Why Rejection Hurts
We have all experienced rejection at some point in our lives.
It could have been a job that you wanted but weren’t right for, or maybe a date didn’t move past the meal, or maybe your mom said no to that cookie you wanted to eat before dinner. Regardless, we have all been told no at one point or another. So we all know that it doesn’t feel good to experience rejection.
Did you know that the same part of our brain is activated when we get rejected as when we get physically injured? You can even take a Tylenol to help dull the emotional pain from rejection and it works! So why is it that when we try to remember physical pain from an injury years after it has healed we can’t actually feel the pain, but when we think back to a time when we were rejected even ten years in the past we can experience the same pain as we did at the moment that it occured? It all comes down to the fact that we were created to be social creatures.
Psychologists claim that by feeling the pain of rejection, we would be conditioned to not repeat the action that caused the rejection in the first place. This was a safeguard to keep us in our tribe. Without a tribe, humans would not have been able to survive on their own. While the world has changed with its technological advances and we are far more likely to thrive independently, we still need a social connection to maintain a healthy brain.
So how can we heal from rejection?
We need to reach out to our trusted circle. Being around those that care about us can help dull the sting of rejection. Your tribe can help remind you of your worth and help rebuild your self-esteem. With their help, you can start to build emotional resilience so the next time you face rejection you are far more equipped to handle it.
Written by Sharla Ball
