What It is:
The below page discusses Highly Sensitive Adults. To learn more about Highly Sensitive Children, please click here.
The term “highly sensitive person” (or HSP) has been used to describe individuals who tend to experience overload when navigating what many people would call the “average” social, emotional, and sensory experience of modern life. Some researchers believe that this experience is related to personality, whereas others believe it is a type of neurodivergence. Though not everyone agrees on what defines this group of folks, the term most often includes individuals who experience a level of increased sensitivity to sensory stimuli (e.g., lights, sounds), emotional stimuli (e.g., sadness), and/or social stimuli (e.g., interpersonal situations).
As a result of these sensitivities, highly sensitive people need to navigate modern life by finding skills to manage overstimulation, to increase refueling activities, and to find routines and habits that work for them. When they aren’t able to find skills to adapt and navigate modern life, they are more likely to develop physical and mental health symptoms. HSP is not a diagnosis and it is not something to change about someone; in fact, there are many benefits to being a highly sensitive person!
Do any of these things sound familiar?
- I seem to be more affected by the emotional content of tv, movies, or the news than the people around me
- I seem to be overwhelmed by day-to-day life more easily than my peers or family members
- My “social battery” seems to be lower or more easily drained than others
- I am often told I’m “too sensitive” or “take things too personally”
- When my senses are overwhelmed (by sights, sounds, or smells), I struggle to cope and manage my emotions
- I seem to be more impacted by other people’s moods or emotions than my peers
- It seems to take me longer to recover from emotions or stressors than those around me
- I crave routines that help me manage overwhelm or burn-out
- I seem to experience physical pain or physical discomfort as more intense or prolonged than those around me
- I seem to be more overwhelmed than my peers by time pressure (e.g., deadlines), changing plans, or very long to-do lists
Characteristics of Highly Sensitive People (HSP)
There is no agreed upon definition or checklist for a highly sensitive person. Below are experiences that are often described by those who identify as HSPs.
Sensory Experiences: A highly sensitive person often experiences sensory stimuli as more intense, uncomfortable, or distressing than the average person. This may put HSPs at higher risk for sensory processing concerns or intense reactivity to certain sounds (e.g., misophonia). Sensitivities to sensory input may result in difficulty navigating environments with lots of sensory stimuli or difficulty developing coping skills to tolerate these environments (often leading to avoidance of the environment). While some environments may be avoidable, most folks find that they need to learn to adapt to these sensory sensitivities rather than avoid them altogether.
Emotions: A highly sensitive person experiences emotions (both positive and negative) as more intense or activating than the average person. They often report being more impacted by emotional information they watch, hear, or experience themselves. They report feeling other people’s emotions very deeply and may use terms like “empath” to describe this. While there are plenty of benefits to being this in-tune with others and your own emotions, it can also be overwhelming. Highly sensitive people that have not learned effective coping strategies report emotional overwhelm (often panic or shut down), emotional burn-out, or difficulties calming down or relaxing. Some folks report an inability to disengage from their own or others’ emotions, which leads them to feel out of control of their own emotional experience. Others report an inability to engage with their or others’ emotions without significant control strategies designed to help them feel more capable (e.g., only able to interact socially under perfect conditions).
Thoughts or Beliefs: Because highly sensitive people feel things so deeply, they can also have difficulty detaching from emotion-related thoughts and may develop unhelpful emotion-related beliefs. These can vary widely, but often relate to their beliefs around their responsibility for others’ emotions, their own ability to tolerate their or others’ emotions (e.g., hopelessness or helplessness), or how they have to interact with the world (e.g., developing rigid habits or rituals).
Behaviors or Habits: Highly sensitive individuals develop various behaviors or habits to navigate their emotional and sensory sensitivities; some may be very effective and others less so. Some common strategies that work in the short-term (e.g., emotional avoidance or high demands of others) tend to eventually cause problems in the long term (e.g., loneliness or interpersonal conflict). Strategies that involve numbing the sensitivities (e.g., technology, substances) or risky behaviors to distract from the sensitivities (e.g., gambling, risky sex, or self-harm) also tend to become problematic over time.
Associated Concerns of Highly Sensitive People (HSP):
Burn-Out: Without the development of coping skills, most HSPs will experience high levels of burn-out. Because the modern social, physical, and emotional world is not designed for them, it can be very taxing to navigate it without learning strategies that work for them in the short and long term.
Anxiety & Panic: Because HSPs are more sensitive to overwhelm, they are very vulnerable to developing anxiety and panic. It is not uncommon for HSPs who have not found helpful coping strategies to develop ruminative, obsessive, or catastrophic thinking patterns. This can lead to anxiety disorders, panic attacks, or even OCD.
Emotion Dysregulation : Some HSPs develop coping strategies to manage their sensitivity that involve impulsive behaviors, interpersonal conflict, and difficulty interacting with those that do not understand or allow their sensitivities. For some, this can result in what is called emotion dysregulation, or the difficulty managing emotional sensitivities without utilizing significant external support in order to calm yourself, communicate with others, or navigate day-to-day life.
Emotional Over-control : Some HSPs develop coping strategies to manage their sensitivity that attempt to deny they are emotionally sensitive, try to avoid or control things that cause sensitivity, or rely on extreme self-management strategies (e.g., perfectionism) to navigate their sensitivities. For some, this can result in what is called emotional over-control, or the difficulty managing emotional sensitivities without using unrealistic internal standards to calm yourself, communicate with others, or navigate day-to-day life.
*Of note, many individuals who identify as a highly sensitive person (HSP) may also identify as or have been given diagnoses of autism, ADHD, borderline personality disorder, OCD, or GAD. There is high overlap between HSPs and these neurotypes or experiences; however, being a highly sensitive person does not mean you would meet criteria for any of these other conditions or neurotypes. An assessment can be an important way to differentiate between these experiences for those that are unsure, have received many diagnoses related to their sensitivities, or have a desire to deeply understand their individual brain or experiences.
Specialty Services at TAP:
Navigating high sensitivity effectively means learning skills to decrease overwhelm, to navigate emotions and interpersonal relationships, and to soothe and restore the nervous system.
Below are a list of empirically supported assessments or therapies that one or more of our specialists could provide. Click on an intervention to learn more!