One in every twenty people is considered to be a highly sensitive person.42% of the population is not highly sensitive, meaning that most things don’t bother them the way they will to a highly sensitive person. Everyone else falls somewhere in between, where few being completely unemotional about anything.
A very sensitive person will learn hidden things in a place that most unsympathetic people cannot see or feel. This can bring us great benefits. It can save us from many situations when there is a problem. Our abilities can prevent us from making dangerous personal decisions, if we follow our instincts. And because of our in-depth understanding of the environment, we are often the ones who let others know about the environmental problems that may be plagued by unscrupulous companies that ignore them for their own benefit.
Unfortunately, in eastern society, we’ve also been labeled as somewhat “defective”, according to the way non-hsp’s see us. We’re considered “too sensitive, too cautious, too shy, too timid, too introverted, too fearful.” What needs to be realized is that these are not “problems” that need to be corrected and fixed with sensitive people. It’s the labels that are attached to us that cause the problems. Many non-sensitive people are also introvert and shy and some also don't want to face the world. We just tend to think things first and weigh all the factors that our senses pick up on before proceeding.
Let’s talk about the traits of highly sensitive people.
Timidness- Caution, careful examination of the situation, need to see "the whole picture", and the possible consequences of our actions are inherent in us. If everyone carelessly ran into everything, we would have more chaos in our world than we do right now.
Too-Sensitive – Yes, this is our major trait. Emotionally, we’re affected by much of the disharmony in the world. We feel another person’s heartache, we are aware of low levels of anger or resentment in a room, we empathize with other people’s problems, and feel great sorrow over horrific tragedies.
Introverted – A myth. You’ll find many HSP’s can be extroverted, out-going and fun-loving. You’ll also find many non-sensitive people as being introverted. Don’t mistake deep-thinking and inner-reflection as introversion. We need much more alone time than a non-hsp or any normal person with right mental state. This is because our nervous systems can overload in a situation that a non-sensitive person would find somewhat invigorating. if we get excited or frustrated over even little things we need an urgent stop towards everything, so that we could get normal. This is why many HSP’s tend to stay at home more often than not, rather than go out to party. It’s not that we don’t want to… we just know our systems can’t handle the overload for too long a time. If we can’t get away, we’ll pull into ourselves, as a sort of protective shield, to try to reduce the noise, sights, sounds and smells that are bombarding us in order to calm down.
After everything, it’s good to know that you’re not alone, that there are others out there that have to deal with the same types of situations and “labels” as you do. True, it doesn’t hurt any less, but you know there are similar types that you can seek out and talk to… and they’ll understand. Sometimes, it’s a misinterpretation of what’s really going on in the mind of an HSP by non-HSP’s. People which have gone through the same situation as yours will help you with their experience as well as understand you and your mental state well than others. The good news is that highly sensitive people have been around for as long as man has walked the earth… and we’ll always be here, working to make the world a more understanding, considerate and peaceful haven for everyone.
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