The Highly Sensitive Person

Are you a "highly sensitive person"? Take the quiz and see. http://www.hsperson.com/pages/test.htm

I scored 19. I'm pretty hopeless. Actually, it isn't supposed to be a bad thing, but modern American culture usually views it that way. We HSPs need to stick together.

I scored a 25, I guess I'm really hopeless then. But the way I view it is that highly creative people are very sensitive, so i guess we are artists of some sort. Plus we are highly intuitive also. That isn't a bad thing in my opinion. LOL

I join you, Kelli, as a HSP. I scored a 20. Not surprising, though, I've always known that about myself.
What is interesting, is these are symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder. I didnt look at length at the website to see if there's a connection. My mother was diagnosed with PTSD, but I never understood why. Maybe she was HSP.

Nope. Call me obtuse, but I scored a three ;o) Loud noises - like a radio or TV played too loudly - bother me, and I tend to startle easily, much to the delight of my kids. And something else I checked off - can't remember what. I'm a little leery of the accuracy of self-reporting surveys..I think sometimes the power of suggestion is mighty powerful.

Hmmmmmm I got a 3 also. I guess Terry and I can be obtuse together. Lol!

There's more to it than just the quiz and the web site. I've read the book and I'm still convinced that I am a HSP.

Terry, it's why you are so good at what you do. I could never do your job!

My husband scored a 3 and I scored a 24... No wonder we cannot agree an anything

I scored a 15 on it, so I am pretty sensitive. This was a neat test.

This was a neat test..... I expected to score really high, but I got a 14.

Thanks for sharing

I scored a 12 so I guess I'm not as sensitive as my husband claims I am LOL.

I scored 17.

I also have ADD.

Highly sensitive and inattentive--how lucky can a person get? LOL!

I read the book "The Highly Sensitive Person." I'd recommend it to anyone because it shows that some people really struggle with stuff that many people don't think twice about, and that they're not just "being difficult" or "fussy."

Rhonda

Rhonda, I have 2 children with "sensory integration disorder" and one of them has ADHD. From what I read last night, "highly sensitive" and SID have alot in common. My 8 YO's therapist told me that basically Tori's life is like being stuck in the worst rush hour traffic you can imagine, and that it is 24/7. She cannot filter out any of the background noises or distractions that we all deal with every day, and becomes extremely over whelmed, and has what they call meltdowns. To someone who doesn't know, a meltdown seems alot like a temper tamtrum, but it is actually because she cannot deal with any more sensory input, and just loses it :( It is very hard to watch, and biting my tongue when a passer-by says something about how to stop her tamtrum is hard too.

Janis

22 time for my nerve pills ?

I scored 20 Highly sensitive and my 4 and 1/2 yr old DGD scored a 16. I knew she was Highly sensitive from the time she was 4 months old.

She has ezema and when she is broke out something is upsetting her.

Janis: has your daughter tried earplugs to help deaden the noise? I have to wear them to sleep, and I keep a pair near me most of the time, in case some irritating noise comes up and I need relief. The sound of my cat washing herself is unbearable. My husband clicking his dentures is another. Grrr!

ilovejesus: isn't it interesting how sensitive skin, and sensitive "nerves" seem to be connected? I've read a lot about ADHD and some doctors/parents/patients have noticed a higher amount of skin problems, such as eczema and psoriasis, in ADHD people. I don't know if it's been studied much yet or not. Personally, I've had "bad" skin all my life. My mom even had to use a special cleanser for me as a baby since baby soap was too irritating. Imagine!

Rhonda

Wow, I scored 26! I have been suffering from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue for the last 16 years and have always felt it had a lot to do with my overreaction to outside stimuli. (the phone ringing or a knock on the door causes the 'jump out of my skin' reaction followed by a pounding heart for ages.)
Does anyone know if these conditions are related to oversensitivity ?
Even as a child I got told off for being 'silly','melodramatic' and 'thinking too deeply about things'. When I withdrew to my room frequently I was branded as 'sulky'. Is this all related do you think and ,more importantly, how can I 'pull myself together', something I've always been told to do but never been able to manage very well.
Thanks for any advice/comments anyone can offer.
Maggi

I scored a whopping14.
Ouch I didn't think I was that sensitive!!!

There is one aspect of my life that at first glance doesn't seem to fit the HSP profile - I like to go to ball games. However, after thinking about it some, I think it does fit in a way. If you go to home games, which I have always done, the vast majority of the folks will be rooting for the home team, so everyone is in one accord, which HSPs like.

As a child and a teen, I was often told to stop being such a baby, to stop being so sensitive, to don't be such a hermit...

Especially as a kid, I was really sensitive about clothes, that is, what they were made of. Eventually my mom finally caught on that if it wasn't cotton, I wasn't going to wear it.

Another thing I hated and still hate is when dissimilar foods touch each other on the plate. For example, if the water from the cooked vegetables touches the mashed potatoes or if just about anything gets on the bread - gag me!

Hmm, that was really interesting. I think of myself as being pretty sensitive, but I only scored a six. My sensitivity is more emotional-- I get my feelings hurt easily and let things that other people say really bother me. I guess that's a different kind of sensitive!

Since other people have been mentioning this, although I did NOT turn out to be highly sensitive, my skin IS highly sensitive! So at least for me they don't go together.

Kelli- that sounds so familiar! Especially the food thing, i would actually prefer just to eat one food at a time. My sisters would try to gross me out when we ate dinner growing up, they would mix up their food intentionally because it made me lose my appetite. The worst part is that they wouldnt get in trouble because they werent really doing anything wrong! Oh they laugh about it now... I wonder if being a HSP is inherited, my older sister has an extreme sensitivity to hot water, as do i. My whole family is hypersensitive, I just thought it was hormones. I am considered the creative one, my older sister is the intellectual and my little sis is creative and intellectual. I bet they would score similiar. Does this run in the family??

Only got a 4 - but I startle very easily and 2 of our boys love 'getting' me. The super at work is learning to try to get into my line of vision and not tap me on the shoulder from behind, to tell me something - with a headset on I never hear her approach. My violent reaction has scared her a few times. LOL

One thing I am very sensitive to is other's feelings and hurts...a people pleaser, peace maker. I think they call it the middle child syndrome. :)