[beigeish]

Has anyone every heard of the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) or identify themselves as one?

Know of any correlation between being HSP and being BP?

The Highly Sensitive Person ?

[Wild Coyote]

I identify with being "highly sensitive" in some ways.
I don't have a "thin skin" in that I am not easily insulted or hurt.

I do pick up on a lot of information and can feel very overloaded by stimuli, which I have always felt is due to my early life experiences with ongoing traumas and C-PTSD.

I read a lot of the work done by Dr. Judith Orloff, M.D.
Judith Orloff MD | Intuition, Empath Support, Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Emotions & Energy Healing

I highly recommend her site, blog. books.


WC

[wildcat04]

Hello! I am highly sensitive to noise

[wildflowerchild25]

I'm definitely an hsp. I've known it since I was a teenager. I've learned to kind of disconnect from it in recent years, at least about letting other people's emotions become my own. I don't do that anymore. But everything else is there.

Yes, i'm an HSP. I don't like it when things get too noisy in my drop-in. I like quiet times with just a few friends. I went to a rock concert about five years ago and it was unbearable even tho the musician was my favorite. I've stopped going to movies in commercial theaters because the pre-show is so overwhelming.

I think most mentally ill people are vulnerable to becoming overwhelmed. My friend and her sister are mentally ill and when their other sister got married she rented a room for them in the hotel specifically for them where they could retreat if they got overwhelmed. I thought that was really thoughtful and considerate.

[OctobersBlackRose]

Yes, I definitely identify with being a HSP, I've been that way since I was little., I also have PTSD which I was.DXed with in 2006 at the age of 14, so that probably explains a lot of why I'm highly sensitive.

[beigeish]

Wildflower- any tips on how to disconnect from others' emotions? I have a really difficult time with that. Kudos to you for being able to separate!

WC- I agree in that I'm not 'thin-skinned' either, but the HSP criteria fit me well. My therapist brought this to my attention and is HSP herself as well, which definitely helps!!

I'm finding that the combination of HSP & BP is like a time-bomb... I can be set off and rendered non-functional by almost anything (from legitimate things like a hyper-critical, emotionally abusive boss down to a stomach ache). Frustrating to feel incapacitated by myself. Wouldn't it be nice to turn the volume down on all of the hyperawareness?

Sensitivity for me seems to go with irritability - somethings I experience when I transition from depression into stability

[beigeish]

justafriend- HSP is not referring to sensitivity as a mood or a high level personality trait, it's an ingrained state of being not relating to what is normally thought of as "sensitive". The link i posted above gives some good info and a self-test if you're interested in learning more!

[NoIdeaWhatToDo]

A friend of mine (who referred me to my T around the same time) introduced me to HSP through a book she was reading to learn about her daughter. I definitely fit that bill. Funnily enough, I think our T brought it up to my friend, and later the T and I did some work in this area for me as well.

I totally relate to what you're saying, beigeish, about being completely derailed by virtually anything. Somehow, I recently forgot about the impact HSP has on that process; I had been viewing it as a function of just the BP. I've been thinking about how easily my whole mood can turn as related to my lack of resilience. I hadn't really been mindful of the impact being overstimulated has been having on me.

For a couple of years, I was doing really well with that...somewhere along the way I got back into my former routines of ignoring building stimuli and then getting taken off guard when I exploded/imploded. I need to get back to a better self-monitoring system to make sure I care for myself better and do a better job managing the stimuli that are within my control, especially since dealing with the stimuli of normal, day-to-day life (physical, mental and emotional) is often outside my control and can be sufficient to do me in.

[hahayeahtotallylol]

I don't relate to any of the criteria aside from teachers saying i was shy when i was in grade school.

I do consider myself sensitive though.. just not in those ways. More like.. irritable.

[Daonnachd]

This article just landed in my inbox from bp Hope Magazine. Its title is "When Noise Annoys." Check it out. When Noise Annoys: Coping with Hypersensitive Hearing | bpHope - bp Magazine Community