The Highly Sensitive Person
I am sure you will know some people who are Highly Sensitive People!
A Highly Sensitive Person can be called a “HSP”; this blogpost is written towards ‘you’ to make it more relatable in case you identify as HSP. If you are not a Highly Sensitive Person or are not sure, do read ahead as I am sure you will think of a few people you know when reading this:
The basics (examples below):“Sensitivity” is a personality characteristic, everyone is somewhat sensitive and it influences the way one responds to the world around them. Sensitivity is a continuum: so some people may be ‘low’, ‘average’, or ‘highly’ sensitive. Most people will be in the ‘average’ range of sensitivity and about 15-20% of the people, animals and insects are “Highly Sensitive”. That is almost 1 out of 5 people (and animals and insects), and may include you and definitely some colleagues, friends and family members that you know!
Before we begin: A Note On Culture & Upbringing
Depending on your upbringing, your culture or society, the word ‘sensitive' might have a somewhat negative meaning. However, being sensitive can be of great advantage in life (more on this below). One can be low on sensitivity, or average or highly sensitive, regardless of their gender and cultural background. Although cultures and societies often detail how a specific gender ‘should’ or ‘is allowed’ to express their sensitivity, a personality characteristic like being Highly Sensitive is separate from your gender-identity.
Anyone, from any gender can
be Highly Sensitive.
How your sensitivity ‘shows’
differs from person to person.
What It Can Be Like Being Highly Sensitive…
You are very empathic. You can really feel and sometimes ‘take-on’ the feelings that someone shares with you. Both positive and negative feelings may stay with you, where did this feeling come from?!
You become more easily overwhelmed or overstimulated by the empathy, other feelings or environments. For example, you might feel very alert, anxious or easily drained when out in busy shops or parties with people you don’t know.
You seem to respond more ‘deeply’ to things happening in your outer world and inner world. For example, when you see a sad movie you’re likely to really feel the emotions the movie as if you’re in it. Or, you might feel or sense that there was just an argument here in the room before you walked in, you somehow pick up on the tension!
You tent to pick up on small details: Did that colleague get new glasses? Did someone move that chair?
What It Is Not:
It is not a health or mental health disorder.
Being more or less sensitive than others does not mean there’s anything wrong with you. It is part of your makeup and how people respond to it differs from person to person. It can be a unique strength as well, more on this in future posts.
Being Highly Sensitive does not mean you are introverted, or extraverted per-se. It is separate from this part of your being, although your sensitivity can definitely interact with introversion/extraversion (that’s for another blogpost).
Now What?
This is a brief overview of key-characteristics of Highly Sensitive People, informed by my experience, research with HSPs and working with Highly Sensitive People in therapy. I hope this post gives a bit of insight into what your sensitivity might be like, including what it is not. There is so much more to this, and I am curious to hear how it interacts with your life. If you would like to read more about this, do let me know and I can write more about HSP!
The wallpaper image was chosen to emphasise the amount of detail a Highly Sensitive Person observes, as well as to highlight the ‘perfectionism’ side that many HSPs have.
If you are interested in reading more in-depth about this, I highly recommend this book: The Highly Sensitive Person, by Elain Aron.
