ADHD, Autism & Anxiety Glossary
The internet handed you the vocabulary. This page is for checking what the words actually mean.
Terms like RSD, time blindness, and body doubling started in clinical research and lived-experience communities, then picked up speed on social media. Some are precise. Some are shorthand for a mechanism with a different name. Each entry below defines the term the way the ADHD community uses it, names what is happening underneath in plain language, and links to a deeper article when a definition is not enough.
Every entry is reviewed by Lauren Dibble, LMFT (License #123427), owner and clinical director of Brilla Counseling in Sacramento, California.
Browse the glossary
- ADHD paralysis: wanting to start and not being able to.
- Body doubling: why another person in the room makes the task startable.
- Masking: the full-time job of looking fine.
- Object permanence: the community name for a working memory reality.
- Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD): when criticism lands like an injury.
- Time blindness: why "just leave earlier" never worked.
New terms are added regularly. If a definition on this page reads like your whole week, a free 20-minute consultation is an easy first step, in person in East Sacramento or through online therapy across California. Reach out here.