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The unbearable heartache of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria
Content warning: suicide ideation. In this painfully raw and heartfelt blog, Autistic advocate, Chantell Marshall (aka Shy Little Pixie) gives a rare and illuminating account of what it is like to live with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and the revelation that has helped her quieten her self-sabotaging inner critic.
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Please don’t ask me to be brave
- Blogs
- October 27, 2022
In this powerful piece by one of the Reframing Autism team, she takes us behind one of her particularly damaging masks – the one called “courage”. “This mask is a warrior. It rushes headlong into battle without fear, or even better, despite fear … it lives by the mantra “act first, think later”. It is arrogant. It makes me say “yes” when inside I am screaming “no”. It says to my children “Be brave – like me!”
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Shy Little Pixie: Unlocking the enigma of Autistic social anxiety
- Blogs
- April 19, 2022
“When I am able to mask, I may make it through an hour, but invariably, my mask soon slips, and like Cinderella at the ball, I am left escaping in tears for fear of the ‘real me’ being exposed.” Chantell is a late diagnosed Autistic writer and advocate with ADHD and severe social anxiety. She shares her lived experience online as Shy Little Pixie, so others do not feel so alone.