A highly sensitive person or (HSP), is a personality trait. HSP can make you feel separate or different from others. HSP can be related to being introverted. Those with high sensitivity can be both introverted as well as extroverted. It may seem that a highly sensitive person is introverted, but 30% of people with HSP are extroverted . Do you show signs of a highly sensitive person or want to know if you do? When you are young, being a HSP can be very overwhelming due to not fully understanding our emotions.

High sensitivity can have you experiencing mental exhaustion. This is because of trying to process many forms of stimuli. Do you have a hard time turning your mind off at night to get true rest? Are other people’s emotions and energy transferred to you, making you feel overwhelmed or exhausted?

A highly sensitive person can experience:

• Sensitivity to light, sound, or large groups of people.
• Feel drained after being around others.
• Affects from other people’s moods
• Have a hard time being flexible and adapting to change

You might be a HSP if you:

1. Become easily overwhelmed, even by little things. This can consist of being around large groups of people or a high volume of sound. This is due to the emotional energy that a HSP absorbs from others. You are oversensitive to lights, sounds, smells, tastes, and sight. Even a certain smell can cause you to have anxiety. When our brains are overloaded with stimuli this can cause great sensitivity and a mix of emotions.
2. You avoid stressful things or situations. Those that are highly sensitive can avoid things unconsciously because of the fear of stress. This can be when you have a full to-do list, you feel like you do not have enough time to accomplish a task, or you have a fear of making mistakes. Simply having a small timeframe to complete a task can be overwhelming to you.

• You think that it is important for you to please others. You may also worry about what others may think. This means that tasks and what others want overwhelms you, so you try to avoid conflict at all costs. This makes you very hard on yourself. Those that are highly sensitive can have a hard time not making other people happy and strive for the acceptance of others.

Do you feel too sensitive compared to those around you? Being a sensitive person is okay! As a highly sensitive person we must first heal our nervous system. Being a HSP is not always a bad thing. Try not to resent your nervous system for being a highly sensitive person or try to numb your sensitivity. A therapist with experience with highly sensitive persons can help us to develop coping skills, set healthy boundaries, and build on our strengths. It is okay to seek help to better understand being highly sensitive, how to manage emotions, and how to use being highly sensitive in a good way. Try not to let others make you feel bad for being overly sensitive.