Highly Sensitive People Figuring out if you are an HSP and what to do about it.

It’s suddenly a hot-topic on the internet: Whether or not someone is in fact a Highly Sensitive Person and how they should deal with it if they are. Until a few months ago, I’d never even heard the term, and just figured I was an overly sensitive individual.

I’ve been told that I’m too sensitive, that I take things too much to heart; I’ve received eye-rolls when I’ve commented on strong smells {that no one else could smell} or didn’t like how a certain lotion felt. Over the years I’ve adapted, basically by keeping my mouth closed and my thoughts and comments to myself.
 
I’ve always just figured I was an oddball, and never given much credence to how things affected me. {In the spirit of full disclosure: I am still very much an oddball, despite being an HSP}.

A few months ago, another blogger had instagram’d a book called “The Highly Sensitive Person”; so I got it, and started reading it. And soon realized that there was an actual, official name for how I respond to things. I am a Highly Sensitive Person {or HSP}. It was a revelation!

I haven’t changed myself since reading the book or put myself in therapy, or ever felt that I was inferior to anyone else, but it’s been kind of freeing to realize that there’s a reason for why I am the way I am, and that it’s not a bad thing.

What is a Highly Sensitive Person?

An HSP is someone who experiences things on a more intense level than others. They don’t have more sensitive emotions or skin or hearing or smell or anything else, but their brains process those things more intensely than the average person’s does. For me, that means I am very overwhelmed about smells and noises around me, by how things feel on my skin {particularly my hands and feet}, and by how other people react to me and the world around us.

Here’s where it’s tricky.

While I am overwhelmed by these things, and they can distract me, they don’t consume {for me} my focus. I can be overwhelmed by a noise or smell, and still be perfectly capable of functioning, most HSPs have learned how to cope with these things. However, there are times that whatever is affecting me, is affecting me to the point that I am unable to focus on what I’m doing, at least until I figure out what it is.

Are you a Highly Sensitive Person?

While the book is a great source of information, it was a bit of a drawn-out read, for me: I wasn’t very dedicated to it. It did have a ton of information about figuring out IF you’re a HSP, how family and friends can be better able to understand HSPs, and how to deal with being one if you haven’t done so in a particularly healthy manner.

Here’s the general breakdown on figuring out if you are an HSP: Does the world around you, on a fairly regular basis, overwhelm your senses? It doesn’t matter if it’s sight, sound, taste, touch, or hearing. It can be all of them, it can be none of them, it can be as simple as having a hard time adjusting to changes around you or feeling stressed for no known reason. If so, you’re probably an HSP, to some degree.

The other book, The Highly Sensitive Child, has helped me to really see my children, and realize that 3 of them are highly sensitive people {still figuring out that 4th one}. The author gives a lot of insight into what most people would consider “problem children”, that are really just highly sensitive kids, and need things to be presented differently to them.

What does it mean to be a Highly Sensitive Person going forward?

The bottom line, there isn’t anything wrong with me or anyone else who is an HSP; we just happen to process things differently than most people. While some cultures embrace the highly sensitive person as a well rounded individual, our cultural has demoted sensitivity to be more of a nuisance, thus why many HSPs are perceived as the odd-duck. But we can also benefit from being an HSP, because we experience things much more deeply than others {for myself it’s colors, smells, sounds}.

Over the past 32 years I’ve just learned how to cope with how I perceive the world around me. Giving yourself a lot of grace is a big part of being an HSP: Understanding how best to take care of yourself and deal with the things that make you sensitive. Obviously we can’t control everything, but I think knowing what’s affecting us, can make it easier for us to deal with those things that we can’t change.

Are you a Highly Sensitive Person? What things have helped you?

Other resources for Highly Sensitive People:
16 Habits of Highly Sensitive People
15 Tips for Highly Sensitive Parents
The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron {Affiliate Link}
The Highly Sensitive Child be Elaine Aron {Affiliate Link}
FYI: I’m not a doctor, I’m just sharing what I’ve recently discovered about myself.