Highly Sensitive People

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I just came upon the "Highly Sensative People" today. I have never heard of it before - but it does seem to be that this lady is confussing Asperger Syndrome with HSP. (And I did find this same list of questions on that ladies website- sorry - can't remember her name).

So, here goes....
Do you get overwhelmed by stimuli such as lights, noises, and smells? Bright lights - yes, Strange noises - depends on the type of sounds. Smells - certian food smells turn me off - and I'll go away.

Do other people’s moods and emotions deeply affect you? It depend on who it is

Are you easily startled? If I am on my computer or reading my Bible or doing another task that I am heavily into - yes.

Do you become uneasy when someone is watching you complete a task? If I am new to the task and if I do not know the person watching me (as in a boss and first week on the job) yes.

Do you become tired easily after a “normal” day of activity? Define normal please. I know I get tired after going to a store 30 miles away, after driving there, and after taking my mom shopping for jeans. (That takes about 3 -4 hours and I'm beat. )

Are you aware of other things in your environment that most other people are not aware of? I think so, but I don't know - I never asked other people if they were aware of small things.

Do you become agitated or anxious when you have a lot of tasks to do and not enough time to complete all of them? I can get like that sometimes

Do you avoid disturbing or violent movies, books, or T.V. shows? I enjoyed action films in my 20s, not so much now. I don't watch TV shows all that much - I'm much more of a music person. I only read non-fiction books. So, if it is the truth - violent or not - I'll probably read it.

Do you feel the need to escape and retreat when there is too much going on around you? It depends if I am at work or not! If I am in someone else's house - I'll leave. I know when to leave.

Are you deeply interested in the arts or music? I'd be more interested in the arts if I had an income to go to places to displayed art. I love music.

Do you dislike changes in your life? It depends on what KIND of change. It also depends on when I am notified of the change. Example: Don't tell me I'm doing ABC on a Monday at 7am at work when I normally do XYZ. You should let me know on Friday when I leave that there will be a change coming on Monday. (Hint: Sometimes this does not work if a person calls is sick at 6:50am on Monday). I HATE THIS.

Do you enjoy delicate tastes, scents, sounds, soft fabrics, or beautiful works of art? Delicate taste? What is that? Scents, yes. Sounds? I do not know. Soft fabrics, yes. Beautiful works of art is subjective - so yes.

Have you always been labeled as shy or sensitive by other people? I can't really remember my childhood before age 10. I'm not shy as an adult.

Are you overly conscientious? May be more than average.


Do you seem to be more sensitive to pain than other people? Hmmm. I've had a nail go through my hand - and that hurt pretty bad as a 12 year old. I dislocated my right hip when I was 13. That was painful. I'm sacred to get a tatoo, does that count?

Are you sensitive to certain foods such as foods containing caffeine, sugar or alcohol? I don't know really. I get heartburn if I don't eat breakfast. Like everyone else, I get a handover when I'd drink enough.

Do you become unpleasant when you are hungry? YES and when I'm tired too. Are not most people liek this?

Do you easily sense the energies of places or situations? I can sense something is not right - but I don't know WHAT it is usually.

Are you easily touched by others' experience, stories of kindness, and courage? I think so.

Are you attracted to the deeper things such as spirituality, self-development and philosophy? Well, I'm saved by the blood of the Lamb (Christ Jesus). I try to do my daily devotionals of reading my Bible and praying to my Jesus. I guess this counts as something spiritual. I know I'm a big thinker - and I was told that I "think too much". I'm also an ISTJ.

Do you need time alone? If I'm tired, overwheled or need to do time with God, yes.

Are your feelings easily bruised? Ha ha, this is obviously YES. I'm a cancer. But I'm learning not to take things personally.

Do you have a vivid imagination? It depends. I can think of things off the top of my head at certian times, but reading non-fiction and trying to see what a character may look like in real life - no, I can't do that.

Do you get overwhelmed by stimuli such as lights, noises, and smells?

Only bright sunlight sensitivity.

Do other people’s moods and emotions deeply affect you?

No.

Are you easily startled?

Not normally

Do you become uneasy when someone is watching you complete a task?

I doubt anyone would dare. I bite!

Do you become tired easily after a “normal” day of activity?

I become exhausted BEFORE a full normal day of activity.

Are you aware of other things in your environment that most other people are not aware of?

Always.

Do you become agitated or anxious when you have a lot of tasks to do and not enough time to complete all of them?

Used to. Not anymore.

Do you avoid disturbing or violent movies, books, or T.V. shows?

Yes, but not much really disturbs me other than a lot of kids shows.

Do you feel the need to escape and retreat when there is too much going on around you?

Yup. On rare occasions I withdraw in the clinical sense, but it's pretty rare. I avoid most situations like that.

Are you deeply interested in the arts or music?

Music.

Do you dislike changes in your life?

Yes. So much so I manage to avoid them.

Do you enjoy delicate tastes, scents, sounds, soft fabrics, or beautiful works of art?

Not really.

Have you always been labeled as shy or sensitive by other people?

When? As a child, yes. Now? No.

Are you overly conscientious?

The question doesn't even make sense. There's no such thing as "overly" conscientious.

Do you seem to be more sensitive to pain than other people?

Quite the opposite. My pain tolerance is very high.

Are you sensitive to certain foods such as foods containing caffeine, sugar or alcohol?

No.

Do you become unpleasant when you are hungry?

That would be an understatement.

Do you easily sense the energies of places or situations?

Another question that doesn't make sense.

Are you easily touched by others' experience, stories of kindness, and courage?

Nope.

Are you attracted to the deeper things such as spirituality, self-development and philosophy?

Attracted? I wouldn't call it that. Do I think about them? Of course.

Do you need time alone?

It's essential. Everyone needs it.

Are your feelings easily bruised?

Yeah. Right.

Do you have a vivid imagination?

I have no idea. How do you define vivid?


Could this be confused with having Aspergers?

Anything can be confused with anything depending on the individual. I highly doubt either a professional or anyone who has bothered to read a few good books about AS would confuse the two. An untrained person, who hasn't done enough research might.

Most of these things apply to me but not all, and depending on my state of mind I can even be hypo-sensitive, but I guess it's all or nothing.

This is also where low latent inhibition comes into play, most HSPs have it but I've seen people here say that they are autistic and don't have it or don't think autistic people do, maybe it's also an all or nothing deal.

I guess the difference for me is that I don't deal with being an HSP or having LLI as well someone who doesn't have AS or ADHD would, I get really consumed by it.

Are You a Highly Sensitive Person?

Questions to Find Out:

Do you get overwhelmed by stimuli such as lights, noises, and smells?
Yes
Do other people’s moods and emotions deeply affect you? Yes
Are you easily startled? Yes
Do you become uneasy when someone is watching you complete a task? Yes
Do you become tired easily after a “normal” day of activity? Yes
Are you aware of other things in your environment that most other people are not aware of? Yes
Do you become agitated or anxious when you have a lot of tasks to do and not enough time to complete all of them? Yes
Do you avoid disturbing or violent movies, books, or T.V. shows? Yes
Do you feel the need to escape and retreat when there is too much going on around you? Yes
Are you deeply interested in the arts or music? Yes
Do you dislike changes in your life? Depends
Do you enjoy delicate tastes, scents, sounds, soft fabrics, or beautiful works of art? Yes
Have you always been labeled as shy or sensitive by other people? Yes
Are you overly conscientious? Yes
Do you seem to be more sensitive to pain than other people? Yes
Are you sensitive to certain foods such as foods containing caffeine, sugar or alcohol? Yes
Do you become unpleasant when you are hungry? Yes
Do you easily sense the energies of places or situations? Yes
Are you easily touched by others' experience, stories of kindness, and courage? Yes
Are you attracted to the deeper things such as spirituality, self-development and philosophy? Yes
Do you need time alone? Yes
Are your feelings easily bruised? Yes
Do you have a vivid imagination? Yes

Do you tend to get overwhelmed by stimuli such as lights, noises, and smells?
Yes. I do not like going to places where there is frequent loud noises or too-bright lights, which, unfortunately, I have to deal with when I visit relatives.

Do people's moods and emotions deeply affect you?

YES, in capital letters. If someone is sad, I'll pick up on it. If someone is happy, I'll probably start squealing happily like an otaku at an E3 conference (I'd scream happily at an E3 conference, not to mention a fantasy writers' guild, a psychology club, an MBTI conference run by that Beebe person, a philosophy bowl, a literature anything, a congenital and genetic rare disease foundation, or a place where I could make people happy). If someone's mad, I'll probably get scared or upset.

Do you become easily startled Yes.

Do you become uneasy when someone is watching you do a task? My family members have to stay away while I'm on the computer because of this (unless I want to show my sister a Vocaloid video or something with a Pokemon glitch)! Also why I can't do an MSA or IQ test (the teachers are always there, watching my every move...).

Do you become tired after a normal day of activity? Yes, and not to mention stressed and prone to mood swings or emotional instability because of it.

Are you aware of things in the environment that others aren't aware of? People say that I have an intuitive kind of sense because of this. My third grade teacher told my mom once that, "She picks up so much!", not to mention being called astute by my old principal (he literally was old; he was around when Captian America was Captain Marvel, which was who-knows-when), and being called annoying from my classmates ("Stop saying stuff that we don't know!" "Stop being whiny! We're not doing anything!" They were, in fact).

Do you become anxious when you have to do a lot of tasks in a short amount of time? Yes. I even went as far to not turn in my work because I had so much things to do, as I have a to long of an attention span to multitask (unless it's math, of course. I have a short attention span, then). The other reason was because I over-edited and thought something wasn't "perfect" (an INFP trait, as said on many Internet MBTI things. Also a habit of thinking short answers aren't intelligent enough).

Do you avoid violent movies, books, or TV shows? I can read violence in books to a certain extent, but I've turned down watching many action shows with my grandmother, Jerry Springer ("It's violent, racist, and sexist!" should be the show's slogan), WWE, UFC, the remake of Robin Hood, and horror movies because I hate violence, so yes, in a way.

Do you feel the need to escape or retreat when there's too much going on around you? Yes. As an example, my church has a VBS, and the kids are oftentimes loud, bratty, and rambunctious, so instead of helping, I get anxiety attacks and I stay home with my grandparents and read.

Are you deeply interested in the arts and music? Yes. I have a talent for making electronic remixes of songs I hear and remember, and I really like to draw and look at pictures or art books.

Do you tend to dislike change in your life? As CockneyRebel said, depends.

Do you enjoy delicate tastes, sounds, smells, soft fabrics, or works of art? Yes, but I'm pretty much comfortable in most fabrics, though. It's the same reason I look at the art style of the game before buying it.

Have you always been labled shy or sensitive by others? In both positive and negative connotations, so yes. I was outgoing in my toddler years, though.

Are you overly conscientious? Yes. I've been told I have a good work ethic by teachers, but by my peers, I'm supposedly boring (they don't understand my grammar and experience point jokes...-^-).

Are you sensitive to particular foods, such as alchohol, caffeine, or sugar? I don't drink alchohol, and caffiene will mess up my circadian rhythms even more. Sugar is OK, but if I eat spicy, greasy, or most fast food, by stomach usually hurts for a long time.

Do you become unpleasant when you are hungry? Don't most people do that? Yes, in a way.

Do you easily sense the energies of places and situations? Sometimes I do, but I can't really do it that well. I know when situations are uncomfortable...

Are you easily touched by stories of kindness or courage? Yes. I'm usually the only one who's happy for people being kind, to the extent that I cry. I like it when people tell me of humanitarian projects.

Are you attracted to the deeper things, such as spiritualilty, self-development, and philosophy? I've always had a philosophical streak ("Mommy, how old is God?" was one of my cute, four year old questions ^^), and I'm pretty spiritual (Ironically, even though I was being taught at a Christian school and everyone was wondering how I didn't get run over by a car when I ran away from school, I was the only one who said that God protected me, and I also believe in miracles). I'm obsessed with self-development, too, and I've been trying to find my true self even when I was younger...

Do you need time alone? YES!

Are your feelings easily bruised? Yes. I won't learn if people are opressive towards people, I can't take it when my friends betray me (I'm usually inconsolable for about three days to a week), and people have to be careful about criticizing me.

Do you have a vivid imagination? YES. My family members see similarities between me and Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables and Emily Starr from Emily of New Moon.