The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You

teacher, and the like. Companies

There is considerable research giving us confidence that this is largely a genetically determined trait—I use the word “largely” only because scientists never say “always,” “never,” or “proven.” (Be suspicious of those who do.)

A study of highly sensitive parents found that they were more affected by the level of chaos in their homes than those lacking their degree of sensitivity.

comprehensive description of the trait, “DOES,” that expresses its facets nicely. D is for depth of processing. Our fundamental characteristic is that we observe and reflect before we act. We process everything more than others do, whether we are conscious of it or not. O is for being easily over-stimulated; if you are going to pay more attention t

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1. Self-knowledge.

The biggest cost to us of being highly sensitive, however, is that our nervous systems can only take in so much. Everyone has a limit as to how much information or stimulation can be absorbed before one becomes overloaded, overstimulated, over-aroused, overwhelmed, and just over!

In short, high sensitivity, or responsivity, as these biologists also called it, involves paying more attention to details than others do, then using that knowledge to make better predictions in the future.

4. Help With Feeling Okay When Out in the World and Learning When to Be Less Out. You can be, should be, and need to be involved in the world. It truly needs you.