# Anxiety Disorders > Unsure and Other Mental Health Issues >  >  HSP - Highly Sensitive People

## Beccadaisy

So I've recently found out about HSP and have been doing a little bit of research. I'm going to give some background on traits I have which I think are caused by this, and then I have a few questions. 

I've always been a sensitive girl, since I was a child. When I was 9, my parents split up and it effected me very dramatically, I developed a phobia of vomiting, and seperation anxiety (fear of being away from my mam) and panic attacks. I eventually got through it after around 2 years of different therapies etc. Since, I've still dealt with my anxiety and my fear of being sick but am happy to say it is a whole lot better. I've also dealt with several bouts of depression and fear of abandonment etc. I am now 20. 

From doing my research on HSP, I've learned that it is not just related to emotions, which I originally thought, it's related to ALL senses, and this got me thinking. 
I get extremely irritated, to the point of anger, at a lot of noises. Hearing the television through the wall in the next room gets me really annoyed, the same with music coming from somewhere far away. 
In my house at dinner, we have to put the tv on while we eat because I get so extremely frustrated hearing people swallow their food. When trying to sleep, I have to wear foam ear plugs because the slightest sound irritates me and angers me. 
I get startled easily. Sometimes when I'm in a room with someone from my family, both in silence, and then they say something, I jump with a fright. 
In my house there is a main living room, and then a living area with a couch and tv in the kitchen. In the evenings, I like to sit at the couch in the kitchen with my laptop listening to music and reading things online or whatever ; It reallly bothers me when someone from my family comes into the room, I don't know why, I just get pissed off because I want to be left on my own and am bothered by anyone else being there. 
I can't stand if the tv is too loud. My family always say there must be something seriously wrong with my hearing because I'm constantly giving out about people talking too loud or the tv being up too high. 
These are just some of the things that I'm starting to wonder if they relate to HSP. 

Then there are the emotional/spiritual/deeper issues. I have always been extremely empathetic. I seem to be able to pick up on people's emotions and my family always say I'm very good at knowing how someone is feeling and putting myself in their shoes, as well as knowing the right thing to say to someone. 
I'm also very affected by other's emotions. if someone around me feels bad, I usually feel it in a way too. 
I get very affected by what people say about me. I'll think about it for days after.
I have intense fears of doing something 'wrong', which effect me in a lot of ways, including sexually. I always feel the need to be reassured that I've not done anything bad. 
I go into these weird phases which can last a couple of weeks at a time, where I just feel extremely spiritual and emotional and think very very deeply about things, moreso than usual. During these times, I tend to feel very overwhelmed and worry about things a lot. I become obsessed with certain topics or things that are going on in my life, worrying about things and trying to find answers, this can be very distressing and exhausting for me. 
I feel very connected to my intuition. I recently was seeing someone for a while, and from the beginning had this incredibly strong 'bad' feeling that I couldn't shake, which effected me even when I wasn't with the person. That feeling has only gone away since I stopped seeing them. 
I feel connected to my Grandmother who died before I was born, I sometimes think that she is my Guardian Angel and I get little signs from her. Apparently when I was little there was a few strange incident's where I said I'd seen her etc. (I'd never even met her), and my family constantly tell me just how much I am like her. 
I have craaaazy dreams. I have experienced sleep paralysis too. I have preminitions in my dreams, just about little random things, but they are very real. In my dreams, I tend to feel emotions very strongly. 
I am obsessed with love and relationships and finding someone who will understand me and care for me. 
I get strong urges to be out in nature and be connected to the earth etc. I am very interested in holistics and have seen an energy healer twice. She said I have an extremely sensitive aura, which she told me is a good thing but It's exhausting! 
Sometimes I just go so deep inside my own head and self. Sometimes I want to just get high and be out in nature and feel all of this magical stuff.. it makes me feel like there is something seriously wrong with me, some sort of mental illness.. 
I also am a bit of a hypochondriac, I obsessively worry that I have OCD(Ironic..), or other conditions and illnesses, and I look them up and research symptoms etc, quite like what I'm doing now with the whole HSP thing I guess.. 


A lot of the time I put some of these things down to PMS, but either way, I don't know anyone who experiences PMS as strongly as I do, so I keep thinking it's HSP. I just feel so overwhelmed with it all sometimes. I'm sure I have left out some of the other things I experience, I just have so many. I sometimes feel as though I'll never find anyone who's like me in this way, and it scares me and worries me. I feel like I'm on my own in this, that nobody will actually be able to understand because it's just all so.. deep and intense. 
I guess my main question here is.. Do any of you guys experience this?
Do you know anything about it?
Do you mind sharing your own experience?
I'd also like to know some of the science behind it if possible.. I've been looking at videos on youtube about it and stuff, but I kinda wanna know is this a genetic thing, is it purely just a mental thing, is it classed as a mental illness or is it an actual physical condition?

ANY help, advice, stories or whatever related to this would be really nice. 
Sorry about this being so long, but I really do appreciate it if you've taken the time to read it all.

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## Keddy

I just took the time to read this and it actually sounds a lot like me. The reactions I had to loud noises when I was younger were usually attributed to possibly having autism, but it turns out that I don't have autism at all. Loud noises and sudden movements make me jump out of my skin.
When I was younger psychiatrists always thought I couldn't feel empathy, but I think I'm _too_ empathetic. I am constantly trying to help other people and compliment them. I cry sometimes when I'm watching the news. I feel like I can feel other peoples' pain so I hate when others are upset.
I have the exact same fear that you mentioned of doing something wrong. I always feel like I'm waiting for someone to yell at me even when I know I haven't done anything.
I have ridiculously vivid dreams almost every night and they almost always have to do with something that's going on in my life or something that I'm afraid of. A lot of times they come true, even if the real life form isn't exactly the same as the dream but it's similar enough. My therapist used to think they were anxiety dreams but now she thinks different because they're so constant and accurate.
I'm diagnosed with OCD and with hypochondria in addition to my anxiety disorder. I have obsessive, intrusive thoughts all the time. I constantly research illnesses and symptoms (both physical and mental) and convince myself that I have them. 
My moods are extremely influenced by music. I can make myself cry by listening to certain songs and I can turn a bad mood into a great one by listening to certain songs. I visualize things when I listen to music. It's like I'm in my own little world.
I'm glad you posted this because I thought I was the only person who felt stuff like this. It's good to know someone else has the same traits. I'll have to do some research on HSP now and see what I can learn about it. I had never heard this before.
Thank you for posting this thread.
Keddy

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## merc

Wow! This sounds so much like me. I had super hearing when i was a kid and noise bugged me. I as a baby according to my Mom would easily wake from sleep. My Dad, a farmer, had to get up at 1 or 2 a.m. to milk the cows during the spring/summer, when milk production is high cows get milked 3 times a day. I would wake up when I wold hear him and that would be that for the night. I sometimes  hate hearing people breathe. I know allergies etc. 

I used to be able to hear things like Radar on MASH. Hear the helicopters before anyone else. Also, sometimes I can smell things that bug me and no one else.In college there was this odd stench bugging me and I didn't quit searching it out until I located it. Once I figured out what it was I was Ok. It was a dumpster with paint cans. I can tell when I'm going to have a migraine because I can smell everything from the brand of shampoo you used to the soap, to the food classmates ate for breakfast, to the dirt outside.  If I can smell things that well I will have a killer headache soon.

I also believe that I have seen the occasional ghost. Once I terrified my sister to this day because i pointed out the ghost to her because I couldn't believe that she didn't see it. It was in the basement of our house and it started to move toward us. It was carrying a bucket and followed by a cat. It was kind of misty like a shadow. I was glad she saw it because my Mom is the practical type who ghosts do not exist. It took me ages to not be freaked by ghosts. I don't like to speak about it because even right now all of you are going weirdo schizophrenic etc. 

What's odd know is she thinks my grandmother's house where she lives know is haunted..I know a few odd things have happened to me there but I've never seen a ghost there.

My Mom, maybe frightened by my oddness discouraged and denied any such nonsense. She always tried to get me to be more outgoing by criticizing my inability to speak when confronted by strangers. "How can you be so strange?" Just say Hello. They will not kill you. You're embarrassing me. I can say Hello to people, but I'm not very outgoing.

I was better at dealing with people throughout my 20s and worked as a reporter. I quit because I felt job stress contributed to two miscarriages so when I became pregnant again I quit reporting and became a stay at home Mom. I like it but I could go days and almost a month at at time with out speaking to anyone but my husband. Later kids and maybe one or two Moms when I'd drop kids off at pre-school. All the other Moms seemed to have more to talk about and better at socializing and I felt constantly judged during those 10 to 15 minutes of adult human contact. 

Even now when I have to drop kids off at soccer practice or go to a school event I hate feeling so weird and alone. SA is awful. I however think that based on my now lack of desire to even try and somehow mold myself in to some semblance of normal  and try to find a friend I've morphed into more of an avoidant type. I've been a loner most of my life and sometimes it is not all that bad. At soccer and a recent boy scout event rather than even try to socialize I took out a book and read. I thought that would be better sitting there wishing someone would befriend me or once again trying in vain to "make a friend."

My husband was upset that I brought a book...Is this any different than people with their phones???

Sorry once again I got sidetracked and went on a rambling thought train. I've had odd premonition type dreams /events occasionally I don't think it's anything special and that all humans share this ability.

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## walsit

I experience a lot of the same things you talked about. 
I thought I was the only one.

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## Antidote

> I get extremely irritated, to the point of anger, at a lot of noises. Hearing the television through the wall in the next room gets me really annoyed, the same with music coming from somewhere far away. 
> In my house at dinner, we have to put the tv on while we eat because I get so extremely frustrated hearing people swallow their food. When trying to sleep, I have to wear foam ear plugs because the slightest sound irritates me and angers me. 
> I get startled easily. Sometimes when I'm in a room with someone from my family, both in silence, and then they say something, I jump with a fright. 
> In my house there is a main living room, and then a living area with a couch and tv in the kitchen. In the evenings, I like to sit at the couch in the kitchen with my laptop listening to music and reading things online or whatever ; It reallly bothers me when someone from my family comes into the room, I don't know why, I just get pissed off because I want to be left on my own and am bothered by anyone else being there. 
> I can't stand if the tv is too loud. My family always say there must be something seriously wrong with my hearing because I'm constantly giving out about people talking too loud or the tv being up too high. 
> These are just some of the things that I'm starting to wonder if they relate to HSP.



First of all, this sounds exactly like misophonia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misophonia






> Then there are the emotional/spiritual/deeper issues. I have always been extremely empathetic. I seem to be able to pick up on people's emotions and my family always say I'm very good at knowing how someone is feeling and putting myself in their shoes, as well as knowing the right thing to say to someone. 
> I'm also very affected by other's emotions. if someone around me feels bad, I usually feel it in a way too. 
> I get very affected by what people say about me. I'll think about it for days after.
> I have intense fears of doing something 'wrong', which effect me in a lot of ways, including sexually. I always feel the need to be reassured that I've not done anything bad. 
> I go into these weird phases which can last a couple of weeks at a time, where I just feel extremely spiritual and emotional and think very very deeply about things, moreso than usual. During these times, I tend to feel very overwhelmed and worry about things a lot. I become obsessed with certain topics or things that are going on in my life, worrying about things and trying to find answers, this can be very distressing and exhausting for me. 
> I feel very connected to my intuition. I recently was seeing someone for a while, and from the beginning had this incredibly strong 'bad' feeling that I couldn't shake, which effected me even when I wasn't with the person. That feeling has only gone away since I stopped seeing them. 
> I feel connected to my Grandmother who died before I was born, I sometimes think that she is my Guardian Angel and I get little signs from her. Apparently when I was little there was a few strange incident's where I said I'd seen her etc. (I'd never even met her), and my family constantly tell me just how much I am like her. 
> I have craaaazy dreams. I have experienced sleep paralysis too. I have preminitions in my dreams, just about little random things, but they are very real. In my dreams, I tend to feel emotions very strongly. 
> I am obsessed with love and relationships and finding someone who will understand me and care for me. 
> ...



Personally I think HSP is just the sensory component of Autism Spectrum Disorders. My aunt previously strongly identified with HSP, however, when she started reading about Autism in women she decided that fit her better. See if you can relate to this: https://taniaannmarshall.wordpress.c...rger-syndrome/





> I'd also like to know some of the science behind it if possible.. I've been looking at videos on youtube about it and stuff, but I kinda wanna know is this a genetic thing, is it purely just a mental thing, is it classed as a mental illness or is it an actual physical condition



It's genetic and due to anatomical differences in the brain (so yes it's physical). Autism and sensory processing disorders are classified as mental disorders because they interfere with functioning. HSP is not recognised as a mental disorder probably because all its features can be accounted for under autism / sensory processing disorders. So I think you should start studying the latter two things more.

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