The trauma of social rejection

IF YOU aren’t getting rejected on a daily basis, then your goals aren’t ambitious enough – Chris Dixon FOR MANY, the pain which emanates from social rejection, can be likened to that of physical pain if not properly understood in a contextual manner. My own research shows that occurrences of rejections in some instances, are not totally valid, as they were triggered mainly by negative emotions including but not limited to, jealousy, low self-confidence and insecurity. However, in instances where there is a real existence of social rejection, the implications and threats to the victims’ psychological state are serious.

A number of renowned psychologists have conducted several research studies demonstrating the link between social acceptance and rejection, but focusing largely on the negative impact of rejection. Included in this group is Dr Nathan Dewall, a psychologist at the University of Kentucky, USA – “Being rejected is bad for your health; people who feel isolated, lonely and excluded, tend to have poor physical health.

They don’t sleep well, their immune systems sputter, and they even tend to die sooner than people who are surrounded by others who care about them,” said Dewall.

He further stated that being excluded is also associated with poor mental health, and exclusion and mental health problems can join together in a destructive loop. People in a depressive state, tend to face exclusion faster, as the symptoms of their disorder further adds to their depression.

Dewall’s research also revealed that depression isn’t just a problem for a person who suffers from it; it can disrupt a society.

“People who have been excluded often lash out against others.

In experiments, they gave people much more hot sauce than they can stand, blast strangers with intense noise and gave destructive evaluations of prospective job candidates. Rejection can even contribute to violence. An analysis of 15 school shooters found that all but two, had been socially rejected.” According to Dewall, it is impossible to go through your entire life with everyone being nice to you all the time.

When you are rejected or excluded, he says the best way to deal with it is to seek out other sources of friendship or acceptance.

“A lot of times, people keep these situations to themselves because they’re embarrassed or they don’t think that it’s a big deal. But our bodies respond to rejection like they do to physical pain; the pain should be taken seriously, and it’s fine to seek out support,” Dewall said.

Look out for Part II of this feature next week.

Sandrine Rattan is a communications consultant and resident of the International Women’s Resource Network (IWRN) Contact: thecorporatesuitett@ gmail.com or intlwomensresourcenetwork@ gmail.com IWRN’s Hotline: (868) 283-0318