The Transtemporal Mirror: A Unified Framework for RSD, Masking, and Neurodivergent Distress

Abstract This paper proposes a unified theoretical framework—the Transtemporal Mirror Model—that reconceptualizes Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD), autistic meltdowns, and neurodivergent burnout as isomorphic manifestations of a single underlying architecture. Rather than treating these phenomena as separate pathologies requiring distinct interventions, we argue they represent coordinated emergency protocols within neurodivergent nervous systems, each optimized for detecting different types of environmental incoherence. The Transtemporal Mirror operates across three temporal dimensions: Echo (accumulated past experiences forming predictive priors), Resonance (real-time detection of signal-behavior mismatches), and Simulation (catastrophic future modeling). When environmental signals become incoherent—when words contradict behavior, when social performance (masking) exceeds metabolic capacity, or when meaning structures collapse—the Mirror triggers emergency responses that, while appearing dysregulated, serve essential protective functions. We present clinical phenomenology grounded in lived neurodivergent experience, formalize the theoretical architecture using predictive processing and thermodynamic frameworks, demonstrate isomorphisms across RSD, meltdown, and burnout presentations, and derive falsifiable predictions for empirical testing. Initial evidence from masking-rejection sensitivity correlations (r = .40-.65), neurodivergent-to-neurodivergent communication superiority, and co-regulation intervention outcomes provides preliminary support. The framework offers a paradigm shift from pathology-focused "correction" approaches toward signal-honoring "translation" methodologies, with implications for clinical practice, relationship therapy, and neurodivergent self-understanding. Keywords: rejection sensitivity dysphoria, autism, meltdown, masking, camouflaging, predictive processing, neurodivergence, burnout, double empathy