I suffer from a paralyzing little known disease … but doctors missed my subtle symptoms

Alex Gilbert was diagnosed with dyslexia and attention -having hyperactive disorder (ADHD) At the age of eight.

But she knew that there were deeper underlying problems along her diagnosis.

“I was already self -conscious because I was different from my colleagues, but when teachers would criticize me in class for others, it was really deadly,” she told DailyMail.com.

“My fear about that was so terrible that I would break out in hives from head to toe, and I ended up in the hospital and nine with stomach problems because I was so afraid of my teacher, who plague me in the classroom.”

Gilbert knew it was more than her ADHD – and years later she realized that there was a name for this specific kind of fear.

She had rejection -sensitive dysforie (RSD).

RSD is defined as an intense and extreme emotional response to any form of rejection, criticism or failure.

And Gilbert explained that it can feel like a visceral trauma response.

Alex Gilbert said that she would already have extreme responses to rejection and criticism in the fourth grade

“You may be completely frozen and can’t communicate,” she said.

‘Or you avoid the scenario together, you bend back to make the other person happy compared to the price of yourself.

“If you have a better feeling and understand what you walk in, you can feel more prepared to respond based on actions, no emotions.”

Gilbert described it as able to read a room – picking up the eye contact and body language of people – but a bit ‘too’ tuned to it.

She even said that if something is ‘out’ and she can’t do anything to repair it, she feels overwhelmed by the desire to leave.

And although it is still difficult to navigate, Gilbert has learned how to better respond to her RSD as she has grown older.

“When I was younger, I would lean more in the emotional aspect of communicating about a conflict,” she explained.

“As an adult, I realized that I need more time to process information and collect and communicate facts without the emotion.”

Gilbert explained that rejection -sensitive dysphoria ensured that she had physical reactions to any form of criticism (stock image)

She said this was the most difficult to do in the workplace when she was criticized for work.

“Instead of taking it personally, I had to remind myself that it is not always personal, sometimes it is really just the specific detail that needs to be changed.”

She has taken these teachings in her own work as a career coach for people with ADHD.

Gilbert created CapeLeable Counseling, a program that was aimed at helping neurodivergent people who succeed in the workplace.

She also organizes a neurodivergency 101 training to help people in the workplace to understand their employees with neurological disabilities or psychological disorders.

Her hope is to help others understand that neurodiverse people constantly mask to fit into a world that does not naturally match their way of thinking – and to be friendlier, taking into account thin.

“When you criticize someone who literally does everything possible to keep it together to do the best work, it’s like you’re a bloated balloon port and hoping it won’t jump,” Gilbert said.

She advised others to approach criticism or feedback by setting up people with the expectations of what you are going to discuss so that they are not being overwhelmed.