I have a confession to make: I was completely unfamiliar with the concept of the “highly-sensitive person” or HSP until last year when, suddenly, the term seemed to be popping up everywhere – from the audiobooks I was listening to, to the conversations I was having with patients. I became curious and did a little research. I learned that the concept of “highly-sensitive persons” is not new. It was developed in the 1990s by psychologist, researcher and best-selling author, Dr. Elaine Aron, who also coined the related term “sensory processing sensitivity” or SPS.  

Sensory processing sensitivity is not considered a psychiatric disorder and is, therefore, not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). Instead, sensory processing sensitivity is a personality trait involving an increased sensitivity of the central nervous system and a deeper cognitive processing of physical, social, and emotional stimuli. A person with a high measure of SPS is considered to be a highly sensitive person (HSP).

According to Aron, people with high SPS make up about 15–20% of the population. This trait reflects a certain type of survival strategy, which involves being observant before acting. It is not specific to humans and has been identified in over 100 animal species. The HSP brain processes information differently, which causes HSPs to be more aware of subtleties in the environment, but also creates a tendency to be overwhelmed. Dr. Aron believes that having SPS is neither good nor bad, but in cultures where being highly sensitive is not valued, HSPs are often made to feel that they are “too sensitive” and go on to develop low self esteem.

I took the self-test on Dr. Aron’s website and learned that I am a highly sensitive person. Perhaps this explains many of my day-to-day challenges, including an inability to multi-task, hunger-intolerance (just ask my husband!), my tendency to become frazzled and my need for alone-time. On the other hand, being highly sensitive has also been tied to some of my more positive attributes, including conscientiousness, empathy and my epicurean tendencies.

Are you a highly sensitive person too? I suspect that many of my patients are. You can take the self-test here on Dr. Aron’s website: https://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/