Why Does Everybody Hate Me? (2026) by Alex Partridge is a transformative must-read for anyone living with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). Partridge balances raw personal vulnerability with expert insights to explain why neurodivergent individuals often feel an overwhelming, physical pain from perceived rejection.

This book is life-changing because it finally puts a name to the "broken" feeling many ADHDers carry, offering practical tools to stop people-pleasing and rebuild self-worth. It’s a validating, compassionate guide that turns 20,000 negative messages into a path for healing.

As someone who was late diagnosed with ADHD at age 38, Rejection Sensitivity Disorder (RSD) has been the hardest aspect of it to deal with and it still is. I discovered Alex's podcast before my diagnosis and it is partially the reason I fought for an assessment. After reading and personally responding well to his first book, "Now it All Makes Sense", I knew "Why Does Everybody Hate me?" was going to be a must read. Alex's voice is clear and sincere throughout each of the chapters, which are kept informative and concise (perfect for ADHD minds) to help the reader retain the information. Using personal experiences and stories from others who also experience RSD, Alex has once again given us a book that is indispensable reading for people who are living with ADHD. Each chapter holds methods Alex has used to help cope with the thoughts and emotions that RSD situations and spirals can lead to, there is even a chapter for how those with children who have ADHD can communicate best with them and help their children from a younger age deal with all of these big thoughts and feelings in a healthier way. Understanding RSD is vital for any individual who has ADHD as well as the people in the lives of someone who has ADHD. I do wish there was more information available for couples where both of the individuals have ADHD and RSD, though this is not an issue with Alex's work, more to do with the lack of research and information in the world generally. With kindness, compassion and wit, Alex has provided help for how to live with RSD and no, everyone doesn't hate you.

I found this book incredibly insightful and feel as though I’ve learnt a lot about myself as well as understanding others. Excellent representation of ADHD and RSD.

This book had me laughing while also thinking deeply about social anxiety and self-image. Partridge handles the topic with sharp humor and self-awareness, which makes the experience both relatable and enlightening.

What makes it stand out is how it turns uncomfortable feelings into something that feels recognizable and shared. The author’s honesty about awkward moments and overthinking guilt invites empathy rather than judgment.

It feels like part memoir, part guide, and part shared confession that makes you feel less alone in your insecurities. The humor doesn’t undercut the poignancy; instead it allows difficult feelings to surface in a way that feels easier to digest.

I’d recommend this to anyone who’s ever felt misunderstood or anxious in social settings. It’s funny, clever, and deeply human.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sheldon Press for the advanced copy

Full disclaimer, I am not diagnosed with ADHD or autism, I do have a "developmental disorder not otherwise specified" one, which is what you will get if you are a woman over 35 in France (it should be on the ASD spectrum, but not in France, I could talk about my country and neurodiversity and women for hours, but now is not the time). I do tick all the boxes of RSD though, which is why I picked up this book.

I agree with the author so much : we don't talk enough about RSD when we talk about ADHD (or neurodiversity in general). Forget executive dysfunction, RSD is probably the hardest part of it all because it makes relationships (all kind of relationships) so much more complicated ; it's also probably a big contributor of burnout because it is exhausting to overthink social interactions like that.

This book explains what RSD is really well (I truly believe that the best way to beat something is to actually understand it) and why it's so prevalent in people with ADHD and will often be diagnosed as an anxiety disorder. The advice given is really good and can actually also be useful to people with anxiety disorders, when a situation becomes too much the best thing to do is to take a step back and reframe. I do love that the author doesn't promise a cure (there isn't one) or miracles, he just gives tools that worked for him or other people with RSD. You can't get rid of RSD, but you can learn how to live with it and how to make your life better. The part about the workplace was the best one imo, workplace relationships are the trickiest for me

Alex's book provides a great explainer for those not familiar with RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria) as well as for those who've never realized there's a name and explanation for the feelings many ADHD'ers struggle with (myself included). 

Thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press US/Sheldon Press for the ARC edition of this book.

I follow Alex on social media so his views and knowledge on ADHD aren't quite new. And this is the exact reason I wanted to read his book because his social media posts have always been spot on descriptions of my own life. He actually contributed quite a bit of me filling in an ADHD questionnaire at work, and low and behold...my score went through the roof.

This book is a next level personal attack 😁 I started wondering if he has been living with me, observing me, I just haven't noticed it yet. I love his analytical mind, breaking down everyday situations and explaining them from the ADHD/RSD perspective. It certainly explained a lot of things from my 40 something years, when I just couldn't understand why I didn't fit in and thought that there was something wrong with me. Well, it turns out, there is, but it's normal 😊

I highly recommend this book, it's entertaining, it' funny, it's educational, it's reflective. It remjnds me of Dean Burnette's The Idiot Brain.

Thank you NetGalley and Alex for the ARC, great book

Incredible read for anyone who has RSD, or loves someone with RSD. I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child,, but didnt fully understand how much of my life it impacts until adulthood. books like this really help me understand how I am different.

Some good feedback and information in this book however as someone with ADHD I did find it very wordy (I often want ones abit more concise, to the point, with diagrams or visuals sometimes. I did find myself skimming over parts quite largely with alot of repetitive things in there. Good for someone wanting a very detailed read on RSD.

This book was very relatable! I struggle with RSD as part of my ADHD and found myself nodding along and saying "yep, yep!" at multiple parts. Also, "ten highly caffeinated squirrels running around my brain" is exactly how I would describe my brain too!

RSD is not new to me; it's something I learnt about a long time ago when I was diagnosed with ASD and ADHD. Over the years my RSD has greatly improved due to management strategies, however I do still struggle with it and I did appreciate the strategies laid out in the book. I think they will be beneficial to many ADHDers. Personally I would have preferred if they were in a separate section rather than interspersed throughout the book, just for ease of finding them.

I especially liked that the author include a small section and some strategies for ADHD parents with RSD, of ADHD children with RSD. The challenges of being a neurodivergent (ND) parent of an ND child are not discussed enough and many self-help books leave this out.

The book does have a lot of personal anecdotes in, which I liked as I found many of them relatable. However, those who don't like personal anecdotes in their self-help books may not appreciate this.

Overall, I thought this was a great exploration of RSD that really explains how debilitating it can be. It also does a good job of providing clear and useful strategies in an accessible way. I think this book will resonate with a great deal of ADHDers!

A must-read for anyone struggling with RSD - but even more so, for anyone who wants to support someone living with RSD. Partridge offers a masterclass on how to approach a topic with care and sensitivity, without catering to the skeptics or those who may overly embrace a title or symptom. Full of anecdotes to help people see themselves or their loved ones and pragmatic advice, this is a must read.

Having read this author's previous books and followed him on social media I'm now even more a great fan. This book resonates incredibly well and he explains things in a very relatable way. Highly recommend.

Alex will always have a special place in my heart. Because of him and his videos on Instagram, I learned about AuDHD in women and that has been the start of my very important mental health journey. So, the fact that NetGalley gave me the option to already read this book was amazing.

Alex has a way of describing things from the brain in a very real and honest way. I immediately get what he's saying, and it feels soft and connecting. But because he also explains a lot of the neurodivergent background, stuff now makes sense.

His books feel validating as a neurodivergent person, but also gives me a lot of tools for everyday life. I also use his words often to describe my experience to people close to me, because finding the words for these experiences has always been hard for me. It has only been recently that I found out not everybody's brain works this way, and it still feels weird to describe things that feel so logically for me.

In this book, Alex does that again with a very important topic: RSD. When I first heard him talking about this on Instagram, I remember sending that reel to a friend and talking with her about the fact that this is apparently not the case for every human being!? I was quite surprised by that, and it has been interesting to learn more about this, and this book has been such an interesting eye-opener for that.

For example: I never thought I had ADHD because I was very structured, I really struggled with perfectionism. BUT, that turns out because I was SO afraid of what would happen if I wasn't a perfect student! And my parents were not being intimidating about this or anything, this was really all in my own head. I was always so busy trying my very best..

Also, people-pleasing is a THING for me. I really have a hard time setting boundaries and taking care of myself. I feel very lucky that this never put me in any dangerous situations..

I think those two elements really contributed to my current burn-out, so better understanding how my brain works is an important step to healing and building up a healthy life. Books like this are incredibly helpful and important so I'm really glad it's here.

I don't recognize everything in this book and not all the tills will help me, but it does feel like a complete package with everything in it that people could experience and with all the tools that could be helpful, and I think that's what makes a great self-help book.

I also think it is important because these types of books make it easier for people who don't experience this themself, to understand what it's like and to understand people around them, loved ones or colleagues.

But I do have to note that not all the work place tips are suitable for every job. In this book it is talked about ‘at the office’, but for example I work in retail so I cannot take a break to catch my breath any time I feel the need. So that part feels a bit specific. I know a lot of people work in offices, but also a lot of people don't.

Why Does Everybody Hate Me? puts language to a feeling many people recognize but rarely articulate: the intense emotional reaction to perceived rejection. Alex Partridge’s voice is candid, funny, and disarming, and his personal stories make the concept of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria feel accessible rather than clinical. I appreciated how often the book made me stop and think, oh wow, that’s me.

That said, the book is light on structure and depth, sometimes reading more like a collection of relatable anecdotes than a fully developed guide. While comforting and validating — especially for readers new to RSD or ADHD — it may feel a bit surface-level for those already familiar with the topic. Still, it’s an engaging, affirming read that succeeds at making people feel less alone, which goes a long way.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

huh, so this is what's wrong with me 🤔 . .

A good and solid primer on a subject that has remained too long in the shadows in some part due to shame, but also because trying to explain it to someone who hasn’t been there is an incredibly difficult undertaking. This book will help those who suffer from Rejection-Sensitive Dysphoria and the friends and family of sufferers. I would like more pictures, but that just may be a personal preference on my part: self-help benefits from colorful pictures and graphics.

This book is a must-read for anyone who has ADHD, loves someone with ADHD, parents someone with ADHD, or simply knows someone with ADHD. Actually, this book is just a must-read for anyone. RSD is a very real but very misunderstood aspect of ADHD and other neurotypical disorders, and learning how to manage it (or support those who struggle with it) can be life-changing or even life-saving.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy!

3.5/4 Stars

I appreciated the passion and vulnerability that went into writing this book. It was definitely a great introductory read on RSD. I gave it 3.5 stars because the book was very repetitive, and I found myself skimming to get to new information and/or strategies. The book could have been quite a bit shorter. It also would have been helpful to include graphs and some pictures or illustrations to break things up throughout.

Overall, it was an interesting read, and I learned a bit about myself and others in my life.

Alex Partridge offers a really thorough and easy to follow study of RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria). There is practical advice for life with RSD and examples of what he and others experience in day to day life with the condition. I found that he was very good at recapping advice, especially at the end and that the content itself was incredibly compassionate.

I found this nonfiction book to be incredibly eye opening! It really did capture my attention right at the very beginning. Before reading this book, I had not heard of RSD and what it was. I can relate to a lot of the symptoms it has. I always seem to think the worst of everything. RSD stands for the term Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria. It’s for people who are always called sensitive, which is me! Furthermore, RSD is an intense emotional pain tied to actual or perceived rejection/criticism, which is discussed in ADHD patients.

This book made me have a broader understanding of RSD and its symptoms. I felt hopeful, not alone and optimistic while reading this book. It was very well written, easy to read and came with tools for people that do have RSD. I highly recommend reading this book! I will be purchasing the physical copy of this book when it is released. Overall, I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Alex Partridge, John Murray Press US and Sheldon Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book is expected to be released on March 24, 2026!

Great title for a very much needed and urgent to talk about topic: RSD - Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria.

Many people with ADHD can relate to the feeling of "Why does everybody hate me?".

Partridge starts by defining what RSD feels like, the symptoms, the challenges, the downs (and ups), and offers solutions to control or tackle it.

What the book does best is finding your crowd, knowing you are not alone, and that not everybody hates you.

I hope the publisher and the author continue to cover these topics, and keep their nuanced, inclusive, approachable voice.

Thank you NetGalley and Alex Partridge for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
As a Gen X woman who sought help her whole life and never got it, who had to self diagnose through the process of fighting the system to get two of my children officially diagnosed with ADHD, I was excited to read this book!
I had never heard of RSD, so this was very enlightening. Incredibly validating to learn that I was not in fact the only person who thinks and feels the way I do. I started hi-lighting passages immediately, it was as if I had written the words on the pages myself describing my experiences. The author gives strategies for handling the struggles of RSD and how to recognize the lies our brains tell us. I sure wish I had this type of resource growing up, even more so when I had my own children. Communication would have been so much easier! I have asked my husband to read this book to better understand me and our adult kids. It is wild how different ADHD presents in people, but there are always components of the same. The biggest take away is that we are not alone, we are not broken, we are enough.

I didn’t realise going in that 'Why Does Everybody Hate Me?' has such a strong focus on ADHD, with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) as a key theme. Even though I don’t have an ADHD or RSD diagnosis, I found myself relating deeply to the behaviours described. The explanations were validating, and the advice felt genuinely practical and helpful rather than abstract.
The book is easy to read, engaging, and compassionate in tone, making it enjoyable as well as insightful. I came away with a better understanding of my own reactions and some useful tools I can actually apply.
Thank you for the ARC.

3.5 stars rounded up.

This book offers a much-needed and insightful look into Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) and the impact it can have, particularly for people with ADHD. It does an excellent job of helping readers understand why we react the way we do, identify our triggers, and feel less alone in those experiences. I found the content extremely validating, and I appreciated the practical strategies provided that readers can begin to apply in their own lives.

The personal anecdotes were a standout and felt very relatable, adding warmth and authenticity to the material.

That said, the book was extremely repetitive at times, which made it difficult to maintain focus—somewhat ironic given that it’s written for an ADHD audience. While the repetition may be helpful for some readers, it occasionally detracted from the overall reading experience for me.

Overall, this is a helpful and affirming resource for anyone seeking to better understand RSD, even if it could benefit from tighter editing.

Firstly a big thank you to allowing me access to this , I’m a big fan of Alex’s work so was thrilled .
I got diagnosed with ADHD last year at 42 so there’s a personal connection to his books .
This one yet again just like his debut made me emotional ,seen and validated .
A thoughtful well written piece on a subject that a lot of people are unaware of but it really is a side of adhd that effects you daily .
This book has useful tips ,personal insights and reflections and other people’s experiences.
This is the type of book you want everyone to read even if they aren’t ADHD themselves but just to raise awareness.
Rejection sensitivity Dysphoria is a very real and debilitating part of living with ADHD especially for those who are late diagnosed and have spent years combating the pain,guilt and shame that comes from experiencing it .
It’s so important to read these books and get more people talking so people don’t feel alone or silly or judged .
Thank you to Alex for writing and talking about ADHD and making strangers feel less strange .

Thank you Netgalley for this earc. All opinions are my own.

What a wonderful book. Alex had one of my favourite Instagram accounts on Instagram and he has helped me understand a lot about myself already. This book added so much to all of his videos.
It is nicely structured, kept my attention easily (no small feat, seeing I am the target audience), and felt really personal.
I admire Alex' vulnerability, and how every story will help his audience feel better about themselves. Gifting this book to someone else will definitely tell them you value them!

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I’d give this a 3.5/4 stars I think, as I had moments where I thought it was really good and I certainly found it relatable but at other points, it felt slightly repetitive.

Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.