Emotional intelligence (EQ) is your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships. The good news is that highly sensitive people aren't more or less emotionally intelligent than others.
HSPs have several advantages when it comes to emotional intelligence, including — based on what's called the “mixed model” — being particularly good when it comes to empathy, active listening, and social-awareness.
As mentioned above, many people with higher sensitivity have a lot of strength when it comes to things like “Emotional Intelligence.” A high EQ means that these sensitive people can understand and recognise emotions in both themselves and the people around them.
Gifted people are usually also highly sensitive and intense. They are more aware of subtleties; their brain processes information and reflects on it more deeply. At their best, they can be exceptionally perceptive, intuitive, and keenly observant of the subtleties of the environment.
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.
Are Highly Sensitive People More Susceptible to Trauma? In a word, yes. As highly sensitive people, our nervous systems are more finely tuned than those of non-HSPs. This means we respond to all stimuli in a stronger way, including traumatic experiences.
Many HSPs are happy, confident people who have managed to use their sensitive qualities to their advantage. But there are also HSPs who struggle with how they feel about themselves, not as a result of their high sensitivity, but as a consequence of living in a less than sensitive world.
Most highly sensitive people display rare strengths in key areas of emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient (EQ) — the ability to recognize and understand emotions in themselves and others. These strengths including self-awareness and social-awareness.
Living with High Sensitivity
HSPs may struggle to adapt to new circumstances, may demonstrate seemingly inappropriate emotional responses in social situations, and may easily become uncomfortable in response to light, sound, or certain physical sensations.
It is important to note that many highly sensitive people are not narcissistic. Highly sensitive people are often aware, empathetic, and excellent listeners, which are the antithesis of narcissism.
That depth of processing makes highly sensitive brains are capable of a unique levels of creativity or insight. Now in a new study, researchers have found that it is when people with sensory processing sensitivity rest that their brains engage in deep levels of thought processing.
The finding of the study showed that introvert, intuition, feeling and judging (INFJ) personality type were more emotionally intelligent than the extrovert, sensing, thinking and perceiving (ESTP) personality type.
"Many individuals who are high in neuroticism become hypersensitive to situations that trigger strong emotions, such as sadness," he adds. In other words, those who have high neuroticism feel emotions very deeply, resulting in them crying more often.
Being a highly sensitive person is not a diagnosis or a medical condition and does not require treatment. However, HSPs may find relief from this label for their experiences. They may receive meaningful support from therapy and resources or books about HSP.
Highly sensitive people activate brain areas to a greater extent to interpret in great depth and detail the information of the affective and emotional states of the people around them, especially those close to them.
HSPs have a variant of the serotonin transporter encoding gene, known as 5-HTTLPR. The 5-HTTLPR gene variant decreases serotonin in the brain and increases sensitivity to surroundings. The HS brain may have less mood-stabilizing serotonin than the non-HS brain, but it has an enhanced ability to learn from experience.
Highly sensitive people may be more affected by certain situations such as tension, violence, and conflict, which may lead them to avoid things that make them feel uncomfortable. You might be highly touched by beauty or emotionality. Highly sensitive people tend to feel deeply moved by the beauty they see around them.
They have a hard time with conflict and tend to avoid confrontation. This can be challenging in the workplace or at home. They also feel responsible for others' expectations, which makes it harder to let people down. HSPS can overcome many of these downsides through therapy and learning to be more assertive.
Sleep is crucial for HSPs, so make sure its highly quality and your night-time sleep is long. 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.
They are often empaths, meaning they possess a keen ability to sense others' feelings, needs, and insecurities. HSPs have rich inner worlds and, as a result, internalize everything more deeply — from social interactions to emotions to physical and visual sensations.
You are a responsive parent
There's good news if you are a highly sensitive parent – you usually make very good parents. You might be more sensitive to things 4. But it also means that you recognize what makes your child special and unique. You can sense your child's needs and respond quickly.
A common struggle for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) is overthinking. “My brain won't stop,” or, “I can't turn it off!” or “I'm overanalyzing again” are common refrains.
One of the main reasons that HSPs might feel lonely is that their interactions and relationships are lacking substance — and our constant sense of being an “outsider” only makes this worse. Unless we can stop withdrawing and get the meaningful interactions we crave.
Sensitivity is often seen as a sign of weakness in our culture, especially when a sensitive person experiences too much stress. We can easily become overwhelmed by too much sensory input, doing too much and ignoring our limits or just by being surrounded by too many people.