Transcript of audio podcast. Jenna does interviews and writes articles to help people who want to empower and transcend their high sensitivity. In the interview, she talks about a number of perspectives and strategies she uses in helping her clients, and suggests books and programs.

By showing that people who carry a common variation of a gene that regulates the neurotransmitter dopamine have an exaggerated "startle" reflex when viewing unpleasant pictures, researchers offer a biochemical explanation for why some people find it harder to regulate emotional arousal. Their sensitivity may, in combination with other hereditary and environmental factors, make them more prone to anxiety disorders.

Would you like to make the schoolyear as smooth as possible for you and your sensitive child? Many of the suggestions that follow may seem to run counter to what some parenting experts would say about developing children. But as you may have experienced, what works for some children may actually work against your best intentions when approaching highly sensitive children.

Then a man brought up his own experience of "male menopause," and how depressed, fatigued, and ill at ease he had become in the last year--something unfamiliar in himself. He saw a doctor wise enough to check his testosterone level, which was low. Taking additional testosterone, beyond what he was producing in his own body, made him feel tremendously better.

The author of The Highly Sensitive Person, Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D., summarizes the trait of high sensitivity.

So sensitivity is actually lost when you're reactive, and true sensitivity comes when you are absolutely present in a situation and see, "This is how it is," and you totally face the situation as it is.

Several empathic and sensitive readers have shared that they struggle with knowing when they're experiencing their own feelings versus feelings they have "picked up" from someone else.

* Have you allowed another person to behave in a fashion or say things around you that you find offensive or repulsive? * Have you not reflected outwardly what matters so much to you inwardly? * Have you not taken time to set up your world to work for you in every way? You are not the only one. In fact, most people do these things, but it is especially prominent among inner-directed individuals because one major way we cope is to sacrifice ourselves to accommodate others.

Overwhelm is a physiological, mental, and emotional state that drowns out any clear signals that might otherwise come through. No matter how hard you try, when you are in a state of overwhelm, you can't see or hear what you most need to see and hear: the very next step.

As a sensitive soul, it's easy to get overstimulated. With stimulation all around, it's not surprising. Our urgency-addicted culture and mainstream work ethic is overstimulating. Sound bites, billboards, spam, and constant advertisements surround us. ... On top of all of this, our own negative internal dialogues can overstimulate as well. On the other hand, positive excitement can also be overstimulating.