FAQs about HSPs (Highly Sensitive PEOPLE)
What is a Highly Sensitive Person?
The term Highly Sensitive Person, or HSP, was first used in the 1990s by psychologists to describe individuals with a heightened sensitivity to their environment. For an HSP it can feel like missing a layer of skin. In fact it’s a deep processing of sensation which can make everyday experience, both physical and emotional, feel much more intense.
What’s good about being an HSP?
Being able to pick up and intensely process the world can result in increased empathy in relationships. Nuances in communication which might be lost to less sensitive individuals are absorbed and deeply processed by HSPs. They are very often able to speedily and accurately assess the current emotional state of those around them. HSPs are often drawn to therapeutic professions for this reason.
hspS AND cREATIVITY
That same sensitivity applied to an HSP’s environment can bring about a very immediate and detailed experience of it which can lead to a more profound ability to recreate that experience through art and music. This rich, responsive nervous system can be a source of great joy to an HSP because of an access to the most profound parts of artistic expression in all forms.
arE hspS MORE MoralLY aware?
Because they think deeply about things they are likely to consider moral conflicts from many different angles. In addition, a heightened empathy may result in a strong sense of fairness because HSPs are able to sense suffering and resonate with it. This can lead to a desire to bring about social justice in all its forms.
ARE HSPS MORE AUTHENTIC?
That same ability and tendency to think deeply forces HSPs to search for meaning beyond the superficial. They seek the solid ground of authenticity where things are absolutely known, shy away from the half true, or the superficial to-and-fro of social interactions.
What are the downsides of being an HSP?
In a word, overload. Intense emotional experience can become overwhelming and unmanageable for an HSP. Some HSPs avoid violence in films, conflict in relationships, crowds, noisy rooms because of this feeling of overwhelm which can often lead to exhaustion.
Lack of understanding from those who do not recognise the heightened lived state of an HSP can be isolating. HSPs are told ‘don’t be so emotional’, asked ‘why are you so sensitive?’ and so can feel misunderstood and judged to be lacking in self-control and resilience. This can lead to a withdrawal from social contact and a negative impact on self-esteem.
What is the difference between HSPs and Introverts?
Sometimes it hard to tell if someone is an HSP or an introvert because they share a number of the same characteristics.
The difference lies brain function.
Introverts have a greater sensitivity to dopamine which can result in the more frequent highs and subsequent inevitable drops in the dopamine-related energy that occurs in social interaction. The brain of an HSP is constantly engaged in intense cognitive interpretation. Both require a form of withdrawal. Fluctuating dopamine levels need a period of lack of stimulation to replenish whereas the intense brain activity engaged in by HSPs uses up a hard-to-replenish form of energy (glucose) that can only be regenerated by brain rest, or withdrawal.
