High sensitivity has quickly become a trend term that is often used incorrectly in everyday life. We will show you what it is really about and what you should pay attention to.
What is high sensitivity?
Under high sensitivity one understands in psychology the ability of a person Perceive sensory impressions more intensely. Researchers attribute this to the fact that stimuli are processed deeper in the brain. It is important that it is highly sensitive not an illness or a character weakness, but only a personality trait.
The concept of high sensitivity coined the first time Psychologist Elaine Aron from California. According to their studies every fifth person highly sensitive. However, it is controversialhow meaningful the studies are. For example, psychologists generally conduct studies on high sensitivity using MRI analyzes. The results are not always reliable. In addition, it is difficult to interpret the available data clearly. That is why there are also scientists who generally question the existence of the phenomenon.
Some researchers assume that highly sensitive people always feel all kinds of sensations more strongly. According to other psychologists, high sensitivity can express itself in very different ways and does not always have to be uniform. For example, there are people who only perceive sounds more intensely, while others only process emotions more intensely. Therefore, high sensitivity is often in three aspects assigned: Sensory perception, emotional and aesthetic sensitivity.
How do I recognize high sensitivity?
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In the meantime, high sensitivity has become a real trend concept. So you will find numerous tests on the Internet with which you should find out whether you are highly sensitive. As a rule, they are based on no scientific basis and give by no means a reliable result. With advice and online articles on this topic, you should also make sure that they have actually been written by experts and not just based on individual experience reports.
In everyday life, high sensitivity is also often associated with talent. One speaks of high talent however, when people have exceptional cognitive skills and can therefore perform above average in one or more specific areas. Therefore, it is actually about two different psychological phenomenathat do not have to occur simultaneously.
Since the research on high sensitivity is still very vague, there is also no general guideline that specifies exactly which behaviors and feelings you can recognize the phenomenon from. According to Elaine Aron’s book “The Highly Sensitive Person “ there are four indicators that distinguish highly sensitive people:
- Processing depth of information: You process (mostly subconsciously) significantly more information than others and are always in the process of comparing it with past experiences and relating them.
- Personal stimulus threshold: If your brain is constantly busy processing a multitude of sensory impressions, you will feel overwhelmed more quickly, especially in very complex, loud and chaotic situations, so you may need a quiet moment more often.
- Emotional reactivity: You are more aware of both negative and positive emotions.
- Perception of subtle stimuli: You often notice small details that other people miss. For example, it can be quiet noises, inconspicuous visual impressions or the feelings of your fellow human beings.
This is how you deal with high sensitivity
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At first glance, it seems helpful for highly sensitive people to avoid strenuous and intensive situations. So if you react particularly strongly to noises and, for example, the soft whirring of your computer makes you feel uncomfortable, you simply buy another one. If you are very sensitive to light, you retreat to darker rooms and if you react strongly to the emotions of your fellow human beings, you avoid social interactions.
However, these behaviors are not only not helpful, they are can even exacerbate the problem. Because if you consciously avoid these everyday situations, your sensitivity increases and you restrict yourself more and more in your life. That’s why the Professor of Clinical Psychology Michael Witthöft, for example, pretends that he deliberately exposes patients to their fears in order to help them To overcome fears.
However, not all sufferers suffer from their highly sensitive skills. Since high sensitivity is not a clinical picture, it does not have to or cannot be “treated” at all. As with all personality structures, you should learn to listen to your needs and feelings and to act in the interests of your own well-being. However, if you feel that you are not in a position to do this alone or that you limit your fears severely, you should seek professional help.
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