Highly sensitive? 9 most frequently asked questions

HSP is not something you can become; you are born with it and therefore have been it your entire life. Also It has been discovered in many animals that about one in five is more vigilant and cautious. than the rest. A sensitive nature could have an important evolutionary function: whoever detects danger sooner can not only get themselves to safety in time, but also others.

There is a gene that has been proven to cause vulnerability but also has benefits. It is the short variant of the 5-HTTLPR gene, popularly known as the 'depression gene'. Danish researchers discovered in 2011 that this gene occurs more frequently in HSPs; proof that they have an innate sensitivity to positive and negative environmental influences.

Although high sensitivity is innate, the environment largely determines how an HSP feels and functions. Research shows that HSPs who growing up in a negative environment become extra sensitive to stress and rejection, and that HSPs who feel supported and grow up in a calm, warm environment can actually function better than non-HSPs. Differential susceptibility This is referred to in the professional literature as high sensitivity, or in other words, high sensitivity works both ways. That is also exactly what the 5-HTTLPR gene does: it makes one vulnerable to depression and anxiety under negative circumstances, but makes one extra talented under positive circumstances.

If you are highly sensitive, you do not have a disorder. You *are* an HSP; you cannot 'have' it. It doesn't even have to be a problem if you know how to manage it well. Nevertheless, many HSPs experience symptoms. Due to their sensitivity to environmental stimuli, overstimulation is always lurking in our busy and demanding society. HSPs are more sensitive to stress than others and are at greater risk of   and other mental and physical complaints when they do not get or take sufficient recovery time. However, those who do manage to take sufficient recovery time can also benefit from that sensitivity.

Researcher Michael Pluess of Queen Mary University in London calls high sensitivity a 'higher-order' personality trait, a characteristic that exists alongside other traits and encompasses them. Therefore, someone can certainly be highly sensitive and extroverted, or highly sensitive and narcissistic. Not every HSP is sweet and shy.

It appears that HSPs process information differently in the brain. Researcher Jadzia Jagielowicz In 2011, a type of spot-the-difference game was presented to HSPs in a brain scanner. It turned out that brain areas responsible for complex visual processing showed more activity in HSPs than in non-HSPs. Moreover, HSPs were indeed better and faster at finding subtle differences between two images.

In 2014, American researcher Bianca Acevedo had subjects look at photos of smiling and somber faces; she discovered that in highly sensitive subjects, the brain areas involved in empathy were more active than those of non-HSPs.

As far as is known, there are just as many. highly sensitive men as women. Sensitivity and emotionality are more often associated with femininity and perhaps also more easily accepted in women; but HSP men are just as observant, vigilant, and sensitive as HSP women.

The terms high sensitivity, high sensitivity, and HSP are often used interchangeably. Recently, HSP experts have agreed that high sensitivity and high sensitivity are, at least in the Netherlands, the same thing.

Many people – both HSPs and non-HSPs – do not feel drawn to the term high sensitivity because it has a somewhat airy-fairy image. On the internet and in some self-help books on high sensitivity, it is mentioned in the same breath as clairvoyance, New Age children, and alternative medicines such as Bach flower remedies.
High sensitivity, however, has nothing to do with supernatural matters. Elaine Aron said about that in an earlier interview'It may be that people who think they have paranormal gifts are HSPs. But it is certainly not the case that all sensitive people are very spiritual. Among HSPs there are also down-to-earth, deep thinkers and atheists.' The fact that highly sensitive people are often good at reading atmospheres and other people's feelings is not due to supernatural gifts, but simply because they perceive more subtleties.

High sensitivity means that you notice many things sooner than others. This has advantages; for example, you can take good care of others, you notice details and mistakes that no one else saw, you can intensely enjoy music and art, you see through social dynamics (for example, in the workplace), and you are alert to danger. It goes without saying that these skills can be an asset in various (work) situations. But there is also a downside.

Research by German psychologist Friederike Gerstenberg showed that HSPs are faster and make fewer errors during a task, but that after the task they experience more overstimulation and more stress-related complaints than non-HSPs. Psychologist Elke van Hoof A study by the Free University of Brussels showed that HSPs who feel good at work are also the people who exhibit 'extra role behavior'. This means that they often do just a little more for an organization, quickly sense where extra help is needed, and make an extra effort to ensure everything runs smoothly. At the same time, highly sensitive people are the first to drop out when there are conflicts and tensions at work. They are at greater risk of burnout, depression, and anxiety disorders when they find themselves in an unpleasant (work) environment.

many HSPs therefore experience both sides of the coin.Intensely enjoying music is wonderful, but a blaring radio that is merely background noise to others drives you 'crazy'. Empathy is beautiful, but constantly being swept up in the emotions of others is exhausting. Those who have not learned to manage their sensitivity may primarily experience its burdens and become chronically overstimulated.

The key, therefore, is to optimize the circumstances as much as possible and build in plenty of recovery moments. The most important thing is to recover from overstimulation, or even better: to prevent overstimulation altogether. HSPs buckle more easily than others when confronted with negativity, but positive influences also have a greater effect on them than on others.

If you are highly sensitive, surround yourself with people and things that make you happy; take sufficient time every day to recharge; and where possible, change things in your work or home situation so that you can function as optimally as possible. Then you can high sensitivity truly as a talent experience.