Overreacts to mild criticism
You flag one weak slide in a good deck. They go quiet, then send a long email defending every choice, or raise it again three days later.
Rule out first
Exhaustion or a bad week. Whether the note landed harder than you meant: public setting, bad timing, or a history of only hearing negatives from you. A culture where small criticism comes before firing. Whether yours was the fifth note that day.
What could explain it
Stress response and allostatic load: Out of character, and they've been running hot for weeks. Rested, the same note lands fine.
Narcissistic injury: The reply is about standing, not the work: they cite their track record, question your judgement, or go cold on you. The slide itself barely comes up.
Rejection sensitivity: They hear a verdict on the relationship ('so you think I'm not up to it'). Afterwards they check you're still on their side rather than counter-attack.
Defectiveness/shame schema: The collapse goes inward: they agree too fast, say 'I'm hopeless at this', and dwell. The note confirmed something they already believe about themselves.
Rejection sensitive dysphoria: Fast, intense and short: a spike of pain within seconds, mostly gone by the next day. Usually sits beside other ADHD signs such as time blindness and distractibility.
A next move
Give one more small, private, specific note when they're rested and watch the next 48 hours. Counter-attack on you points to injury; reassurance-seeking to rejection sensitivity; self-punishment to shame; a sharp peak that fades overnight to RSD; nothing at all to load.
If it’s you
What did the comment seem to say about me as a person, beyond the work? Whose voice did it sound like?