasing, or failure, RSD was […]
The Mind of a Shortstop on the Mound: How Zack Greinke Rewrote the Rules of Pitching and Living Rent-Free in Hitters’ Brains
To the outside world, Zack Greinke is a collection of legendary, bizarre, and deeply endearing baseball folklore. He is the pitcher who sat with cardboard cutouts during a pandemic, the Cy Young winner who wanted to quit baseball to mow lawns, and the rookie who reacted to his Major League call-up by asking if he […]