For more on this personality trait, see the Highly Sensitive site.
One of my constant internal dialogs revolves around whether or not I’m being authentic. Am I compromising myself? Trying too hard to avoid conflict by keeping silent? Is my desire to have other people feel understood an authentic part of me or counterproductive? And just because a trait is authentic, should I nurture it? Personal [...]
Does being sensitive include the strength to endure and survive hardships? Could it be that what makes us more vulnerable might also make us more durable? I believe in aristocracy, though–if that is the right word, and if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy of power…but…of the sensitive, the considerate…. Its members are [...]
“All forms of self-expression that tap into curiosities, talents or deeply held interests, when pursued to excellence, are deeply nourishing.” That quote by Kenneth W. Christian, PhD is from his book Your Own Worst Enemy: Breaking the Habit of Adult Underachievement. There are many deeply rewarding aspects of being gifted and talented, creative, with exceptional [...]
Why do people seek to live solitary lives? Even though I’m often extroverted, I need an awful lot of time by myself to feel comfortable with my life. Are solitary creatures like me somehow sick, neurotic or abnormal? The New York Times recently ran a story on someone who has chosen a life that is [...]
The BioElectric Shield company has products to counteract electromagnetic radiation. An article on their site says: A large number of people who come to us are suffering as highly sensitive people. … This sensitivity can dramatically impact your ability to cope with the ever increasing chaos and energy in the world today. I get on [...]
In her article, How To Stop Being So Hard On Yourself, excerpted below, expert on highly sensitive living Jenna Avery explains why sensitive people are so self-critical, and how we can stop: Every time I work with a fellow sensitive soul, it seems like we always bump into some kind of fear or limiting belief [...]
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 [...]
Many talented people with exceptional artistic and intellectual abilities have used drugs and alcohol. Sometimes they risk addiction. Edie Falco says her past alcoholism has helped make her role as an addicted nurse even more authentic in “Nurse Jackie.” Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman says he used drugs and alcohol earlier in his life. “It was [...]
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 [...]
There are probably millions of highly sensitive people around the world who are working in situations where they are being watched when they work. Some choose to perform in various ways – as actors, musicians, speakers. Many years ago, I was a customer service rep, taking calls – often complaints – from cell phone customers. [...]
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, [...]
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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.
