Am I highly sensitive?

“We are dreamers and idealists. But we are also passionate, deep, creative, in touch with our feelings, and compassionate – and we have an eye for the bigger picture. We can appreciate the feelings of others and become loyal friends and spouses. We are intuitive and spiritual and have a keen sense of energy. (...) We are in tune with nature, (...) and we often have a special affinity for water.”

Zu sehen ist: eine Hand, die eine Feder hält

When I read these lines by psychiatrist Judith Orloff (2018), I immediately recognised myself. Who is she talking about? I turn the book over and look closer at the cover: “The Empath's Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People.” Oh. Interesting.

High sensitivity – what exactly is behind it?

For a long time, I associated the term “sensitive” with negative connotations. Why, actually? “Don’t be so sensitive!” was a sentence I had heard so often, and I linked it to a form of devaluation. Could there also be a positive perspective on the term? Now that my interest has been piqued, I go in search of further literature. What exactly is it, high sensitivity?

Initially, I skim a Wikipedia article which summarises, quite critically and cautiously, that high sensitivity – also called hypersensitivity – is not a scientifically uniformly recognised phenomenon. Several names of psychologists are mentioned who have been dealing with it since the 1990s. So far, so good. I continue my search and encounter the orchid-dandelion metaphor.

The orchid-dandelion metaphor

If we view sensitivity as a continuum, highly sensitive people can be seen as orchids, which only bloom magnificently in their ideal environment, while low-sensitivity people are described as dandelions, which can strike root and flourish anywhere, regardless of their surroundings. As a third component on this continuum, Lionetti, Aron, Burns, Jagiellowicz, and Pluess (2018) describe a tulip: people with medium sensitivity.

I love nature metaphors. However, now I want to know exactly: what scientific findings exist regarding this concept? Who originated it, and who is working on it today?

Scientific background on the concept of high sensitivity

In 1997, the psychologists Elaine Nancy Aron and Arthur Aron published for the first time at the State University of New York at Stony Brook on a construct they called "Sensory-Processing Sensitivity." In it, they first address research on introversion and extraversion and emphasise the biochemical differences in the processing of stimuli:

“They are differentially affected by caffeine, so that, for example, analgesics and caffeine together can increase pain sensitivity in introverts but not in extraverts.”

— Haler, Reynolds, Prager, Cox, & Buchsbaum (1991) | in: Aron & Aron (1997)

After linking various scientific contents from globally published articles, they present their results from seven investigations. The first study was qualitative, and the six following ones were quantitative, looking for repeating patterns. Aron & Aron claim to have identified a partial independence of the concept of High Sensory-Processing Sensitivity from social introversion and emotionality – concepts that until then had often been seen as one in science.

Critical voices on the construct of high sensitivity

Many articles found online regarding high sensitivity emphasise the scientific controversy surrounding the concept. The publication by Aron & Aron (1997) is repeatedly cited, in which they transparently lay out the limitations of their scientific methods: many results are based on retrospective descriptions by study participants, which were not explored further in depth.

“All of these results have limitations, of course.”

— Aron & Aron (1997)

Nevertheless, something has changed since then in psychological research on concepts such as high sensitivity or sensitivity. This is shown, for example, by a guest contribution by psychologist Hildegard Marxer on the Swiss portal Das Potenzial der Hochsensiblen from 2018: in addition to Aron & Aron, seven other scientific publications are cited that deal with concepts of sensitivity. Marxer describes the convergence of several research strands here, namely:

Sensory-Processing Sensitivity (traceable back to Aron & Aron 1997, as described above).
Differential Susceptibility – This concept according to Pluess & Belsky (2013) deals with different receptivity to positive and negative experiences.
Biological Sensitivity to Context – This research according to Boyce & Ellis (2005) sheds light on the environment and environmental factors in the childhood of highly stress-reactive people.

Further traces lead to stress research

In the search for scientific traces of sensitivity, one core topic recurs: dealing with stress. Anyone who wishes to dive deeper into the content at this point will find what they are looking for in stress research: the Vulnerability-Stress Model, for example, examines the tendency of people to react to pressures.

In addition to scientific information, experience-oriented formats are a great support for everyone who identifies with the concepts of high sensitivity, sensitivity, and introversion: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) combines mindfulness practices from Buddhism with scientific findings (according to Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts) and serves a holistically healthier lifestyle. It is increasingly gaining acceptance in companies and is even financially supported by health insurance funds.

Strengths of highly sensitive people

Do you recognise yourself in one description or another? How sensitively do you perceive things; how do you handle stress? Seeing sensitivity not as a weakness but as a strength can fundamentally change our lives. The day I stopped taking the sentence “You are so sensitive!” as a critical attack and instead took it as a compliment (regardless of how it was intended) redefined my perspective on myself and my strengths. Orloff (2018) highlights the following characteristics of highly sensitive people as strengths:

Dreamers, idealists
An eye for the bigger picture
A keen sense of energy

In which roles could people with these traits make a particularly valuable contribution to our society? For example, as founders who, with their belief in their large, idealistic idea and their eye for the big picture, create innovative new things. As leaders who, with their fine intuition, notice and categorise the needs of their team members. In therapeutic professions, sensitive and perceptive people can respond to others with particular empathy. What other roles come to your mind?

Silvia Harke (2019) orientates the strengths of the highly sensitive around the 5 senses:

Sight: Intuitive understanding of colours, shapes, harmony; sense of aesthetics; precise recognition of visual details.
Hearing: Sense of rhythm, musicality; hears the finest nuances.
Smell & Taste: Differentiated perception of scents and flavours.
Touch: Differentiated perception of shapes, tactile impulses, surfaces, and structures.

To this, she adds conscious body awareness and particularly good interpersonal perception. According to Harke (2019), highly sensitive people are...

...often good listeners
...and can capture non-verbal signals such as body language, charisma, and emotional states from others quickly and in a differentiated manner.

Setting boundaries as a key

To turn personality traits into strengths, it is crucial to develop an awareness of them. To prevent states of being overwhelmed, tools for setting boundaries are particularly important and helpful.

If you perceive things sensitively, you likely need a lot of space and time for yourself.

Take it. You are allowed to say “no.”

If you are sensitive, you likely perceive many energies and moods.

Regularly and consciously go within to stay with yourself. Closing your eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath can support this.

If you perceive things sensitively, you may feel stressed quickly.

Consciously collect activities that recharge your batteries. What gives you strength?

waldzeit-coaching-entlastung-burnout-praevention k.jpg

Time for relief

and less stress

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