Over-Sensitivity

A highly sensitive person (HSP) experiences the world differently than others. Due to a biological difference that they’re born with, highly sensitive people are more aware of subtleties and process information deeply. This means they tend to be creative, insightful, and empathetic, but it also means they’re more prone than others to stress and overwhelm.

Although being highly sensitive is completely normal — meaning, it’s not a disease or a disorder — it’s often misunderstood, because only 15 to 20 percent of the population are HSPs.

Are you a highly sensitive person? If you relate to most of these signs, there’s a good chance you’re an HSP.

Juliet was the type of employee every manager dreamed of. Hard-working and dedicated, she strived to excel in her role as lead project manager. Her knack for communication meant tasks were accomplished on time. Her conscientiousness nature assured that every detail was accounted for.

However, at times, Juliet struggled to cope with the stresses of her job. Last-minute changes sent her into a tailspin of overwhelming emotions that compromised her productivity and focus. Juliet also avoided giving necessary feedback to other colleagues, which often interfered with the team’s progress, because she feared push back.

Juliet is a highly sensitive person, or HSP. High sensitivity, also referred to as sensory processing sensitivity, is a genetic trait that affects approximately 20% of the population. Psychologist Elaine Aron, who coined the term in the 1990s, theorized that the trait evolved to help people with more sensitive nervous systems cope better with the world.

A highly sensitive person (HSP) is a term for those who are thought to have an increased or deeper central nervous system sensitivity to physical, emotional, or social stimuli.1 Some refer to this as having sensory processing sensitivity, or SPS for short.

While highly sensitive people are sometimes negatively described as being “too sensitive," it is a personality trait that brings both strengths and challenges.

These terms were first coined by psychologists Elaine Aron and Arthur Aron in the mid-1990s and interest in the concept has continued to grow tremendously since then.

How Do You Know?

Have you ever been told that you’re “too sensitive” or that you “shouldn’t think so much,” particularly by people who strike you as too insensitive or who you believe should think a little more? You may be what is known as a “highly sensitive person,” or HSP.

The dilemma I always get told I am "too sensitive" and need to stop taking everything so seriously. On good days I'm fun and gregarious and on bad days I'm nervous and anxious, getting easily hurt by what others say and sometimes what I think they're thinking. It affects friendships and relationships (all three of my past boyfriends have cited it as a problem). It can be a good trait – I am loyal and compassionate – but the bad side is it drives me and others crazy. I can't handle criticism and take things too seriously, getting overly upset, overthinking things and cutting people out of my life. I want to be able to roll with the punches and take life lightly! I meditate and read psychology books, but I just haven't been able to shake it.

Mariella Replies Oh dear, you definitely won't be speaking to me by the end of this column! I've been accused of riding roughshod over others' emotions and I admit when I feel a friend is being over-indulgent my patience is in short supply. That's all very well when the person in question is drowning in a well of self-pity, but in cases of real depression it's taken me a long time to understand that tough love is neither constructive or kind.

What's interesting about you, and quite unusual, is that you're not claiming depression, or even mitigating circumstances for your sensitivity. It's a very good start. Normally the thin-skinned have an endless array of excuses for why their workaday interactions are so much harder to bear for them than for the rest of us. In the eyes of the self-suffering they are being victimised, used and always abused when they're actually experiencing exactly the same body blows as the rest of us.

You're already on the mend because you have a perspective on the irrationality of your responses. Often those who bruise easily spend too much time thinking about themselves. I'd go so far as to say that oversensitivity is a privilege of the under occupied. The majority of people don't have the time to lavish care on emotional wounds – they're too busy getting on with living.

Do you often feel "too sensitive", anxious or exhausted? 

Would you consider yourself highly emotional, intuitive or easily overwhelmed?

Perhaps you are introverted or need lots of alone time?  

If so, you may be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), a genetic trait found in 15-20% of the population. Being Highly Sensitive creates an advantage of being able to live, love and feel deeply, but can often lead to feeling overstimulated and misunderstood. 

What is the HSP Trait?

According to research by Elaine Aron, High Sensitivity, or Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS), is an innate trait equally dispersed among all gender identities. It is a variation that allows the nervous system and brain to process subtleties and details that most miss. This once lifesaving evolutionary tool has become an overstimulating burden in the modern world where there are high amounts of stimuli to process at all times. 

How do I know if I am a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)?

High Sensitivity can manifest in many ways, but generally shows up as the following four characteristics (D.O.E.S) that are present across the lifespan: 

D - Depth of Processing

The Highly Sensitive brain has a more active insula, the part of the brain that helps enhance perception and increase self-awareness.  HSPs are also wired to pause and reflect before engaging. Therefore, HSPs are always taking in a lot of information around them and thinking deeply about it. This may result in slower decision making and more transition time between tasks.     

O - Overstimulation

Since HSPs notice more subtle details in their environments and are more emotionally impacted by social stimulation, it makes sense that they are more likely to get overstimulated and exhausted by high levels of input.  

E - Emotional Responsiveness/Empathy

Brain scans have shown that HSPs have more active mirror neurons which are responsible for feelings of empathy for others and more activity in areas that are involved with emotional responses.  HSPs feel both positive and negative emotions more intensely than non-HSPs.    

S - Sensitive to Subtleties/Sensory Stimuli

HSPs notice subtle details that others miss such as non-verbal cues and small changes in their environment.  They are also more impacted by strong sensory input such as bright lights, loud noises, strong smells or rough textures.  

Common HSP Challenges

Many of the struggles of being Highly Sensitive are due to being overstimulated and emotionally exhausted.  These challenges are easily remedied with more downtime and access to regulation tools.  

Easily Overwhelmed

You feel easily flustered or overwhelmed in many areas of your life. This could show up as general anxiety, chronic digestive issues, exhaustion, poor concentration or lowered immune functioning. Even pleasant experiences can be stressful such as transitioning into a new relationship or living situation.

The notion that some people are more vulnerable to adversity as a function of inherent risk characteristics is widely embraced in most fields of psychology. This is reflected in the popularity of the diathesis-stress framework, which has received a vast amount of empirical support over the years. Much less effort has been directed toward the investigation of endogenous factors associated with variability in response to positive influences.

One reason for the failure to investigate individual differences in response to positive experiences as a function of endogenous factors may be the absence of adequate theoretical frameworks. According to the differential-susceptibility hypothesis, individuals generally vary in their developmental plasticity regardless of whether they are exposed to negative or positive influences--a notion derived from evolutionary reasoning. 

On the basis of this now well-supported proposition, we advance herein the new concept of vantage sensitivity, reflecting variation in response to exclusively positive experiences as a function of individual endogenous characteristics. After distinguishing vantage sensitivity from theoretically related concepts of differential-susceptibility and resilience, we review some recent empirical evidence for vantage sensitivity featuring behavioural, physiological, and genetic factors as moderators of a wide range of positive experiences ranging from family environment and psychotherapy to educational intervention.

Thereafter, we discuss genetic and environmental factors contributing to individual differences in vantage sensitivity, potential mechanisms underlying vantage sensitivity, and practical implications.

Are you a highly sensitive person? Do you know someone in your personal or professional life who may be highly sensitive? High sensitivity can be defined as acute physical, mental, and emotional responses to external (social, environmental) or internal (intra-personal) stimuli. A highly sensitive person may be an introvert, an extrovert, or somewhere in between.

Although there are many positive aspects of being a sensitive person (such as greater ability to listen and affirm, greater empathy and intuitiveness, better understanding of others' wants and needs, etc.), in this writing we will focus on aspects of high sensitivity which adversely affect one’s health, happiness and success, and often complicate relationships. Below are 24 signs of a highly sensitive person, with excerpts from my books: "Are You Highly Sensitive? How to Gain Immunity, Peace, and Self-Mastery" and "How to Communicate Effectively with Highly Sensitive People". These traits are organized into three major categories: Sensitivity About Oneself, Sensitivity About Others, and Sensitivity About One’s Environment.

While many people may experience some of these signs from time to time, a highly sensitive person will likely “feel too much” and “feel too deep.” Some individuals may be highly sensitive to just one or two stimuli, while others may be strongly affected by more on the list. 

Category One: Sensitivity About Oneself

1. Often has difficulty letting go of negative thoughts and emotions

2. Frequently feels physical symptoms (i.e. stress or headache) when something unpleasant happens during the day

3. Often has bad days that affect eating and/or sleeping habits in an unhealthy way, such as eating or sleeping too much or too little

4. Often experiences tension or anxiety

5. Tends to “beat oneself up” when falling short of own expectations

6. Is afraid of rejection, even in relatively minor situations 

7. Compares self with others often (in physical, relational, social, work, financial, or other scenarios), and experiences unhappy feelings from negative social comparison

8. Often feels anger or resentment about situations in life or in society which seem unjust, aggravating, or simply annoying

Category Two: Sensitivity About Others

9. Often thinks/worries about what others are thinking

10. Tends to take things personally

11. Finds it difficult, when triggered by relatively small unpleasantness with people, to just “let it go”

Being oversensitive can feel a blessing and a curse.

Do you often feel like you were born with the capacity to feel things that others just can’t?

Or lack the self protective ‘skin’ others seem to naturally have?

Are you emotionally sensitive?

“Oversensitive” is perhaps not the best term because it is a judgement. It implies that your level of sensitivity is ‘too much’, or not acceptable.

Other terms are ’emotionally sensitive’ or the trendy ‘highly sensitive person’ tag.

Being emotionally sensitive can look like the following:

• if someone raises their voice you run off or cry
• sad or violent films make you cry or feel deeply upset
• you might avoid people or situations that upset you
• things like music, art, and nature move you more than others
• sensory output (noise, lights, smells) can be overwhelming
• timeouts in quiet, calm places are things you need
• You suffer intermittent depression.

Can I be diagnosed as an oversensitive person?

By: Nguyen Hung Vu

There has been quite the hype around being a ‘highly sensitive person’ in the last few years.

Science has not taken a definite stand on the issue of HSP’s, or Highly Sensitive People, though there is a great deal of information, and even a foundation, set up for HSP’s. “Some researchers believe that a recent discovery called mirror neurons might provide a neuro-science answer” (apa.org) to questions involving normal reactions to certain life situations.

For example, we see someone fall down and scrape their knee, and we automatically recoil in response to the situation. Almost like we can feel their pain, so to speak, which are your mirror neurons at work. This is the same when we see someone yawn, and we immediately follow suit.

Again, those are our mirror neurons. While these little affecters are quantifiable in science because scientists have found them in our brains, what seems to still be a mystery is how we affect atoms thus affecting the world around us.

We all have mirror neutrons, and we are all made of atoms and molecules, so that is not the definitive answer for the person who is highly sensitive, though it plays into the situation.

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science discovered that beams of atoms move simply by being observed, and the more they are observed, the more they change. (Sciencedaily)