What is "highly sensitive personality"? Psychologist clarifies "1 concept": Use the right image to gain "superpowers"
The community focuses on the topic of “Highly Sensitive Personality”! Was there a similar concept 80 years ago?
There has been heated discussion in the community recently about “Highly Sensitive Personality” (HSP), and many people resonate with the characteristics of this personality. Clinical psychologist Lin Zhaoxian, chairman of the Hsinchu Association of Clinical Psychologists and currently a psychologist at MiMi Psychotherapy Center, pointed out that in fact, highly sensitive personality is not a new concept. As early as 1940, the German psychologist Hans Jürgen Eysenck had already Human personalities are simply divided into “introverted personality” and “extroverted personality.” Among them, introverted personality has many traits similar to highly sensitive personality.
The concept of highly sensitive personality was first proposed by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. in the 1990s. She defines a highly sensitive personality as one who is accustomed to processing information deeply, is deeply stimulated by external information, easily empathizes with the information received, and is extremely sensitive to light, smell, or sound. In recent years, due to the publication of books and the surge in discussions on social media, it has aroused the interest of many people and has become a hot topic.
As for whether there is any scientific basis for highly sensitive personality? Psychologist Lin Zhaoxian said that his concept is biased toward “popular psychology” rather than “clinical psychology” and is not significantly related to common mental illnesses; and it is not a clinically defined personality trait (such as borderline personality, narcissistic personality) . “The concept of highly sensitive personality, just like the highly discussed ‘emotional blackmail’ in the past few years, has aroused discussions among various parties due to its high recognition and best-selling books. However, it is not clinically defined as a disease or A type of personality trait.
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Psychologist Lin Zhaoxian explained that the “Extroversion & Introversion” among the clinical “Big Five personality traits” are closer to the concept of highly sensitive personality; “Neuroticism” was discovered Related to easily triggering mental illness. The so-called highly sensitive or extroverted people tend to have more subtle perceptions than ordinary people, and are easily misunderstood by others as being more “critical” in their lives.
Psychologist Lin Zhaoxian explains that high sensitivity is actually a “neutral state.” People with this trait will want to adjust when they feel discomfort and embarrassment, so they are often considered to be picky and harsh on others. “Take tasting red wine as an example: a trained sommelier can taste the aroma, taste, and even the year of production, but for ordinary people it is just a question of whether it is smooth and delicious. This situation reflects the sommelier’s understanding of the taste. The ‘level’ of red wine is not necessarily fussy or difficult!”
In addition, highly sensitive people are often considered to be “easily influenced by others.” Psychologist Lin Zhaoxian said that in fact, the strength of perception and the degree of its influence can actually be distinguished. Just like the profession of psychologist, most people are highly sensitive people; if you can make good use of traits such as high sensitivity, it can indeed be said to be a “talent”.
“After training, our psychological state will not be easily affected by the case. Some senior psychologists can even speak out the psychological words of the case without waiting for them to speak. This can be said to be the result of taking high sensitivity to the extreme. "
To prevent high sensitivity from developing into “over-sensitivity”, psychologists call for the establishment of “two major boundaries”
However, there are also people with highly sensitive traits who want to reduce their sensitivity and do not want to receive too much external information. If you want to prevent high sensitivity from developing into “over-sensitivity”, psychologist Lam Zhao-yin emphasizes that it is very important to establish “two levels of boundaries”:
Physical boundaries. External interference sources such as noise, the heat of the sun, etc. can be helpful by wearing “active anti-noise” headphones to listen to music, isolating external noise, or closing the curtains and other simple actions. Soothes overreactive senses. Or simply leave the source of interference and go to a place where you feel comfortable, such as nature, green parks, etc.
Psychological boundaries. Psychologist Lin Zhaoxian said that people with highly sensitive personalities have a high “CP value” when reading novels or watching movies because they are easily moved by the motivations or characterizations of the characters. However, in real life, such traits are often affected by emotions or even emotionally blackmailed by outsiders. Therefore, in life, you should try to distinguish “your own emotions” from “other people’s emotions”, or practice looking down on things you don’t understand and live your life well, so that external emotions or pressure will not interfere with you.
In addition, psychologist Lin Zhaoxian also called on people with highly sensitive personalities to practice meditation, mindfulness training or simple abdominal breathing to establish a connection between the mind and body and have a dialogue with self-awareness, which will help train the brain not to be distracted by external things. Interference can also achieve the effect of sorting out emotions. When meditating, try to imagine the warm golden light surrounding yourself, blocking out the negative energy and distractions from the outside world.
Finally, psychologist Lin Zhaoxian reminds the public that if external pressure or sources of interference have seriously affected daily life, it is recommended to seek psychological consultation or psychiatry. Do not over-bear or ignore internal pressure, which may cause mental illness. If you feel that you are overreacting or being overly sensitive to information from the outside world, you may also want to calm down your emotions through meditation or mindfulness practice, which will be helpful to your body, mind and soul.
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