And yet being Highly Sensitive is a vital part of you.

A first step toward thriving as a Sensitive Soul is to understand and accept your trait.

Hear this now: There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are just different. As one of my clients says, being Highly Sensitive is both a gift and a responsibility.

Amy Brenneman is a graduate of Harvard, where she majored in comparative religion. She spent one semester studying sacred dances in Nepal. While in college, she formed the Cornerstone Theater Company, and is an executive producer and writer of her series "Judging Amy." [from imdb.com bio]

..
..
..The Highly Sensitive Person's Survival Guide :  Essential Skills for Living Well in an Overstimulating World 
by Ted Zeff, PhD,
 foreword by Elaine Aron, PhD

"Ted Zeff shares many thoughtful insights and solutions to problems for highly sensitive people. This is an excellent collection of new, practical coping strategies."

HSPs tend to be sensitive to noise, smells, lights, feel
overwhelmed by crowds and time pressure or can't screen out stimuli. 

They also tend to be very sensitive to pain, the effects of caffeine and violent movies.

This accessible, practical guide contains strategies to help you survive and thrive in an over-stimulating world. Build your coping skills by exploring the book's engaging exercises.

author Ted Zeff - from posting in hspbook list [Yahoo group]

site for book - with related resources hspsurvival.com 

"I'm extremely-extremely sensitive. I can cry at the drop of a hat. I'm such a girl when it comes to that. Anything upsets me. I cry all the time. I cry when I'm happy too."
    from absolutely.net

"I'm really overly sensitive. I get my feelings hurt very easily, and sometimes I just cry for no reason, and I hate that."    malaya.com March 21 2004

I've been an intuitive empath since childhood which prompted my exploration of this phenomena. I couldn't go to shopping malls or crowded places because I'd get overwhelmed by the energy. 

I'd walk in feeling fine and walk out exhausted, anxious or with a new ache or pain. I told my mother who was a physician and she said, "Oh no, dear, you just don't have a thick enough skin."

So I thought there was something wrong with me.

Judith Orloff, MD 

Attempts have been made to abstract sensation from the flow of experience and study its qualities. 

Freud wrote of chaotic sensory fields streaming through the body, involving inside and outside of skin, mucus membranes, glands, aliveness of tissues. 

This readily expands to include proprioceptive and kinesthetic sensation, nerves, muscles, even a vision of cellular aliveness. 

Not all or most sensations throb and pulse, but one well knows what the latter mean. For Freud, such sensitivity is mediated by what he calls a pleasure or body ego, an idea which resonates with older writings on "the flesh," "concupiscence," mischievous, destructive, enlivening Eros.

"Reality for such an individual ceases to be indifferent but affects [them] deeply and leaves long-lasting impressions. 

"Enhanced excitability is thus a means for more frequent interactions and a wider range of experiencing."

"About 15 to 20 percent of the population have this trait. It means you are aware of subtleties in your surroundings, a great advantage in many situations. 

"It also means you are more easily overwhelmed when you have been out in a highly stimulating environment for too long, bombarded by sights and sounds until you are exhausted." 

An HSP herself, Aron reassures other Highly Sensitives that they are quite normal. Their trait is not a flaw or a syndrome, nor is it a reason to brag. It is an asset they can learn to use and protect.