People who consider themselves
highly sensitive have a greater receptivity to stimulation. They
simply are not able to tolerate as much as other people around them.
I know because I’m one of them. What most people would consider a
tolerable level of stimulation, the HSP finds highly arousing.
Whether it be light, smells, physical sensations, loud noise, or even background noise. Sometimes they may not even be consciously aware that something is over arousing their nervous system until their body just feels exhausted and heavy. They also tend to be cautious and like to take their time before making any decisions too.
Whether it be light, smells, physical sensations, loud noise, or even background noise. Sometimes they may not even be consciously aware that something is over arousing their nervous system until their body just feels exhausted and heavy. They also tend to be cautious and like to take their time before making any decisions too.
Due to HSP's
perceiving our environment as overly stimulating, physiologically we
tend to produce more of the stress hormone cortisol and our heart
beat is generally higher. This situation of course is a catch 22.
We feel stressed so we produce more cortisol, then the excess cortisol makes us feel more stressed and fearful! That's why we sometimes find it difficult to sleep, sustain sleep, and why we desperately need to withdraw to recharge.
We feel stressed so we produce more cortisol, then the excess cortisol makes us feel more stressed and fearful! That's why we sometimes find it difficult to sleep, sustain sleep, and why we desperately need to withdraw to recharge.
Growing Up As A
HSP
I remember when I
was little, at the end of the third grade, my teacher wrote one
sentence to describe me on my end of year report.. “Joanna reads
and writes very well but tends to daydream a lot and prefers to
withdraw from socializing with the other children” .
Luckily my mum was always very supportive of my sensitivity and didn’t make a big fuss about my teachers' comments about my excessive daydreaming or lack of socializing. I feel that my acute sensitivity was definitely inherited from her.
Luckily my mum was always very supportive of my sensitivity and didn’t make a big fuss about my teachers' comments about my excessive daydreaming or lack of socializing. I feel that my acute sensitivity was definitely inherited from her.
I remember growing
up feeling overwhelmed and anxious almost every day.
About the the world, what was expected of me, my feelings, how I was supposed to communicate and behave around others, how I thought I had to fit in. These feelings of overwhelm lead to me to feel very distressed, which lead to feeling over stimulated and I needed to withdraw even further.
I was scared of my own emotions. Picking up on other peoples emotions just intensified the issue. I felt hopeless and worthless often. I wondered how I would survive when I was an adult.
About the the world, what was expected of me, my feelings, how I was supposed to communicate and behave around others, how I thought I had to fit in. These feelings of overwhelm lead to me to feel very distressed, which lead to feeling over stimulated and I needed to withdraw even further.
I was scared of my own emotions. Picking up on other peoples emotions just intensified the issue. I felt hopeless and worthless often. I wondered how I would survive when I was an adult.
Gifts Of The
Highly Sensitive Person
There is a blessing
in having experienced life this way. Because we pick up on so much
information and deeply process all the subtle details, this tends to
make us more intuitive. We have a very fertile imagination,
tremendous empathy, brilliant creativity and amazing insight.
The rest of the
world may see us as shy, introverted or unsociable. But this is not necessarily true for HSP.
We love spending quality time one on one, with other HSP. We can brilliantly and confidently express ourselves IF (after our own analysis) we feel we are understood. If however, we feel misunderstood, or perceive criticism, we tend to shut down.
We love spending quality time one on one, with other HSP. We can brilliantly and confidently express ourselves IF (after our own analysis) we feel we are understood. If however, we feel misunderstood, or perceive criticism, we tend to shut down.
Accept Your Gift
I'm still learning to
accept that my body and mind function differently from what I'v been
taught by society is acceptable. Iv always struggled with 9-5 work,
Monday though Friday, a boss watching me, working in a group
situation, in a loud and busy environment.
I was hard on myself for so many years. I felt like I failed and just couldn’t keep up with everyone else that considered this normal. I was utterly exhausted at the end of each and every day. I lived in fear of the next morning, forcing myself to be in a pleasant, sociable and bubbly mood by 9am sharp. Sometimes I was so frazzled by the end of the day that I couldn't sleep and just cried.
When we can't cope with the over arousal, we begin to falsely believe that our sensitivity is a curse.
I was hard on myself for so many years. I felt like I failed and just couldn’t keep up with everyone else that considered this normal. I was utterly exhausted at the end of each and every day. I lived in fear of the next morning, forcing myself to be in a pleasant, sociable and bubbly mood by 9am sharp. Sometimes I was so frazzled by the end of the day that I couldn't sleep and just cried.
When we can't cope with the over arousal, we begin to falsely believe that our sensitivity is a curse.
I'm now choosing to
embrace my sensitivity. That I am at my best when the environment, my
work schedule is flexible and on my terms. Yes, I do work best
uninterrupted and on my own. I connect to the wisdom of my heart in
quiet moments, and feel the inspiration I'm receiving more acutely.
Iv decided to put my
needs first, otherwise I'm no good to anyone else.
Iv chosen to learn to set boundaries. I'm still learning how to recognize when I've had enough. Its a new journey to be kind to myself, respect that everything will be ok if I do things at a pace that is acceptable to me.
Iv chosen to learn to set boundaries. I'm still learning how to recognize when I've had enough. Its a new journey to be kind to myself, respect that everything will be ok if I do things at a pace that is acceptable to me.
My intention is to share this with other Highly Sensitive People because we have great gifts of intuition, empathy, and insight to share with the world.
And we can only excel if the environment is supportive of our gentler preferences. However, it's up to us to put limits in place so we can preserve our energy, and see that our trait of sensitivity is indeed a blessing.
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