It has been estimated that around 20% of the population has "high sensitivity", a term that has been used to define the personality of those people who show extreme sensitivity to the world, perceiving all stimuli in a much more intense way than the rest. Highly sensitive people (PAS) are characterized by being very intuitive, emotional, empathetic, reflective, introverted, generous, perfectionists, vulnerable to criticism, etc. This extreme sensitivity, in the same way that it can have its positive points, often leads them to feeling misunderstood by the people around them and being overwhelmed or saturated emotionally. If in your close environment there is someone who presents this personality trait and you want to know how to improve your communication and personal relationship with her, pay attention to this Psychology-Online article in which we explain detail how to treat a highly sensitive person.
In psychology, we talk about a person being highly sensitive (PAS) when they have a
It has been pointed out that this high sensitivity is an inherited trait that occurs in around 15 to 20% of the population, affecting men and women equally. As we can see in the book "The gift of sensitivity" by the American psychologist Elaine Aron, there are 4 pillars that a highly sensitive person must reflect to be considered as such and these are the following:
- Deep reflection of the information Receives: Tends to reflect intensely on all topics and goes over the information received a lot to achieve a better understanding of it.
- Saturation and overstimulation: The fact of having to process a large amount of both sensory and emotional information can cause the person to become mentally saturated and feel overstimulated.
- Great emotionality: Unlike other people, a PAS lives their life with much more emotionality and intensity. They are easily moved by any situation and this is associated with great empathy, a characteristic trait also of highly sensitive people.
- High sensory sensitivity: In addition to having a high sensory sensitivity regarding the 5 senses (sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing), the PAS also present a high sensitivity in terms of subtleties, that is, in the face of minimal changes that happen in their environment or small emotional changes shown by people who have close.
For a person to be classified as highly sensitive, they must reflect these 4 essential characteristics together.
The mind of highly sensitive people works differently from others and the ones shown below are some of the features that they can reflect in your daily life.
Highly sensitive people have:
- Great empathy with the suffering of other people. They have a high capacity for listening and a willingness to help other people so that they are well mentally and physically.
- High capacity to identify all those details that occur in their environment and that go unnoticed by others.
- Very low pain threshold.
- Difficulties for to say no and to set personal limits.
- Great facility to fall in love. They show great involvement in their relationships, even occasionally forgetting themselves.
- Perfectionist tendencies.
- Great sensitivity to criticism.
- Great skills to concentrate deeply.
- Ease of enjoying the little things.
Highly sensitive people often feel:
- Insecure and shy.
- Annoyed by strong and intense lights, sounds, or smells.
- Very concerned about the suffering of others, justice, the environment, animals, etc.
- Overwhelmed or worried by sudden or significant changes.
- Moved by art and nature.
- Overwhelmed by overwork.
- Misunderstood or uncomfortable in masses of people.
- Comfortable in solitude.
You can expand this information by consulting the article How to know if I am a highly sensitive person.
It is possible that a highly sensitive person suffers excessively from having this high sensitivity and that even, on many occasions, you feel misunderstood by others or have the feeling that you do not finish to fit in. This can lead the affected person to seek professional psychological help and therapy for a highly sensitive person it can encompass the following:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy: With this type of therapy, it is possible to work on what the highly sensitive person thinks to teach him to combat irrational thoughts and face the fears that he presents. The necessary personal and social skills are also provided so that the affected person can achieve their life goals and feel good about it. In addition, various relaxation techniques are taught to help you reduce high stress and anxiety.
- Interpersonal approach: therapy that focuses on the way in which the subject is affected by personal relationships. You learn to identify and express your own emotions and to deal with both past and present problems.
If someone from your closest environment is a PAS or you live or spend a lot of time with someone with these characteristics, We recommend that you consider the following tips to understand him, make him feel good and improve your relationship. Take note of these recommendations for treating a highly sensitive person:
- Respect and understand their way of feeling: It is essential that you understand that a PAS cannot avoid feeling pain, suffering excessively or reacting abruptly and intensely to certain situations. Therefore, it is very important that you respect their way of feeling and that you understand the way in which these types of people perceive stimuli. Avoid making her feel misunderstood and don't isolate her or get angry because she feels differently from you.
- Speak softly: When you are with her, try to maintain a soft tone of voice and remember the high sensitivity that these people have to intense and loud noises. In this way, you will be able to create a good atmosphere between the two of you and avoid creating a climate that could give way to tensions, bad moods or sudden reactions.
- Avoid accusing him of "complaining": Something that can greatly annoy people with high sensitivity is that they are accused of complaining, which can lead them to feel misunderstood by the subjects around them. It is important that you are aware that reacting in a different way than you would, does not mean that this person is very complaining, but the difference is that she receives that information or stimulus much more quickly and intensely than your.
- Listen to her: PAS suffer a lot when they perceive that someone in their environment is going through a bad time or is not feeling well emotionally, and in the same way that she will care about you and she will take time to listen to you and help you, it is important that you do with it. Tell him that he can explain what he wants and that he has your full support when he needs it. The best thing is that you resort to empathic assertiveness when communicating with her.
- Ask him to tell you what bothers him: Show him your interest in knowing what things are that bother him and ask him to explain what you can do about it to avoid it or help him.
- Be honest and tell him what you think: PAS greatly value honesty and will feel much better if you clearly tell them what you think or feel. In this way, they will not be all the time trying to discover what is happening to you and excessively concerned about you and your well-being.
- Respect her space: Keep in mind that these types of people also like to enjoy their solitude, make their plans and be very focused when they are carrying out a task.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
