HSP's need a lot more time to rest and recover from the stimuli of everyday life. Meditation helps in quieting the mind and calming those racing thoughts. For some, meditation can seem really intimidating, but it can be as simple as sitting and daydreaming for a few minutes a day.
Put on feel-good or calming music to enjoy by yourself.
You might prefer something else relaxing, such as piano or classical music. Research, too, has found that calming music is soothing for HSPs. So as you sit and listen, you'll naturally decompress and recharge.
There are a lot of reasons for this since everything can be overwhelming for a highly sensitive person. Some reasons you might be tired include: absorbing people's emotions, exerting too much energy or focus, ignoring your own boundaries, holding back your authenticity, too little sleep, constantly being “on” and more.
Most highly sensitive people display rare strengths in key areas of emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient (EQ) — the ability to recognize and understand emotions in themselves and others. These strengths including self-awareness and social-awareness.
Sleep is crucial for HSPs, so make sure its highly quality and your night-time sleep is long. Most HSPs need at least 8 hours, and many sleep over the average -- 9 or 10 hours nightly. If you're not getting enough sleep you WILL burn out and edge towards depression, anxiety and become less capable of functioning.
Highly sensitive people activate brain areas to a greater extent to interpret in great depth and detail the information of the affective and emotional states of the people around them, especially those close to them.
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships. The good news is that highly sensitive people aren't more or less emotionally intelligent than others.
A verbal safe haven: HSPs thrive in relationships where they feel seen, heard, and valued. Since highly sensitive people feel things more deeply than most, their feelings often get hurt more quickly than others'. HSPs thrive in relationships where they feel seen, heard, and valued.
HSPs, therefore, need a lot of empathy and understanding, as well as space to express their much stronger emotions. According to Elaine Aron, a psychotherapist dealing with highly sensitive issues, such people tend to cry more than others and are unable to express what they feel.
Gifted people are usually also highly sensitive and intense. They are more aware of subtleties; their brain processes information and reflects on it more deeply. At their best, they can be exceptionally perceptive, intuitive, and keenly observant of the subtleties of the environment.
According to Aron, 15 to 20 percent of the population is born with a high level of sensitivity. “When you know that you are highly sensitive, it reframes your life,” says Aron. Knowing that you have this trait will enable you to make better decisions.
Living with High Sensitivity
HSPs may struggle to adapt to new circumstances, may demonstrate seemingly inappropriate emotional responses in social situations, and may easily become uncomfortable in response to light, sound, or certain physical sensations.
Highly sensitive people may be more affected by certain situations such as tension, violence, and conflict, which may lead them to avoid things that make them feel uncomfortable. You might be highly touched by beauty or emotionality. Highly sensitive people tend to feel deeply moved by the beauty they see around them.
Being a highly sensitive person is not a diagnosis or a medical condition and does not require treatment. However, HSPs may find relief from this label for their experiences. They may receive meaningful support from therapy and resources or books about HSP.
Due to traits of their personality, heightened empathy or childhood conditioning, many highly sensitive people have repressed anger, and do not know how to deal with their emotions healthily.
Repeat after me: Highly Sensitive People are not covert narcissists. HSPs aren't even on the narcissism scale. In fact, they're basically the opposite of narcissists, even if they do show some of the same outward traits.
They have a hard time with conflict and tend to avoid confrontation. This can be challenging in the workplace or at home. They also feel responsible for others' expectations, which makes it harder to let people down. HSPS can overcome many of these downsides through therapy and learning to be more assertive.
Like any other of your reactions to stimuli, as a highly sensitive person (HSP) your trauma reactions are also more intense than most. As a result, many HSPs have used trauma splitting, or structural dissociation, as a way to cope.
HSPs have greater memory connections.
It makes sense that HSPs would spend more time processing memories; doing so helps us manage the world around us. Reflecting on past experiences can help us prepare for future events, feeling more confident in handling them.
We found that the more sensitive individuals showed stronger resting-state brain connectivity indicative of greater memory and higher-order deliberative processing. This study advances our understanding of the highly sensitive brain's central features.