HSP can spend a lot of time thinking, analysing and reflecting on situations. Their overactive mind means they can be prone to emotional overwhelm and burnout. If left unchecked those who are highly sensitive are more likely to experience periods of extreme anxiety, stress, guilt or even shame.
Over time, it can trigger the onset of disease processes such as chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. HSPs are also more prone to mental health challenges such as depression and anxiety – this is particularly true when HSPs are exposed to traumatic events such as childhood abuse situations.
Expectations of Others
They hate letting people down. Learning to say no is a challenge and a necessity for HSPs because they can feel crushed by the demands of others, particularly because they can feel their friends' disappointment if HSPs need to say no. Highly sensitive people tend to be their own worst critics.
Are easily overwhelmed by such things as bright lights, strong smells, coarse fabrics, or loud sirens. Feel stressed when they have a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time. Avoid violent movies and TV shows. Withdraw during busy days.
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.
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.
Being highly sensitive to the world does not necessarily indicate narcissism, but those who perceive themselves as especially fragile due to their personality paired with an attitude that discomfort must be avoided at all times can be prone to show aspects of hypersensitive narcissism and a sense of entitlement to ...
According to Aron's conception of high sensitivity, it isn't a mental health disorder; rather, it is defined, like other aspects of personality, as a trait that exists in each person to varying degrees. Despite some drawbacks associated with high sensitivity, evidence suggests it may also offer adaptive advantages.
HSPs are typically highly intelligent, and seek out opportunities to do deep work. Many HSPs are academics, artists, researchers, scientists and technicians with high level proficiency. HSPs are deep learners, and so enjoy going deep on their chosen subjects, and often gain proficiency early in life.
Most HSPs need at least 8 hours, and many sleep over the average -- 9 or 10 hours nightly.
Someone who knows how to have an authentic connection — they like deep conversations about feelings, emotions, and aspirations. Superficial relationships made up of small talk hold no value to highly sensitive people.
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.
HSPs' emotions are extra vivid due to a part of the brain called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). The vmPFC is involved in emotion regulation, especially the vividness of emotions. The emotional vividness is not of a social nature (unlike mirror neurons).
The three subtypes of highly sensitive people include Aesthetic Sensitivity (AES), Low Sensory Threshold (LST), and Ease of Excitation (EOE). Before we explain what each of these means, it's important to note that HSPs can fit into more than one subtype, each subtype has its own characteristics.
Let me note here that highly sensitive people can also exhibit toxic behaviors. When bringing up your needs, wants feelings or thoughts do you constantly feel criticized, put down, or shamed?
They often take things personally, agitate over “how dare they say/do this to me”, and have difficulty letting go. Two other common traits of the highly sensitive narcissist are narcissistic brooding (cutting resentment and simmering hostility), and narcissistic rage (intense angry outbursts).
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.
Bjelland noted a belief that all empaths are HSPs, but not all HSPs are empaths. Dr. Orloff said that an empath indeed carries all of the attributes of an HSP but with more developed intuition and a sponge-like ability for absorbing emotions. "You turn up the volume going from HSP to empath," Dr.
Seeing the world through another person's eyes is central to the experience of being a highly sensitive person (HSP). There is now a documented, replicable fMRI study showing that HSPs demonstrate stronger empathy than do others in tests involving reactions to images.
Experts say although HSP doesn't cause bipolar disorder or other mental health conditions, it is more common in affective disorders. As a result, dealing with super sensitivity—feeling distressed by “normal” experiences—or during high-stress times, can often trigger a mood episode and visa versa.
HSPs tend to notice more than others. They have an inherently intuitive nature and an ability to “peel the onion”. On the other hand, it can be hard for HSPs to handle aggressive behavior, be challenged, or sit through uncomfortable situations. HSPs may avoid certain situations that lead to overwhelming feelings.
Highly sensitive people are not the same as emotionally needy, whiny, complainers. They aren't victims, and they're not making up problems just to get attention. We all know people like that, but there are key differences: Victims are focused on themselves, while HSPs are often focused on others.