HSP Basics: The Highly Sensitive Person

So… you’ve heard of a highly sensitive person (HSP) and maybe you’ve even taken the quiz and identify as one. But what does that mean?

Highly sensitive people are people who have a subset of a sensory processing sensitivity. This means that their nervous system is more sensitive to the things happening around and within them.

Roughly 20% of the population are highly sensitive. The original research indicates that it is a trait someone is born with. Being highly sensitive is not a disease, diagnosis, or disorder. It is a sensitivity trait.

It is believed that this trait was developed as an evolutionary tool to designate some members of the community as those who would be more aware and attuned to surroundings, making them adept at sensing danger or changes in the environment.

Highly sensitive people process far more information than the average person. This makes them more aware of subtle changes, people's moods, external stimuli (sound, temperature, etc.), and their own shifting biochemistry.

The challenges highly sensitive people can face include frequent overwhelm, exhaustion, trouble socializing for long periods of time, taking on a higher emotional load, experiencing sensory overload, being more susceptible to trauma, and more.

However, being highly sensitive also comes with strengths. We are more aware of others and therefore make excellent friends and caretakers, we experience ALL things at a heightened level including happiness and other positive emotions, we are highly empathetic and attuned to the universe, and we respond more positively than the average person to healing modalities.

Understanding my high sensitivity has been life changing. I thought I was broken - I suffered for most of my life before I understood my system. Since learning I was highly sensitive, I’ve been able to learn so much about how I operate, what I need, and how to live my life in a way that supports me. I’ve been able to overcome lifelong physical symptoms, I no longer have daily intense anxiety, and I have been able to build a beautiful life that supports and nourishes me.

If you’d like to do the same, I encourage you to sign up for the waitlist for my upcoming course, Highly Sensitive Healing. It contains everything I wish I’d known 20 years ago when I started struggling in this world. You can learn more and join the waitlist here.

Questions? Reach out at hello@cowgirlholistic.com.