What it means to be a 'highly sensitive person' (and how to tell if you're one)

Table of Contents

Have you ever felt like you're more emotionally responsive than others?

You might find that you're feeling emotions more intensely than your mates or family, or that you're getting overwhelmed by bright lights, sirens, or the sensation of certain fabrics.

However, I don't see any text to paraphrase. Please provide the text you'd like me to paraphrase.

Becky Black was in her 50s when she read a book by American psychologists Elaine and Arthur Aron that introduced the idea to her.

Dr Black had a feeling from a young age that she was distinct from others and then felt a sense of connection.

"I just devoured it. As I was reading, I thought, 'Good grief, that's me,'" she says.

It felt to me that the tectonic plates of my life really shifted when I learned about this sensitive personality trait. It just helped me understand heaps of aspects of my experience that I hadn't been able to work out.

My mum used to tell me, 'You're too sensitive.' I used to think that was a weakness – that I needed to be less sensitive.

What's the definition of a highly sensitive person?

Dr Black currently works as a lecturer at the Centre for Wellbeing Science at Melbourne University's Graduate School of Education. Her PhD research focused on highly sensitive people and wellbeing.

:

• Greater depth of information processing capabilities.
• Increased emotional responsiveness and compassion.
• Increased awareness of subtle changes in one's surroundings; and
• Greater propensity for overstimulation.

Australian researcher Sharell Bas and her colleagues conducted interviews with 26 highly sensitive individuals and found that people experienced SPS in a variety of ways.

.

"Not everyone will be affected in the same way by the same things," Dr Black says.

Some people might pick up on a really faint smell, while others nearby might not even notice it … or a bright light on a screen could be really bothersome for someone who's easily irritated.

Researchers discovered that 47% of the differences in sensitivity among individuals were caused by genetics, whereas the remaining 53% were the result of external factors.

If you answered yes to many of these, you might be a Highly Sensitive Person.

As part of their work, the Arons developed a self-assessment tool to help gauge high sensitivity.

coarser fabrics or nearby sirens

.

However, they say the self-test is not meant to "diagnose or rule out a diagnosis of any condition".

Being highly sensitive is not a mental disorder.

And it might share some similarities with characteristics like being shy and being prone to anxiety.

"It's one of these concepts that many of us in academic psychology are familiar with, but it's not a major area of focus in the field. I'm not saying we shouldn't be interested in it, it's just that it's not one of the concepts we're most used to dealing with," he says.

The blokes behind this idea are actual psychologists. The research got published in some top-notch academic journals, it's just not really caught on in the mainstream yet.

In a chat with Vogue magazine.

.

There's no personality trait that's a clear-cut category. He says there aren't any personality types where you're firmly in or out of it.

These things follow a bell curve pattern. There are only a few people at the extremes, a few at the lower end and a lot in the middle.

What's the benefit of understanding high sensitivity?

Dr Black reckoned she had a more pronounced reaction to certain stimuli than others, but she also felt a real sense of wellbeing.

She was trying to figure out a way to better understand her experience – and Aron's idea was really helpful. It's something she also came across in her research.

"The people I spoke to, it was a pretty common experience for them – they just felt more accepting and didn't feel like they had to change who they are," Dr Black says.

, too.

Getting on top of that negative self-talk can have a huge impact on your overall wellbeing. I can definitely attest to that myself, and it's also been the experience of many others I've spoken to.