The Silent Struggle of Being Highly Sensitive

It's a staggering statistic

One in five people are Highly Sensitive. When I first read that, my mind struggled to comprehend it fully. Twenty percent of the population should mean you're not the only one. The only one who prefers to hang out with a single friend in middle school instead of joining group activities. Or the only one singled out as shy and antisocial. The only one in your highschool class that would rather spend lunch break in solitude rather than socializing. You'd think that one-fifth of the population would lead to more encounters with kindred spirits. However, my experience during youth and adolescence has been quite the opposite - feeling isolated and misunderstood by my peers, teachers, parents, everyone.

The question arises: Where are the other Highly Sensitives?

One reason could be a lack of public awareness about high sensitivity. I, for one, didn't stumble upon this term until Elaine Aron's book came into my life in my mid-twenties, altering my perspective. Once you become familiar with the trait within yourself, you begin to identify it in others also.

Taboo

Another challenge is the societal taboo around displaying too many emotions in public. Since many HSPs learn to mask their feelings from an early age, recognizing fellow sensitive souls becomes even more challenging. Many of us are empathetic, feeling not only our own emotions but also those of everyone around us. I used to take pride in never shedding a tear during sad movies when, in reality, I was desperately holding back. Society conditioned us to believe that resisting such emotional expression equates to strength.

The overwhelm…

Furthermore, as many HSPs are introverts, we often opt for the solace of our homes and tend to keep to ourselves, which reduces the likelihood of chance encounters. In the workplace, we struggle to keep pace with ambitious colleagues, often being the first to burn out. However, we seamlessly blend in, making it challenging to spot us. We can keep up with the best of them, but it takes a toll. Exposure to too many stimuli, whether in the form of relationships with people, demanding tasks, endless projects, a constant influx of emails, phone calls, and meetings, goes against our nature.

Let’s stop hiding!

It's high time we emerge from our hiding places and cease apologizing for our inherent nature. Instead, we should embrace our sensitivity with love and kindness, just as one would nurture a vulnerable child. Our sensitivity is a gift, even if it occasionally feels like a burden. We should open up about our sensitivity  trait so our families and friends will come to understand us better. Most importantly, we will no longer feel alone and misunderstood. We no longer conform to a world that overstimulates us. We have a unique value that’s being wasted when we struggle to perform. Together we can speak up so the world can hear our quiet whispers and we can have the amazing impact on the world that we are meant to have.