Are you a sensitive person?

Are you a sensitive person? Then you are not alone. Many people are sensitive, and I don’t mean in an emotional sense(although they sometimes go together), or sensitive to chemicals, I mean when it comes to outside stimuli.

For a lot of people, noise is the bane of their existence It is almost like torture to them, or at least very distracting. Others don’t like to be touched. Numerous people have a very sensitive sense of smell, to the point that they can’t stand perfume. People who have very sensitive taste-buds tend to avoid spicy, bitter or sour foods. At least a few have sensitive eyes, and avoid sunlight unless they wear very dark sunglasses. It’s rare, but some people may be universally sensitive to the point they wish they could live in a protective bubble.

In the very least, very sensitive people do need a lot more time to be alone and unwind. While it’s not the same thing as pain sensitivity, the two are probably linked.

But what does this even mean? This is an under-explored area of psychology, in part because it isn’t necessarily a condition or something that can be diagnosed. But it is one of those things that you know if you have it or not, especially when you realize most people don’t react the way you do to certain things. It may or may not be linked with certain disorders, but it is not, in and of itself, a disorder.

Due to noise sensitivity, I for one find it impossible to go to nightclubs. The music is way too loud to the point that I can’t function in such an environment. I similarly can’t go to most sporting events or concerts. I sleep with ear-muffs. I don’t necessarily see this as a limitation since I don’t care for these kinds of things anyway.

Being sensitive to noise may help me appreciate music and may have even helped me develop the rhythm necessary for joggling long distances. It may even be useful for creativity. It’s not well understood what ultimately causes some people to be more sensitive than others, but it is definitely at least partly genetic in origin. Some “normal” people may not understand that not everyone is wired the same way, and can’t understand why us sensitives don’t enjoy the same things they enjoy.

If you are extremely sensitive and wish you weren’t, there isn’t a whole lot to help you unless your sensitivity is linked with some kind of anxiety or medical disorder, or you alter your life to avoid certain triggers. Unfortunately, there isn’t a “switch” that we can turn down to make us less sensitive, except perhaps through drugs which I do not recommend.

If you are sensitive, how do you deal with it? What are its main drawbacks for you? And what are its advantages, if any?