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?

I am definitely a less sensitive person and I am ok with that. I am a bit reckless, don't always allow myself time to appreciate how I feel. But I am very resilient. And I do like art!

I will dig it out and link it for you......it won't be tonight though!

For those who dont believe in hsp.. dont you believe in other non neuro typical conditions ??!!
Yes , some people, like all people, with this condition can ham it up, like anyone can , but this hsp i think is simply a different brain wiring, just like others.i am not neuro tyoical but guess what i dont use this as an excuse but acknowlwdge it amd work.to my strenghts where i can and i imagine most hsps do the same in a world that challenges them as it does many of us.

Try being less self obsessed.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4086365/

Navel gazing claptrap.

It's possible to be self-aware without being self-obsessed.

It's been quite an odd response to this thread. Almost as though no one believes someone like me can actually exist. You sound similar to me.

The appreciation of art thing has cropped up loads on here, but isn't something that resonates for me personally and a lot of the other traits completely overlooked.

Violence has mentioned a few times as though if you're not affected by it in the way I am, then the opposite is to enjoy it. I could explain how I'm affected by violence but to be honest I feel it's not worth it with the turn that this thread has taken.

Yes! Lots of evidence that there is a spectrum of sensitivity to stimuli and so some people are better at noticing some stimuli than others and (in this study) of using that information effectively.

But that isn’t the description that OP has posted. OP’s description is pop psychology at its worst, taking the inability to cope with stimuli to be a sign of being highly sensitive and associating that inability to cope with the increased ability to discern subtleties (and so to be more aware of others). But these are different responses to stimuli.

I believe in neurodiversity because I’ve studied it, I don’t believe in the utility of labels like these. As I mentioned previously, call yourself what you want, but don’t expect it to have any clinical relevance. I had a patient not long ago describe himself as an empath and start on how many MH professionals don’t seem to know anything about it. It was a real challenge wording “that’s because it’s a pseudoscientific term at best” in a patient centred, empathetic way.

Saying that so called HSP are ND like those of us with autism and ADHD is offensive.

Being more sensitive is not a different neurotype ffs. It's just a natural variation of typical!

It's pseudo science. The fact you are comparing it to diagnosed neurodivergece is exactly the problem.

It's taking a random group of reactions to things, boxing them up and giving them a label. Even OP said only 4 of the 5 apply to her. It's entirely arbitrary and exists solely to get people who are self obsessed to click on it.

Not read the full thread but I guess a few years ago I would have (privately) identified with this.
However, after a breakdown and therapy it turns out a lot was a result of complex trauma and I am neurodiverse.
So, while I’m agreeing that yes, some people are more easily startled, unable to watch violence and generally more sensitive it’s probably usually due to something else than some unique personality trait.

I also think these pseudo scientific pathologies serve another purpose. Introvert, empath and now HSP. Some of them have anti social behaviours in there. Having a label to stick on it means the the labelled suddenly believes that their behaviour isn't something they need to work on but rather something other people need to accommodate.

Again that line of reasoning also unmask a horrible understanding of those with genuine neurodivergence, that is that they demand society conforms to them. That is not the case at all of course.

If someone just asked me 'are you a highly sensitive person'? I'd think that yes I am. I take things to heart, sometimes get overly anxious about doing the right thing etc.

But then there was that ridiculous, claptrap definition and so nope, I'm definitely not!

This thread turned into a really unhelpful pile-on. The OP wanted to start a discussion and got a ton of snarky remarks. I suspect a lot of the snarky comments are from people who would love to come out with 'snowflake' comments on the ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression etc threads but know they wouldn't get away with it.

HSP does sound like generalised pseudo-science. But instead of mocking the OP, point her towards info on neurodiversion, introversion, anxiety, trauma etc. Or if you know nothing about those, maybe you have nothing to add to the thread.

I suspect a lot of the snarky comments are from people who would love to come out with 'snowflake' comments on the ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression etc threads but know they wouldn't get away with it.

Even though a lot of them have specified that their knowledge and understanding of ADHD, autism etc is precisely why they realise this one's a load of bunkum?

I suspect a lot of the snarky comments are from people who would love to come out with 'snowflake' comments on the ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression etc threads but know they wouldn't get away with it.

This. Depressingly the thread's turned into yet another example of the intolerance of some MNers to anything that's not within their own understanding or lived experience.

Sure but why not discuss that instead of snidely comments? Everyone with a diagnosis was undiagnosed at some point. They didn't magically morph from a laughable snowflake to a diagnosed person that deserves understanding when they received a diagnosis.

I guess because the thread isn't about ADHD etc. OP is asking about how to know if she is a HSP and can therefore expect people to respond that it's not a "condition".

It’s the pop psychology guff, making bold statements without backing them up (‘deeper appreciation’, which is not the same thing as sensitivity), poorly defining what ‘HSP’ supposedly is, presenting it as akin to a neurodiversity when in fact it’s normal human variation, and framing ‘HSP’s’ as fully realised main characters amongst a 2D backing cast (the remaining 80% of the population).

Of course it’s going to inspire eye rolling and a lack of taking it seriously. It’s all a bit teenager ‘I’m different and special and no one understands me!’. I don’t think anyone is actually angry at it though.

Nobody is saying someone like you can’t exist - quite the opposite! They’re simply saying appreciating art, being affected by abhorrent violence, and struggling with having time pressures and life stresses, are normal! It’s so normal as to be unremarkable. It may make you a little more sensitive than others if you struggle to cope with it, but it isn’t some title you need to ‘confirm.‘ It’s just having a normal human experience.

Given that Elaine Aron is a psychologist, are her ideas discussed amongst psychologists, or do they dismiss her ideas as invalid, do you know? I can understand there being disagreement in the field, but curious to know if other professionals completely refute her ideas.

BOO!

I've got borederline personality, and that comes with being highly sensitive.