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?

Yeah, I'll see if I can find it. She was getting annoyed that so many people were refusing to acknowledge her higher state and told one of them that she clearly didn't understand depth of emotion or something. Poster responded by saying she was a bereaved parent so knew something about it, Empath responded with something shitty and then condolences in the next post.

Just me and you so far then.

I remember a (then single) friend saying that she wanted to go out with someone "sensitive". The thing is, her "sensitive" boyfriend was a fucking nightmare - he would have strops then withdraw, make lots of DRAMA and ridiculously small things would set him off. She gave him the push (which was good). He would have described himself as being a HSP.

On the other hand, someone upthread asked the OP if she was getting help for her anxiety. Please could this sort of thing stop? Unless the OP is actually a risk to herself or others, there isn't a whole lot of help to be had. Anxiety is quite far down the list of conditions to get help for.

I matched with 17 on your quiz. I still don't think it's a thing.

People create unnecessary labels for everything.

I score as a highly sensitive person on most online tests.

I think there’s a fair amount of validity to the idea there are people who have a different or more emphasized physical reaction to sensory input like loud noise, chaotic scenes, etc.

I think there is some truth to it increasing some aspects of physical perception if you don’t shy away from it (which is tempting when there is lots going on at once). But I don’t think it is at all related to an ability to more attuned to emotions, to appreciating art in some “better” way, to having a rich inner life, to having deeper relationships with others. I think that’s something some people like us have made up to try and feel better about the fact we have more difficulty navigating modern life because it’s so intense.

I know lots of people who don’t have the sensitivity I have to stimulation who are just as capable of understanding others’ emotions, who have incredible inner lives, etc. They aren’t as good at identifying herbs in food as me, though.

It’s like one of those fake psychological analysis experiments where everyone is given their “results” which are all identical and read like the stuff you have written.
and nearly everyone thinks it’s accurate

😂😂😂

So @HSP2022 do you have a more profound appreciation of the arts, and what does that actually look like?

From your test…
“I seem to be aware of subtleties in my environment.”
What does that mean? It’s just like horoscopes - you can read a loose statement like that and easily apply it to yourself because you’ve decided you like the sound of being this special “HSP”.

I think I read that more than 20 years ago.

yes, OP, I am one. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression about 25 years ago.

I think years of meds have helped take the edge off it. The empath problem is gone now, partly because I realised it was great for other people but awful for me.

post lockdown, I pretty much hate everyone 😂 and am having to rebuild some humanity.

so, you're not necessarily stuck with it forever. I still have major issues with sensory overload but fortunately no longer stuck in an office and doing the daily commute. I stopped that about six years ago and my quality of life improved so much.

PS you don't need absolute clarification. You know how you feel in a busy workplace, if you're not in the right headspace to watch a particular film etc.

A relative recently posted this exact text about how she is a HSP - in her case she is a self-centred, pain in the arse, that thinks the world revolves around her and everyone needs to support how special and delicate she is.

Personally, i don’t think this is a real ‘thing” it’s doesn’t have any academic support behind it as far as i can see - just is a laundry list of things that make HSP ‘special’ (demanding narcissists)

Found it.

Did that test, biggest bullshit ever.
I mean:
'when you are very hungry, is your mood and concentration disturbed?'

Come the fuck on 😂

But people who are unmoved by violence in films, books, news, whatever are incredibly rare. I’d imagine many serve prison terms.
Many (most?) are uncomfortable with change, but the majority learn ways to deal with it....
etc etc etc.

But believing that you are highly sensitive means you allow yourself to behave and think in certain ways and expect others to give you extra leeway. As a ridiculous extreme - rather than cringing in embarrassment at behavior in the Sistene chapel the person can think that it was because of being an HSP. So misunderstood, unfairly treated, etc., rather than melodramatic, lacking social skills, attention seeking.

I think the problem with the ‘criteria’ is that you can only know how sensitive you are to things. So you may think you dislike violence more than others, but that’s just your perception. No matter how empathic you think you are, you can’t feel how other people feel, so it’s impossible to make that comparison.

Mostly bunkum, I suspect - and another contributor to the underdiagnosis of autism etc in women.

If you truly struggle with change, feel other people's emotions deeply (poor emotional regulation), startle easily, and get overstimulated quickly, then you might, shock horror, be autistic...

Everyone has to have a flippin title these days and I don’t mean Countess of Somewhere.

I got 25 on OP's 'Highly Sensitive' test, but I still think the fact that I'm neurotic (sorry, 'highly hensitive') does not make me different and/or special. I also wouldn't identify as an empath or an HSP, as I'm not a wanker.

I hate the term empath. It actually screams narcissism to me - oh my god, I feel YOUR feelings so deeply! Your feelings have a huge effect on ME! Like, let other people's feelings belong to them and not make them about you.

I feel like I'm pretty opposite to this description of HSP. I am completely unphased by violence, do my best work under pressure, enjoy and thrive with frequent change and don't care about noise. Maybe I'm a completely insensitive person, CIP.

I'll no doubt get shot down for this, but based on other articles I've read I consider I am (not necessarily the one you've posted OP). For me it's about sensitivity for physical things (noise, light, clothes seams etc) as much as the emotional side. I found it useful to understand myself a bit more. But nothing too deep other than that.

Oh I haven't looked at the quiz

but the violence thing sounds odd.

I don't expect extra leeway for things.

this is one of those things that was normal and got hijacked by the current "Much Ado About Nothing" zeitgeist, I guess?

I miss stiff upper lip.

I have a propensity to procrastinate, can't start tasks and think this could be a possibility autism / ADHD related.

I don't know I was just hoping some others could relate so I could see if there is any way of toning down certain parts of me.

That's just the kind of thing I want to do.

Just understand myself a bit more. Maybe make peace with the way that I am.

I got 5 on the test, one of those being for hanger, the hanger is real.