How sensitive are you? Click here to go to a self-test
I am a highly sensitive individual. It affects me in many ways, some good, some bad, but overall... I like it!
I like it a lot more now I've learnt a bit about it!As a child I was labelled 'spoil sport', 'wimp', 'cry baby', 'shy', 'too quiet', 'scaredy-cat'... This could well have been partly because I have HMS (it hurt me when they played rough!), but mostly, it was because I'm a highly sensitive person. Can't tell you how many folk I've had say to me 'don't be so sensitive' ... but it's part of me, the sky is blue, the grass is green, and I am sensitive. Trying 'not to be sensitive' ... I may as well ask water not to be wet!
And actually, I really do love being sensitive, so even if I could somehow 'stop' I wouldn't want to. Knowing about it helps me makes the most of it and avoid the worst of it.It's just to do with how my body processes the information it receives from the world, I'm unusually sensitive to things I see, feel, hear, etc., which can be a really good thing, I can be very aware of all sorts of things, life can be so amazingly, joyously, intricately beautiful to me, but when life gets too noisy and bright and 'exciting' I'm prone to getting overwhelmed, which isn't so fun.
I think it affects how I deal with my HMS, I certainly beleive it made me more vulnerable to the pain hypersensitivity I used to suffer, but I also think that it helps me when I wobble and stay upright, and I think it helps me generally be aware of my body in order to look after it as best I can. As for whether it's made it easier or harder overall, I don't know... I suppose harder to begin with, but then easier for me, for others that'll probably be different.
I can't really explain everything about being highly sensitive here, you'd be better off reading the book that I did, The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N Aron. It's really helped me realise that understanding this aspect of myself can help me turn what I thought was a weakness, into a strength. Something that made me laugh, was when I read about 'evolutionary roles' for highly sensitive people, apparently we're well designed to warn less sensitive folk of risks in order to keep them safe and well ... That'll be why I'm such a nag then with my "Eat right, don't drink too much caffeine, do your exercises, get plenty of sunshine, meditate, sleep well, etc., etc., and you shall feel much better for it..."
The author has a website with a self-test (click here),and I'd love to know how sensitive you all are if you don't mind telling me? Whether you're super-sensitive or not sensitive at all!
There's another thread on 'suffering from hypersensitivity' where there's quite a bit of chat about it, but I wanted to do a poll so I started a new one! Hope nobody minds!
Apparently 15-20% of the population are highly sensitive, so lets see how we compare!
Test results over 14 are said to mean that a person is highly sensitive, though sometimes highly sensitive folk score a little lower - it explains on the site.
(20+)
- I'm a sensitive Soul 
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