Isn't Everyone Sensitive?

Isn't everyone sensitive? This question gets asked whenever I speak about the trait of high sensitivity.

• The action of being sensitive means being understanding and aware - which certainly any healthy person can be. For instance, one might notice you shivering and offer to get you a sweater.

• Being a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) means being born with a finely tuned nervous system (think: My Favorite Martian's antenna's) which creates greater receptivity to all forms of stimulation.  An HSP may feel, hear, sense, notice things much sooner than a less neurologically tuned friend.  

• Since sensitivity is something an HSP is born with, and our world is tuned for our less sensitive brethren, we often have to spend a lot of energy to try and fit in (hide, mask...) to this vastly over-stimulating world. This can create emotional, relational and physical challenges and the pain of these challenges are usually what brings someone to search for help - and find me!

Using myself as an example:  I was born with a finely tuned nervous system which picked up more information causing me to be highly aware of the emotional atmosphere of our home, including the noise level and chaos created by my rambunctious older brothers.  A less neurologically tuned child might have joined right in, gotten rowdy with the rest, and had fun with it all. I however found it too loud, too fast, too tense.....you get the idea.  In my effort to handle the over-stimulation I was told I was too sensitive, too shy, too ________ - and I admit that I was often just plain grumpy.  

Being grumpy (irritated, sharp tongued) is a very common response for HSPs when we are over stimulated. In fact when in that state we can be very unkind and in-sensitive (first meaning) to others.

According to Elaine N. Aron, highly sensitive people, comprise about a fifth of the population (both men and women). In the past this trait has often been confused with shyness, social anxiety, social phobia, fearfulness, and introversion. It certainly can look and feel like those things yet, in my work and my personal experience, I have found that when an HSP knows how to handle stimulation then life becomes much smoother, easier and more fun.

Although the term is primarily used to describe humans, something similar to this trait is also present in over 100 other species of animals​.  We are not alone!!

Come, lets have a chat and see how well we may work together to help you thrive as a sensitive.