Life as an HSP

HSP: highly sensitive person

This does NOT mean that a person:

• is weak
• is too emotional
• over reacts
• can control all of their emotions

It DOES mean that their life is a little bit different.

• Noises affect their concentration.
• For some HSPs all 5 of their senses are heightened, but for others just 1 or 2 are
• In junior high my body started reacting to colognes and perfumes, no matter how weak or strong. I honestly thought my tear ducts got punctured or something, because my eyes would start watering ANY time I was around cologne or perfume. Changing after gym class was a special kind of hell, because there'd be 20+ fragrances sprayed in a matter of minutes.
• Noises bug me. The loud ones are okay. But the constant buzzing noises of static, insects, and the creaking of pipes really get to me.
• They might overthink things.
• Conflict and confrontation are likely hard for them.
• Social gatherings, whether spontaneous or pre-planned can cause a great deal of anxiety and self-doubt.
• Classrooms are a beast that I'll talk about on another day.
• Dating SUCKS
• They might second-guess their friendships.
• They will likely have just a few close friends, rather than a group of acquaintances, unless they have known each other for quite some time.
• They might make plans with you ahead of time and then cancel on the day of the event.
• Yeah, I know it sucks. Especially if you've been planning it for a while. But the HSP is taking care of himself/herself; sometimes they just have to say NO, so that they can keep their sanity.
• We try to keep our meltdowns to ourselves. We don't want others to see that we're imperfect. It's embarrassing. We need to talk about our feelings, but most of us don't trust easily.
• We KNOW it's inconvenient. We usually try to go and just be there, even when it's hard. But if we say no, please don't push us.
• You probably don't know if your friend is an HSP. We try not to tell people, because, again, in today's society, it's embarrassing, and we don't usually trust easily.

This certainly is NOT a full list of how HSPs live life, but it's a start. Just a glimpse into our thought process and our reasoning.

Moral of the story: be kind.

We know that we come off as cold and standoffish. We don't mean to.

We all cope differently. We all struggle with different things.

Be kind. We want to love and support y'all too.

Love,

D. J.

{P.S. There will be more blog posts about anxiety, depression, hormonal imbalance, and similar topics.}