Are you a HSP? Highly sensitive person?

[HSP2022]

Apparently 20% of people are classified as a highly sensitive person.

I'm certain I fit the criteria but do any of you?

Is there a way to get absolute clarification?

Do you just accept that's how you are or have you been able to change aspects so you are not as highly sensitive to certain things?

Purely drawing on my own experiences, HSP seems to be a cynical mirror of Histrionic Personality Disorder.

That thought occurred to me too. Apparently 1% of the population have Histrionic/dramatic personality disorder, yet it’s not quite the type of special that many will be rushing to claim.

This thread is why mn is fantastic 💕💕💕

Has anyone questioned how sensible it is for someone with HSP posting on AIBU yet?

@NumberTheory I'm not an expert, and don't really want to be as it's not really relevant to me. I'm not into shouting people down, though. The evolutionary trait suggests some people might be in a hyper aware state in the environment, assessing danger and resources for survival. I suppose being in that very alert state could eventually lead to exhaustion. The art appreciation seems to be linked to a reactive CNS, producing a strong response to stimuli. However, you'd be better off listening to people who experience all this as I think I'm off to watch The Walking Dead.

Yes, me.

Save us from snowflakes.

No because I don't make a fuss. It's all internalised.

The evolutionary trait suggests some people might be in a hyper aware state in the environment, assessing danger and resources for survival. I suppose being in that very alert state could eventually lead to exhaustion

That's not how evolution works. If people are 'hyper aware' to the point of exhaustion, they are less likely to pass on the genes for this, so the trait would die out.

why? this is mumsnet not an essay

The reaction of people on this thread is very interesting. I'm interested in differing views and opinions but I just don't get why some people have a tendency to do so with a mean streak.

don't pander to wankers on the Internet.
you do not need to credit your 'source' google on a chat forum. @HSP2022

In which case it’s highly likely that everyone is experiencing art deeply and everyone is affected by abhorrent violence. They’re just affected quietly, like you.

Sometimes I think this is part of the issue - people have trouble understanding that literally everybody has the same depth of internal life they have themselves.

How do you know everyone has the same depth of understanding?

OP, ignore the shitty responses.

Some people don't seem to realise it's possible to have a personality trait without being a snowflake or a brat or thinking it makes one special.

I consider myself an HSP for all sorts of reasons. I don't consider it makes me special, I don't use it to demand special treatment, and I don't use it to excuse bad behaviour. I do, however, find it helpful to know this is a researched and documented trait that others share, and which has positive as well as negative sides.

Some people just can't seem to stand the fact that people are not all the same as them.

Well it stands to reason that the grand majority is affected by ‘abhorrent violence.’ Otherwise we wouldn’t bother putting it on the news. We wouldn’t call it abhorrent. It’s likely that most of us are affected by music and the arts, because it’s widely talked about. For kids and young teens they sometimes have this weirdly self absorbed idea that they are the only one who really feels, but most of us adults understand that everyone has a deep internal life. Other people aren’t 2-D extras in the life of the super special HSP.

And I didn’t say people have the same understanding - I said they all have the same depth of internal life.

Well I took the test and scored 8. I wasn't sure if I had a rich inner life. I need this dumbing down a bit, but then I guess that explains that I'm not a HSP. I'd have understood on a deeper level. Back to being shallow and enjoying violence I guess!

There is science that demonstrates HSP brains are different in several ways. It has also been detected in many species of animals. I don't believe I know people that are HSP and the overwhelm they experience, and subsequent exhaustion through being over stimulated, is very real.

What science? I’d be genuinely interested in science that proves how there are special HSP who can appreciate art on a deeper level? Just because I’d love to know how they measured that.

delete the 'I don't believe' bit in post above! 🙂

This! Of course there is science around peoples physical sensitivity and reactivity. Indeed, concepts such as hyper vigilance are fairly well established, but as the pp says I would love to see the science that has detected deeper appreciation of art and music in animal species

It has involved brain scans showing differences in for instance the mirror neurons that are believed to govern empathy. I did some research around this a few years ago. People considered to have HSP have physical differences in their brains.

Oh of course. I’ve seen studies where peoples reactivity and such had been measured. I have a son who is autistic so am very interested in those types of things - that’s why I was interested to know what sort of science this was. How could they measure how deeply one appreciates art? How do they set a control for that? How do they choose subjects? Because anyone who signs up for an art study will likely be very interested in art, therefore skewing the results. How do they measure who ‘hears’ the music and who ‘feels’ it? I’d be interested to know, truly, because I’d just love to see how such a study would be organised.

But what study was it? Could you link so I could have a look? How were these people determined to ‘have HSP?’ How were the subjects gathered? How did the brain scans confirm that those people, for example, appreciated art on a deeper level than the control subjects who were not considered to ‘have HSP?’