Here is an overview and some of what I have learned over the last 9 years of intense study of the high sensitivity trait. Also included are some tips, tools, and strategies we’ve discovered on how to successfully navigate life when you or someone important to you has the trait of high sensitivity. My goal is that I want HSPs to not only know how to cope with their trait, but to excel with it!
I have learned that highly sensitive people or “HSPs” make up 15% to 20% of the population. (People with the highly sensitive trait are sometimes also called ultrasensitive people or supersensitive people.) HSP nervous systems are different and are more sensitive to subtleties in their environment, which can be good or bad. And because they process and reflect on incoming information so deeply, they are more likely to become overstimulated and overwhelmed than non-HSPs.
A new DVD “Highly Sensitive People: An Introduction to Highly Sensitive Trait” is now available. The 65-minute presentation was videotaped on the recent “Art of Relationships” cruise to Alaska, includes an overview of the trait, some of the common characteristics of HSPs, some famous people who exhibit some of those characteristics, as well tips and strategies and HSP Self-Test. Jim’s special guest is psychotherapist, best-selling author and PAS, Dr. Pat Allen.
Highly sensitive people have often said that they feel they are “different” and just don’t fit in; We have even heard some HSPs say that sometimes they feel as if they are from a different planet.
Being highly sensitive is an inherited trait and is brilliantly described in Dr. Elaine Aron’s book The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. This is a book that I highly recommend.
I also learned a lot from psychologist Carl G. Jung’s “Psychological Types,” Dr. John M. Oldham’s “Sensitive Personality Style,” and Dr. Kazimierz Dabrowski’s “Positive Disintegration Theory” and “Overexcitabilities.”
It is in the nature of highly sensitive people to “pause to check” and not rush into new or different situations, but proceed much more cautiously than their Non-HSP counterparts. The high sensitivity trait causes them to process and reflect very deeply on incoming information. It is not that they are “afraid” or “frightened”, but that it is in their nature to process incoming information so deeply. Highly sensitive people may even need until the next day to have had enough time to fully process the information, reflect on it, and formulate their response.
High sensitivity trait can be considered to have both positive and negative characteristics and is a valid and normal trait and not a character flaw or disorder.
On the plus side, and there is a big plus side, we have learned that highly sensitive people have wonderful imaginations, are often highly intelligent, creative, curious, and are known to be hard-working, great organizers, and problem solvers. They are known for being extremely conscientious and meticulous. HSPs are fortunate to be exceptionally intuitive, caring, compassionate, and spiritual. They are also blessed with an incredible aesthetic awareness and appreciation for nature, music, and the arts.
Pearl S. Buck, (1892-1973), winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938, once said about highly sensitive people:
“The truly creative mind in any field is nothing more than this:
An abnormally born human creature, inhumanly sensitive.
To the…
a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.
Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overwhelming need to create, create, create – – – so that without the creation of music or poetry or books or buildings or anything of meaning, its very breath is deprived of it. It must create, it must for our creation. By some strange and unknown inner urge, it is not really alive unless it is creating.” -Pearl S. Buck
There is also a strong correlation between the trait of high sensitivity and being “gifted.” It is probably correct to say that while not all gifted people are highly sensitive, all highly sensitive people are gifted. And, Dr. Dabroski’s “OE” theory is that people born with overexcitabilities have a higher level of “developmental potential” than others and that their overexcitabilities feed, enrich, empower, and amplify their talents.
Some of the diverse group of individuals who might belong to the list of those who exhibit the characteristics of the high sensitivity trait would include: Albert Einstein, Carl Jung, Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, Katharine Hepburn, Woody Allen, Queen Elizabeth II, Orson Welles, Walt Disney, Ansel Adams, Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage, Steven Spielberg, Jane Goodall, Warren Buffett, Barbara Streisand, Michael Jordan, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, Jewel, John Denver, Alanis Morissette, and Princess Diana, to name a few. And, a couple of possible TV HSPs that come to mind include Radar O’Reilly on the classic sitcom M*A*S*H and currently OCD detective Adrian Monk on the series MONK. . Some movies that portray characters that may give insight into the high-sensitivity trait include: “The Hours,” “The Green Mile,” “Amelie,” “Hannibal,” and “Adaptation.”
We hope you will recognize that the High Sensitivity trait is a gift and a blessing, albeit a gift that can come at a high price. But, a gift that we hope you realize is worth every penny of the price.
As we know, highly sensitive people’s systems are very porous, that is, external stimuli seem to be absorbed more directly into their bodies. (It has been said that it is as if HSPs barely have any “skin” to protect them from these external stimuli). Non-HSPs are generally less porous and have natural defenses that shut down external stimuli, so they don’t directly impact or overload your nervous systems
Another way to think of this is to visualize the curve on a graph: At the point where Non-SBP would have little or no stimulation, SBP would be somewhat stimulated. Where the Non-HSP would be somewhat stimulated, the HSP would be quite well stimulated. And, where the Non-PAS is well stimulated, the PAS may be reaching, or may have already reached, a state of overstimulation, overexcitement, and overwhelm, which can manifest in highly sensitive people as upset, exhausted, or even angry, needing to escape. , or possibly “shutting down” and being unable to function.
We have also learned that while many highly sensitive people are introverted, reserved, quiet, or shy, there is a percentage who are sensation seekers or extroverts. And it is that, although they look for adventures, they are also overloaded and overstimulated with the same results as the rest of PAS.
So if you have ever felt that you were completely alone in having these overwhelming feelings and the need to seek solitude and shelter, we hope you will find comfort in knowing that you are not alone and that you will benefit from some of the suggestions presented. here.