About 1 in 5 adults are HSPs, or “highly sensitive people,” so either you know one, or you are one yourself. But if you've never heard of the term, you're not alone.
I am a highly sensitive person (HSP), a term coined by the clinical psychologist Elaine Aron in 1991 to describe a personality trait that is present in 15 to 30% of the population, approximately 80 million women and men across the United States.
Recent research suggests that roughly 30 percent of people are highly sensitive — less than 1 in 3 — and some researchers put the number as low as 15 to 20 percent.
How common are highly sensitive people? Since Aron conceived the concept of what it means to be an HSP, more and more people have been identifying themselves as highly sensitive. It is believed that HSPs are not rare, and that about 15-20% of the population are thought to be an HSP.
Overall, about 15 to 20 percent of the population are thought to be highly sensitive. HSPs are thought to be more disturbed than others by violence, tension, or feelings of being overwhelmed. They may, as a result, make concerted efforts to avoid situations in which such things are likely to occur.
HSPs are typically highly intelligent, and seek out opportunities to do deep work. Many HSPs are academics, artists, researchers, scientists and technicians with high level proficiency.
In the DSM sensory processing sensitivity (the formal name for HSP) it is not associated with autism at all. Another major difference is that HSP don't struggle with 'social' issues like eye contact, recognizing faces, social cues, and knowing the intentions of others.
We speak of giftedness if the IQ is 130 or above, while that is not a condition for being called highly sensitive. However, it takes more than an IQ test to measure giftedness, because we now know that gifted individuals are more than their above-average intelligence.
Sensitive people often feel “something is wrong” with them because they have been shamed for their sensitivity. They are called “too sensitive,” inhibited, or fearful. Sensitive people have a higher likelihood of having low self-esteem.
Bjelland noted a belief that all empaths are HSPs, but not all HSPs are empaths. Dr. Orloff said that an empath indeed carries all of the attributes of an HSP but with more developed intuition and a sponge-like ability for absorbing emotions. "You turn up the volume going from HSP to empath," Dr.
According to Dr. Elaine Aaron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person, sensitive people tend to cry more easily than others. “Sensitive people can't help but express what they're feeling,” she told the Huffington Post.
High sensitivity, by definition, is a genetic trait; you're either born with it or you're not, although your early childhood experiences do play a role in shaping your level of sensitivity.
A slower, simpler pace of life
Because they process information deeply, HSPs may move a little slower than non-HSPs. They may need more time to do certain tasks, like getting out of the house in the morning.
Most HSPs need at least 8 hours, and many sleep over the average -- 9 or 10 hours nightly. If you're not getting enough sleep you WILL burn out and edge towards depression, anxiety and become less capable of functioning.
Sights, sounds, smells, and other forms of sensory input may cause a heightened experience for HSPs. A sound that is barely perceptible to most people may be very noticeable, and possibly even painful, to an HSP. There's more to being a highly sensitive person than just being sensitive to stimuli.
While highly sensitive individuals tend to experience hyper-reactivity to sensory information, autistic individuals may have either a hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory information, a combination of both, or neither.
From a clinical personality perspective, high sensitivity could be considered to have substantial overlaps with hypersensitive narcissism, or generally vulnerable narcissism.
Trauma affects highly sensitive and intense people more intensely. Like any other of your reactions to stimuli, as a highly sensitive person (HSP) your trauma reactions are also more intense than most. As a result, many HSPs have used trauma splitting, or structural dissociation, as a way to cope.
Being highly sensitive does NOT mean you're easily insulted or “full of drama.” We always tell people who get offended easily to not be “so sensitive,” but high sensitivity has nothing to do with overreacting, getting offended, or creating drama for people.
Most HSPs are either INFJs or INFPs — the ones that don't tend to be ENFJs or ENFPs. Whether you're one or both, it's important to know what stresses you, what overstimulates you and what makes you feel calm, relaxed and happy.
Hypersensitivity, also known as being a “highly sensitive person” (HSP), is not a disorder. It is an attribute common in people with ADHD.
Seeing the world through another person's eyes is central to the experience of being a highly sensitive person (HSP). There is now a documented, replicable fMRI study showing that HSPs demonstrate stronger empathy than do others in tests involving reactions to images.
Because HSPs' brains are wired differently, the way they process information and come to a decision is different from people who don't have high SPS. They take more time making decisions, and can feel overwhelmed when asked to make a particularly tough one.
The big difference is that people with BPD tend to be willing to express themselves in any and all environments regardless of who is present. Whereas people with HSP tend to be more withdrawn in front of others and reserve their mood swings for a few safe people.