For more on this personality trait, see the Highly Sensitive site.
Therapist Noreen Barron writes: Highly sensitive people can be considered “weak” “soft” “pathetic” and “cry babies”. They are often shamed and criticized for their “over the top” responses, so they swallow and stuff many, if not all, of their needs, experiences, feelings, thoughts to keep “it all in” and contained, so as not to feel [...]
Research by Dr. Ted Zeff indicates : “North American HSMs (highly sensitive males) who reported that they had supportive parents as boys and who played group sports as a boy were “never” or “rarely” teased for being sensitive. “However, the North American HSMs who reported that neither parents were supportive of their sensitivity, and who [...]
Shyness and introversion may seem to be the same in some ways, at least on the surface. They can overlap, and we may have both traits – but they are not the same thing. And they are not the same as the trait of high sensitivity. But being shy can be more intense if we [...]
The term ’savant’ may be most often used for people such as Daniel Tammet, who is autistic and can recite more than 22,000 digits of pi from memory. The savant label seems to be mostly used for cognitive abilities like prodigious memory, such as Tammet’s. But what about other exceptional sensory processing abilities? In the [...]
This image is “Tom’s Diner” – a watercolor by Ralph Goings. Along with other forms of creative expression, photorealist painting demands meticulous attention to detail. A recent CNN article on “sensory processing sensitivity” reports that people with this trait “tended to have more brain activity in the high-order visual processing regions.” The article – Ultra-sensitive? [...]
You may belong to the 20% of us who innately prefer to think before acting. By Elaine Aron, Ph.D. Are you famous for being slow to make decisions? Do you need more down time than your friends do? Are you bothered by noise, crowds, and having too much going on at once? Are you unusually [...]
Shyness, introversion and high sensitivity may overlap with each other, but they are distinct personality traits. Elaine Aron, PhD notes, “Shyness is learned, not innate. In fact, 30% of HSPs [highly sensitive people] are extraverts, although the trait is often mislabeled as introversion.” So by her reckoning, 70% or so of sensitive people are introverted. [...]
In one of her newsletter articles, Elaine Aron talks about the differences between giftedness and sensitivity, in both children and adults. Last summer I was the invited speaker at a conference on developing gifted children, and I have been promising you a report on it. As I discussed my talk with the organizer, Linda Silverman, [...]
Being highly sensitive can be a beneficial trait in many ways, such as enhancing creative expression and leading us toward making more cautiously considered evaluations and decisions. But being unusually sensitive and inner-directed means we are to an extent “misfits” in a culture like this that so values sociability, extroversion and quick action – all [...]
By guest author Lisa A. Riley, LMFT Creatives often feel and perceive more intensely, dramatically, and with a wildly vivid color palate to draw from, which can only be described as looking at the world through a much larger lens. Without a substantial filtration system firmly in place to screen out most of the busy [...]
In her post Are Introverts More Creative than Extraverts?, Elizabeth Wagele writes about how this key personality dimension relates to creative expression. Here is an excerpt : My café friends and I, mostly introverts, were discussing where our various kinds of creativity came from recently. Our DNA is probably mostly responsible, but we each pointed [...]
“I am shy and I don’t start relationships with people normally. I guess I have a way that can seem aloof and sort of cold. They didn’t like me that much, but I never resented it. I was different than they were.” Actor Kristin Kreuk – about being in high school. Being highly sensitive may [...]
In her article, 27 Tips For Navigating College As a Highly Sensitive Person, Andrea Runyan discusses how sensitive students can manage the stresses of housing, emotional life, parties, eating, studying, professors and friends. College is a crucial time in life and doing well, both in classes and in general life, can have large ramifications for [...]
In addition to helping fuel creativity and a richer experience of living, being highly sensitive can make us more vulnerable to emotional overwhelm, anxiety, self-criticism and other issues. Healthy self concept and self esteem can be especially challenging. As John Lennon once put it, “Part of me suspects that I’m a loser, and the other [...]
“Call it avoidance, complacency, indecisiveness, stubborness or noncompliance. Whatever the term or definition, I have often tried to find some way to delay change or run in the opposite direction from it.” The challenge In her post Change and the HSP, from her blog Inside the Mind of a Highly Sensitive Person, Helen Akers takes [...]
As introverts, we may not have the same values or interests in “fun” activities as those who are more extroverted. That may be another reason highly sensitive people and introverts are less acknowledged, supported and even valued in our outgoing, sociable-oriented culture. Not that introversion and high sensitivity are the same trait, but they often [...]
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Site author: Douglas Eby, M.A./Psychology, is a writer and researcher on the psychology of creative expression and personal growth, especially for high ability adults. He is publisher of the Talent Development Resources series of sites.
