Rejection Sensitivity Journal Prompts
A set of journal prompts for working through RSD episodes. Helps create distance from the intensity and build a more accurate picture of what happened.
These prompts are designed to use after an RSD episode — not during it. During the episode, the goal is to ride it out, not analyze it. These prompts work best when the intensity has passed.
What happened
- Describe the event that triggered the episode. Just the facts, as neutrally as possible.
- What did you interpret the event to mean? (e.g., 'they don't like me,' 'I did something wrong')
- What is an alternative interpretation of the same event?
The emotion
- How intense was the feeling (1–10)?
- Where did you feel it in your body?
- How long did it last before it started to ease?
Pattern recognition
- Have you had this same trigger before? What happened that time?
- Was the fear accurate in the past? What does that tell you?
What helped
- What reduced the intensity, even a little?
- What would you tell someone else going through the same thing?