Signs you can be a sensitive personality type (HSP) : If you are highly intuitive and make decisions based on your gut feeling, research shows that you might be on the sensitive side. Moreover, if you can feel that something is wrong with a person and can predict how people think, you are probably a sensitive person. HSPs take comfort in their routines, because the familiar is far less stimulating than something brand new. For this reason, change – both positive and negative – can really throw off HSPs. For example, when dating someone new or getting a job promotion, HSPs may feel as equally stressed as they do overjoyed. Generally, HSPs need more time than others to adjust to change.
Although there are many positive aspects of being a sensitive person (such as greater ability to listen and affirm, greater empathy and intuitiveness, better understanding of others’ wants and needs, etc.), in this writing we will focus on aspects of high sensitivity which adversely affect one’s health, happiness and success, and often complicate relationships. Below are 24 signs of a highly sensitive person, with excerpts from my books: “Are You Highly Sensitive? How to Gain Immunity, Peace, and Self-Mastery” and “How to Communicate Effectively with Highly Sensitive People”. These traits are organized into three major categories: Sensitivity About Oneself, Sensitivity About Others, and Sensitivity About One’s Environment.
Ask yourself why you feel the way you do. For example, did you have high expectations for how something would turn out and then became upset when it didn’t turn out the way you wanted? Or did someone say something to you that you found offensive? Identify exactly what caused you to feel sensitive and why it made you feel that way. Often, unmet needs and unmet expectations lead to hurt feelings.
Highly sensitive people (HSPs) have a brain that is wired differently from the rest of the world. The emotional brain (limbic system) often overrides their logical brain, making them susceptible to be triggered by subtle changes in their life. Extra details about How to Reduce Sensitivity.
Being an HSP can have its own advantages. Turn your sensitivity from a weakness into a weapon to help you deal with problems in your life. Being sensitive to everything means that you are better than other people at finding the positive sides of everything. Usher in a sense of optimism to make situations easier for yourself.
Category One: Sensitivity About Oneself. Tends to “beat oneself up” when falling short of own expectations. Is afraid of rejection, even in relatively minor situations.
Category Two: Sensitivity About Others. Feels self-conscious in romantically intimate situations; excessively worries about partner’s approval; is unreasonably afraid of being judged or rejected by partner.
Living with someone and being in a relationship is not always easy. There are struggles that come about in any situation where two are more are gathered. Have you ever asked, are you dealing with a sensitive life partner? It can be hard to differentiate between simply being emotional at times and having someone you are with that is overly sensitive to the point it impacts daily life. I hope this blog answers your questions in the most precise way. More info on Dealing with sensitive life partner.
HSPs seek answers to the big questions in life. They ask why things are the way they are and what their role in all of it is. If you’re a highly sensitive person, you may have always wondered why other people aren’t as captivated by the mysteries of human nature and the universe as you are.