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.
There are a lot of reasons for this since everything can be overwhelming for a highly sensitive person. Some reasons you might be tired include: absorbing people's emotions, exerting too much energy or focus, ignoring your own boundaries, holding back your authenticity, too little sleep, constantly being “on” and more.
HSPs like to handle their emotions in silence.
Highly sensitive people don't like the thought of burdening others with their problems. Because we can feel others' emotions and pain, we know how heavy it can feel. We often prefer to handle things alone because we must process them before verbalizing them.
“The higher an individual's IQ, the more likely the person is to fit the characteristics of a sensitive person.” This correlation has been observed across a wide range of fields, from the arts to science to business.
Albert Einstein
Yet, Einstein was deeply sensitive and genuinely cared for others.
The positive traits of people that are highly sensitive include emotional awareness, empathy for others, the ability to pick up on small cues that others miss, dedication to fairness and justice, passionate and innovative thinking, and an ability to demonstrate good leadership through valuing others.
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.
HSPs understand, in a way that few people do, that there can be a deep peace in being alone and being able to be alone. Being alone doesn't have to equal loneliness. Often, being alone gives you time to process emotions, contemplate your path, recalibrate your life.
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.
Someone who knows how to have an authentic connection — they like deep conversations about feelings, emotions, and aspirations. Superficial relationships made up of small talk hold no value to highly sensitive people.
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.
Overstimulation, or sensory overload, is when your senses are just completely overloaded with information, making it difficult (or sometimes near impossible) to fully process the information you are receiving. This type of overstimulation is often seen in what we often call highly sensitive people (or HSP for short).
A paper from the journal Nature found that “contemplative practices” including mindful walking or time running outdoors improves the wellbeing of HSP – perhaps because it allows them time to process their thoughts.
Stress & Sensitivity Can Worsen With Age for HSPs. Here's How to Prevent That. If you are a highly sensitive person (HSP) you might be growing larger stress centers in your brain without even knowing it, and if you don't do anything about it, they will become even bigger.
Unfortunately, many HSPs become more stressed and are more prone to anxiety disorders. 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.
For HSPs, who exist in a world that doesn't always understand our needs and neurodivergence, dating can be especially overwhelming. The uncertainty makes the process inherently risky, especially for people who experience feelings on a more intense level than most.
Feeling things very deeply
An HSP may be very sensitive to other situations and other people's feelings. A child that is an HSP may cry a lot, and that may be their emotional response to a bunch of different unpleasant feelings (anger, frustration, sadness, stress).
Highly sensitive people (HSPs) tend to get overwhelmed or over-stimulated because they “process more information from their environment and from within than others do,” said Jean Fitzpatrick, LP, a psychotherapist who specializes in working with HSPs.
The psychologist says overwhelmed HSPs also may feel even more sensitive to external stimuli like bright lights and loud noises and they may feel “irritable, on edge and overcome with anxiety”. “It's also very common for HSPs to feel physically unwell when they are stressed,” she adds.
INFJs are highly sensitive to the words and deeds of those close to them. INFJ is regarded as the most sensitive personality type. Some estimates suggest that 80 to 90% of people who test as INFJs also test as highly sensitive people, because the traits of the two overlap so much.
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.