What Are The Biggest Challenges of Being a Highly Sensitive Person? You Answered.
Recently I asked the question on my HSP Facebook page: What are the biggest challenges of being a highly sensitive person? One of our biggest struggles, in general, is a nervous system that seems to be in overdrive by default. That makes us feel overwhelmed, emotional, hypersensitive, reactionary, and this can be very exhausting and difficult. As an HSP myself, I used to struggle a lot and the more HSPs I met through my work as a psychotherapist, the more I saw we all seemed to struggle in the same ways. I feel it is so important for us to understand our unique brains and the differences in our limbic systems. I made it my mission to find out why and to develop tools and techniques to reduce the challenges and increase access to the positives of this trait.
These are the responses of HSPs from all over the world about what they find challenging about being highly sensitive:
• Crying easily when overwhelmed, especially when angry, then thinking everyone thinks you're a crybaby.
• The overthinking (depth of processing) is the hardest for me.
• The sensitivity to sleep deprivation.
• Picking up other people’s ‘junk’
• overload. Uggh.
• Feeling EVERYTHING !!
• Being misunderstood.
• Having your feelings displayed all over your face.
• Being hypersensitive to criticism.
• Not being able to turn off "feeling everything from everyone" blessing but some days feels like a curse
• working a stressful job
• Wanting to save everyone.
• Encountering people who do not understand I am Hsp.
• Daily news
• Very few people take my sensitivity seriously; they think I'm weak or mentally off.
• The anxiety. Knowing something is about to happen and having no control over it. The sinking of my stomach. Walking into a room or house and feeling the tension of fighting no matter how much it's hidden.
• Handling the stress of my job. I love my job most of the time but Monday I was stressed for three hours straight with no relief and by the time I was leaving was so frustrated/overwhelmed I wanted to cry.
• I don’t know the worst ... but first one to come to mind just now is, not wanting any communication when I’m mentally exhausted. Folk probably think I’m unsociable.
• Knowing when people aren't being honest, but others can't see it.
• Feeling exhausted from stimuli - & thus fitting in /getting some 'down time' in a very hectic, social world.
• Other people being insensitive - especially about animals- huge trigger for me that most folk really don’t care
• Loud noises and uncaring people.
• One big challenge I have is other people's bad moods rubbing off on me. I absorb their energy. When this happens, the other person can revert back to being happy very quickly, but I'm left with the bad mood for hours!!
• Work, parenting, life.
• Living in self protection, not strong enough to speak my mind. Getting easily distracted when trying to focus.
• I struggle with trusting what I need to be healthy, knowing other people will be hurt by my choices.
• Struggle with my limits and the impact that has on relationships and the amount of time I can devote to social situations. Also helping my HS son when I haven’t sorted me out yet!
• Anxiety, insomnia, small talk and conversation, memory, articulating my thoughts
-Do you relate to many of these? I want you to know that life can get better and you can truly thrive. You are needed in this world and now we understand why we experience things the way we do and how to develop certain techniques that can change the way we experience our sensitivity. These methods allow us to train our brain and transform our experience. Everyone around us benefits when we are living well.
Find out how my brain-training program can help you live to your highest potential. hspcourse.com
Want to live to your highest potential as an HSP? Do challenges hold you back from using your gifts? Learn how to create healthy boundaries, say no without guilt, get your needs met and feel more connected. The Empowered Highly Sensitive Person. Download your copy now
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~Julie Bjelland is a psychotherapist, global HSP consultant, and leader in the field of high sensitivity and has helped thousands of highly sensitive people around the world. As an HSP herself, Julie understands what it is like to live with high sensitivity and strong emotions. Julie teaches an online course for HSPs and is the author of several books. www.juliebjelland.com.