16 Habits Of Highly Sensitive 1. They feel more deeply. One of the hallmark characteristics of highly sensitive people is the ability to feel more deeply than their less-sensitive peers. They like to process things on a deep level, Ted Zeff, Ph.D., author of The Highly Sensitive Persons Survival Guide and other books on highly sensitive people, tells HuffPost. Theyre very intuitive, and go very deep inside to try to figure things out. 2. Theyre more emotionally reactive. People who are highly sensitive will react more in a situation. For instance, they will have more empathy and feel more concern for a friends problems, according to Aron. They may also have more concern about how another person may be reacting in the face of a negative event. 3. Theyre probably used to hearing, Dont take things so personally and Why are you so sensitive? Depending on the culture, sensitivity can be perceived as an asset or a negative trait, Zeff explains. In some of his own research, Zeff says that highly sensitive men he interviewed from other countries -- such as Thailand and India -- were rarely or never teased, while highly sensitive men he interviewed from North America were frequently or always teased. So a lot of it is very cultural -- the same person who is told, Oh, youre too sensitive, in certain cultures, its considered an asset, he says. 4. They prefer to exercise solo Highly sensitive people may tend to avoid team sports, where theres a sense that everyone is watching their every move, Zeff says. In his research, the majority of highly sensitive people he interviewed preferred individual sports, like bicycling, running and hiking, to group sports. However, this is not a blanket rule -- there are some highly sensitive people who may have had parents who provided an understanding and supportive environment that would make it easier for them to participate in group sports, Zeff says. 5. It takes longer for them to make decisions. Highly sensitive people are more aware of subtleties and details that could make decisions harder to make, Aron says. Even if there is no right or wrong decision -- for example, its impossible to choose a wrong flavor of ice cream -- highly sensitive people will still tend to take longer to choose because they are weighing every possible outcome. Arons advice for dealing with this: Take as long to decide as the situation permits, and ask for more time if you need it and can take it, she writes in a recent issue of her Comfort Zone newsletter. During this time, try pretending for a minute, hour, day, or even week that you have made up your mind a certain way. How does that feel? Often, on the other side of a decision things look different, and this gives you a chance to imagine more vividly that you are already there. One exception: Once a highly sensitive person has come to the conclusion of what is the right decision to make and what is the wrong decision to make in a certain situation, he or she will be quick to make that right decision again in the future. 6. And on that note, they are more upset if they make a bad or wrong decision. You know that uncomfortable feeling you get after you realize youve made a bad decision? For highly sensitive people, that emotion is amplified because the emotional reactivity is higher, Aron explains. 7. Theyre extremely detail-oriented. Highly sensitive people are the first ones to notice the details in a room, the new shoes that youre wearing, or a change in weather. 8. Not all highly sensitive people are introverts. In fact, about 30 percent of highly sensitive people are extroverts, according to Aron. She explains that many times, highly sensitive people who are also extroverts grew up in a close-knit community -- whether it be a cul-de-sac, small town, or with a parent who worked as a minister or rabbi -- and thus would interact with a lot of people. 9. They work well in team environments. Because highly sensitive people are such deep thinkers, they make valuable workers and members of teams, Aron says. However, they may be well-suited for positions in teams where they dont have to make the final decision. For instance, if a highly sensitive person was part of a medical team, he or she would be valuable in analyzing the pros and cons of a patient having surgery, while someone else would ultimately make the decision about whether that patient would receive the surgery. 10. Theyre more prone to anxiety or depression (but only if theyve had a lot of past negative experiences). If youve had a fair number of bad experiences, especially early in life, so you dont feel safe in the world or you dont feel secure at home or ... at school, your nervous system is set to anxious, Aron says. But thats not to say that all highly sensitive people will go on to have anxiety -- and in fact, having a supportive environment can go a long way to protecting against this. Parents of highly sensitive children, in particular, need to realize these are really great kids, but they need to be handled in the right way, Aron says. You cant over-protect them, but you cant under-protect them, either. You have to titrate that just right when theyre young so they can feel confident and they can do fine. 11. That annoying sound is probably significantly more annoying to a highly sensitive person. While its hard to say anyone is a fan of annoying noises, highly sensitive people are on a whole more, well, sensitive to chaos and noise. Thats because they tend to be more easily overwhelmed and overstimulated by too much activity, Aron says. 12. Violent movies are the worst. Because highly sensitive people are so high in empathy and more easily overstimulated, movies with violence or horror themes may not be their cup of tea, Aron says. 13. They cry more easily. Thats why its important for highly sensitive people to put themselves in situations where they wont be made to feel embarrassed or wrong for crying easily, Zeff says. If their friends and family realize that thats just how they are -- that they cry easily -- and support that form of expression, then crying easily will not be seen as something shameful. 14. They have above-average manners. Highly sensitive people are also highly conscientious people, Aron says. Because of this, theyre more likely to be considerate and exhibit good manners -- and are also more likely to notice when someone else isnt being conscientious. For instance, highly sensitive people may be more aware of where their cart is at the grocery store -- not because theyre afraid someone will steal something out of it, but because they dont want to be rude and have their cart blocking another persons way. 15. The effects of criticism are especially amplified in highly sensitive people. Highly sensitive people have reactions to criticism that are more intense than less sensitive people. As a result, they may employ certain tactics to avoid said criticism, including people-pleasing (so that there is no longer anything to criticize), criticizing themselves first, and avoiding the source of the criticism altogether, according to Aron. People can say something negative, [and] a non-HSP [highly sensitive person] can say, Whatever, and it doesnt affect them, Zeff says. But a HSP would feel it much more deeply. 16. Cubicles = good. Open-office plans = bad. Just like highly sensitive people tend to prefer solo workouts, they may also prefer solo work environments. Zeff says that many highly sensitive people enjoy working from home or being self-employed because they can control the stimuli in their work environments. For those without the luxury of creating their own flexible work schedules (and environments), Zeff notes that highly sensitive people might enjoy working in a cubicle -- where they have more privacy and less noise -- than in an open-office plan.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 03:51:42 +0000
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