You are highly sensitive (HSP) if your nervous system is more sensitive than average. External stimuli and impressions, including loud noises, light or pain, come in more strongly. Internal stimuli, so stimuli that influence your world of thought, also make more of an impression when you are highly sensitive. From Scientifically , high sensitivity has two main characteristics:
- Increased attentiveness (stimulants)
- Deep processing of information
In the past, HSPs were placed among the group of people who were shy or introverted, because high sensitivity was an unknown concept. Today, these people are called highly sensitive or sensitive people .
In this blog we tell you when you are highly sensitive and what the characteristics are.
Characteristics of high sensitivity:
Below you will find all the characteristics when you may be highly sensitive. It does not necessarily mean that you have them all, but possibly a (large) part of them. Features are:
- You perceive many details
- You act conscientiously
- You think deeply about things
- You often know or feel what you need
- You often feel misunderstood
- You feel different from others
- You perceive non-verbal signals from others
- You react more strongly than average to sounds, light and or smells
- You feel the atmosphere in a group
- You are focused on others and their needs
- You withdraw regularly
- You want an overview before you decide whether to take action
- You love harmony within yourself and around you
- You sense emotions and moods of others
- You like to be helpful
- You are often hard on yourself
- You have a profound way of processing
- You like one-on-one contact better than group contact
- You do not only think of yourself, but also of the group 's interest
- You can come up with original solutions in complex situations
- You have a strong sense of justice and stand up for the underdog
- You tend to overanalyze like doomsday thinking
- You become overstimulated more quickly (for example, you experience short circuit, confusion, strong emotional, irritability, emptiness or chaos in your head)
- You sometimes think too complex or others think you are complicated
- You can quickly make connections and therefore sometimes think ahead in steps faster
- You recharge yourself in nature
- You (sometimes) find it difficult to deal with changes, especially if they are sudden
- You regularly need time before you give an answer or make a choice
This will probably provide more clarity about why you need time for yourself (ME-TIME) more than average or while processing and recovery time, why situations sometimes linger longer and why you don't always have a 'witty answer' ready .
When are you highly sensitive?
If you strongly recognize yourself in many of the above characteristics and the following bottom 6 characteristics, you can assume that you are highly sensitive.
Rich world of experience
What every HSP can identify with is having a rich world of experience. You can be deeply moved by art and music. In addition, you can dream away with beautiful thoughts about the future and fantasize a lot. This can lead to poor concentration in activities, but also has a strong positive side.
By fantasizing you have a greater chance of making these fantasies a reality and doing what makes you happy. If you don't have dreams, you can't fulfill them. You just have to be careful that it doesn't distract you from other important things, such as tasks at work or school.
Strong sense of justice
Another very recognizable one is having a strong sense of justice. This is well intentioned, but can also lead to conflict. You say in a direct way what you think and think that everyone should stand up for the weak in society. You are honest, honest and reliable yourself and expect the same from others. You stand up for others when they are less able to do this themselves and you tend to help/defend someone else.
You don't let yourself be manipulated and you are straightforward. This can sometimes collide if someone comes to stand directly in front of you. The sense of justice is so strong that you don't always see the negative consequences.
Empathy
It is also possible that the empathy of someone with HSP is a lot stronger than someone without HSP. Good empathy means a lot of respect for others and you therefore want equality in your relationships. Whether it's a love affair or a friendship. Your empathy allows you to listen carefully, show genuine interest and feel what you can or cannot say. You also have an eye for non-verbal communication and respect the choices of the other person. Even if you would rather have seen it differently yourself. The bottom line is that you know exactly what's going on under the radar.
Strong connection with nature
HSPs often have a strong connection to nature. Here they can relax completely and they can withdraw if the stimulus becomes too much for you. Nature has a relaxing effect and it prevents you from becoming overstimulated. If you have a busy activity planned, it is best to visit nature before and after that time to get some rest.
The strong connection with nature is not only due to the tranquility, but also because you feel plants and animals better. You have better contact with them in nature than, for example, in a busy city.
Good intuition
Another characteristic of HSP is good intuition. Your brain makes decisions before you are aware of them. Sometimes you suddenly know what is going on or how to solve something. With physical intuition you receive subtle body signals and you can also feel in your body what someone else is feeling. With emotional intuition you get information through your feelings and with mental intuition you get creative ideas.
There is also environmental intuition , where you pick up signals from what you read or see, among other things. The last intuition is the spiritual intuition , where you may get impressions about the past and the future by touching things.
Intensified observation
An appropriate characteristic of someone with HSP is that he or she observes intensively and in detail . You may hear or see something that someone else has not noticed at all. You also have the ability to sense the mood and atmosphere in the group.
You also experience the mood of yourself much more strongly than others experience this in themselves. If you experience a negative mood behind a smile from the other person, this can lead to negative feelings. But it can also be very valuable to feel the mood well, because you can anticipate this well.
High sensitivity and balance
For an HSP it is extra important to follow your own intuition and feeling in a busy and stressful society. In addition, it is advisable to stay close to yourself and not step out of your comfort zone too much. If you have your high sensitivity under control and also create a good balance between working and relaxing, then this characteristic is really a strength and can take you far in life.
If the balance is not good, you do not sufficiently control your high sensitivity and you have also exposed yourself to too many stimuli for a long period of time without charging enough, your battery will run out. Resulting in overwork or even a burnout. Since as an HSP you are more sensitive to developing anxiety complaints, depressive complaints, stress and burnout, insecurity and attachment problems (fear of rejection), it is very important to get your high sensitivity under control. Most importantly, get to know your limits and indicate this in time and, above all, get enough sleep. You need this additionally.
Would you like to know how you can better deal with HSP? Read it in this blog!
