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Rhapsody said:
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Perna said:
Being highly sensitive is not a bad thing (in my book) but they didn't define what they were meaning by "sensitive"
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IMO - this test is asking if you are
"overly sensitive" (by using the word highly) and not sensitive in the way that you are a caring person that feels for others...... for while I care a lot about people and what they are going I am not so sensitive any more that I get upset at every little thing or comment.
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The thing is, if you use the word "overly", then it suggests that there is some normal or acceptable level of sensitivity. I think saying "highly" sensitive is a better descriptor since it describes a system that responds to stimuli at lower thresholds and with more intensity than those who are not highly sensitive. And it's my understanding from reading Aron's works that sensitivity is a trait or system for processing stimuli, both physical and emotional. So I have a lot of physical sensitivities, especially to smells, but also to spicy foods. And I have a very strong startle reflex which kicks in with loud noises but also just if someone "appears" in front of me and I didn't realize they were there. I've screamed at the postman more than once when I went to check the mail slot and found he was standing on my porch getting ready to fill it. And I'm terrible with pain. Just ask the five year old boy who laughed at my whining and whimpering when his mother put some Skin Shield on a papercut. And I'm emotionally sensitive, too. I don't quite understand how or even if the two are related, physical and emotional sensitivity, but the test seems to pull for both, and I know I clearly have both.
I don't know that any of us can actively change our individual thresholds for sensing physical and emotional stimuli beyond the ranges that are uniquely ours. But I think we can learn to manage our sensory (emotional and physical) arousal and environments as best we can so that we limit the upset and maladaptive reactions that can occur when one is stimulated to what is an uncomfortable for them level. Elaine Aron's books have been really helpful for me in understanding this trait of mine and learning to make the best of it. And you can experience positives from being highly sensitive, too. It's a true gift for me when I'm in my therapist mode, and I wouldn't give it up despite the negatives that come with it. I think of my sensitivity as being a gift and a burden. When I'm functioning well, it's more of the former; when I'm not, it's definitely more of a burden, and can lead me to feel like running screaming from the room while tearing at my hair. Fortunately, I've so far always been able to inhibit that urge.
gg