How highly sensitive people have become new introverts
Text: Grisha the Prophets
Highly sensitive people, or highly sensitive people, especially susceptible to external stimulation, the emotions of others and in general the details of the world. We tell who they are and how to understand whether you are one of them.
Who are highly sensitive people?
Highly sensitive people (we will call them highly sensitive people), or HSP or VChL - these are people who react more intensely to the outside world. Both positive and negative information such people process more carefully, so that they can be stunned and overloaded by external stimuli - when there are too many of them or they are too intense. Such people pay a lot of attention to all sensations: tastes, touches, sounds and smells. They are especially sensitive to emotions, their own and others. The press calls them new introverts: they have been writing a lot about highly sensitive people lately, although the phenomenon was defined as early as the mid-90s.
Who introduced this concept?
Psychologist Elaine N. Aron singled out highly sensitive people for the first time in her book, The Highly Sensitive Person, which was published in 1996. Aaron lived in San Francisco and, with her husband, Arthur, began studying HFL in 1991. Aaron describes VChL as those who have "increased sensitivity to stimulation" and who are "more aware of the details and nuances and processes information more deeply and more reflectively than others." Aron believed that Carl Jung, Emily Dickinson and Rainer Maria Rilke were highly sensitive people and that they generally "are usually poets, writers, teachers, doctors, scientists and philosophers." It is believed that 20% of the world's population are highly sensitive people.
Why did they suddenly talk about them?
The term and the book of Aaron was not exactly in oblivion, no - other researchers wrote about VChL, and scientific articles were published about them, but it was in recent years that the media paid special attention to them. The Huffington Post released a text about how highly sensitive people interact with the world differently, The Wall Street Journal wrote about the phenomenon, even Scientific American remembered Aaron and her ideas. In the scientific world, interest in them is also increasing: for example, the first conference on high sensitivity was held in Brussels. On the phenomenon of VCHL comes a documentary called "Sensitive", which, for example, starred singer Alanis Morissette, who considers herself a highly sensitive person.
Why highlight highly sensitive people if introverts already exist?
Because it is a psychological - and neurobiological - category of people according to completely different indicators. Aaron derived a sensitivity scale of 27 points to highlight VHL; and, as is the case with introverts, this is not just a binary system, you are not just either a highly sensitive person or not, there is a gradation. If introverts are primarily determined by their relations with other people, then highly sensitive people in general are determined by their attitude to the world. However, like introverts, HFMs can love solitude to give their brains a break from stimulation. For example, if you often cry in the cinema or you are irritated by strong smells, or you are imbued with the emotions of other people in the most unexpected moments. And it is important to study: because if you realize that you are a highly sensitive person, you can better arrange your life, for example, try to work in quiet and peaceful places.
VChL really exist?
Yes of course. They are distinguished by many psychologists and neuroscientists. Hundreds of studies are devoted to high sensitivity, from brain scans to genetic tests. The study of the brain VCHL shows that their brain processes are different from the processes in the brain of other people: VChL often experience empathy, is more attentive to their environment and understand other people better. The catch is that there is, of course, a trap, as with introverts: after the word and the idea became popular, many people began to call themselves highly sensitive people, even those who are not technically related to them. Everyone wants to consider himself special, so I want to believe that we understand the world around us deeper and thinner than others.
How to understand if I am a highly sensitive person?
You can take the test, Aron invented back in the 90s. In addition, you can try to read the text in Scientific American to see if what you listed is relevant to you. At The Huffington Post there is an article about delusions towards highly sensitive people: no, they are not always introverted, not always shy, weak, or more prone to mental illness. Moreover, a highly sensitive person is not so easily distinguished, and they can learn to cope with their feelings and reactions — sometimes even better than others.
Photo: 1, 2, 3 via Shutterstock
The material was first published on the site Look At Me