Am I a HSP? (Highly Sensitive Person)
I have been facing this question for a long time now. I keep second-guessing myself and being extremely unsure. I don't know if I've been officially diagnosed, but I went into my therapist appointment today and they said I suffer some Depression and Anxiety. I do know that the Social Anxiety is true, very true. It also might be hormones affecting me as I am a young teenager. I do not know for sure. However, I'll list symptoms and experiences that I face... that a HSP faces as well. I don't know if there's any HSPs out there in this app, but I REALLY do require help on figuring it out. I don't want to wrongly assume myself as a HSP when it's different things I struggle with instead. So... I'm extremely emotional like HSPs are. I provoke very strong reactions to distressing topics and situations... I get stressed out and upset from other people's suffering (like reading/hearing something on the Internet.) Instead of simply feeling bad or sorry for individuals... I may feel a lot of emotions... just because the person is struggling themselves with a problem or problems. Due to this high sensitivity, this makes me NOT want to read/hear about what other people's problems are (even though I'll feel guilty and "selfish" from it for some reason?) One of my family members is also the same, when they see something negative on the Internet... they don't view it, read about, or hear about it. They know it will make them very sad and view the world negatively. My whole family is sensitive, even if they try to hide it. I got my sensitivity from BOTH of my parents. So I'm a mixture of a lot of anxiety and sensitivity. Also, I believe I remember an incident where my father was upset and crying a bit. I was feeling neutral, but when he came back... I felt worried for him. I'd start feeling sad too + other factors like a stormy night and other random thoughts in my head wouldn't help. It took a little bit for these feelings to pass, it's like a piece of a person's storm cloud starts to rain on me. I feel how terrible the person must have felt, making me upset and sorry for the person. Really feeling bad for them. Also, I can easily get startled and I act jumpy. Sudden motions like my room door being opened without warning or seeing an unexpected person out of nowhere. They can make me jump or even do a minor... cartoonish-like freak-out and go: "AAAH!" Noises can also affect me badly too. They can annoy me gradually and quickly or they can make me jump. One of my parent's snoring is an example of this. Their snoring will outrage me a lot... very quickly and for no good reason too. I would want to exclaim "SHUT UP!" or "STOP!" to them... but I know that's very rude and disrespectful. I can feel my happy and silly emotions just as boldly as my negative ones. I'm very silly and energetic when I a good mood, able to laugh at a LOT of things, and make stupid jokes. I don't know if this has ANYTHING to do with HSP stuff, but I wanted to say that. My ears also sense/hear a lot of stuff, I can hear loud thunder booms and I remember jumping a bit, despite not being astraphobic. Please give me information and understanding of HSPs, I hope I don't offend anyone with this. I'm really sorry if I did. I want some help understanding myself and finding confirmation if I'm a HSP teenager in some way. Thank you for reading this! I hope you have a good day/night/whatever time it is for you! ♥️
@Megalomentaurus Hi there...You sound like a very sweet young person with a huge heart...People like you deserve so much love and understanding...I am here for you...why don't we begin this "understanding myself" journey together so that in the end we know and understand our weaknesses and every other thing that makes us feel different? Please message me here and I'll buy you all the time in the world...Take care
Hello, thank you for the kind message. It'd be nice to get some help and understanding of myself. Looking forward to it. ♥️
@Megalomentaurus you're welcome...Are you able to message me on a private platform to start a 1-1 chat...?
I'm not really sure how we can message each other on here, 7Cups, but if you require something else... then I'm more iffy on that. I'm going to see if I can try and message you on here.
@M6060 We could message each other somewhere else, but I prefer 7Cups. I'm trying to figure out a way to message you, but idk how on here.
@Megalomentaurus
Because you are a teen member, you'll only be able to privately message (pm) teen listeners and adult-teen listeners (ATLs)
Hope this helps :)
Oh. Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know.
@Megalomentaurus Hi there...You sound like a very sweet young person with a huge heart...People like you deserve so much love and understanding...I am here for you...why don't we begin this "understanding myself" journey together so that in the end we know and understand ourselves and every other thing that makes us feel different? Please message me here and I'll buy you all the time in the world...Take care.
@Megalomentaurus
Hello friend!
Yes there are many HSPs (and empaths!) here at 7cups :) I'm one of them.. and from what you listed here, it sounds like you are one as well <3 and that's okay, being highly sensitive is a perfectly normal and beautiful trait to have, it's not a disorder. (I think this trait is also known as sensory processing sensitivity, or SPS)
So to answer your question, yes I think you are an HSP :)
You can also take these tests here to confirm:
https://highlysensitiverefuge.com/highly-sensitive-person-test/
https://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/
I know what it feels like to be unsure about this trait haha :') I felt really unsure about this as well when I first learned about it. So at first, I kept retaking the tests over a few weeks and kept examining myself and reflecting... and now I'm quite sure I am an HSP.
Hope this helps :)
Thank you so much! Tysm. I'm really glad to find some help with confirmation. Throughout my life, I was a pretty sensitive kid, and I always wondered why. Now it really helps to have other people with the HSP personality trait to help me understand and identify with the topic. So thank you a lot.
@Megalomentaurus
My pleasure! <3
@Megalomentaurus
That also makes sense because a lot of highly sensitive children wonder about why they're so different from most kids :')
@LoveMyMoonflowers Yep, I was mainly an "odd-one-out" in classes. I was quiet, shy, and cried a lot... more than the other kids. Now, I don't know if HSPs cry more than other people (I hope I don't offend anyone saying this, sorry), but personally, I cry a lot when saddened, frustrated, or confused with things. Even music can make me feel upset and shed a bit of tears. I still also feel this, certain topics and music... when digging deep into them... I will feel very emotional about them and possibly start to cry.
@Megalomentaurus
Awh no that's okay <3 I honestly think every HSP is different as well, because.. I've met several HSPs here and some of them are my really close friends, but we're still all so.. different from each other which is amazing to think about honestly.
I used to cry very easily as a child as well but my parents never said it was abnormal or anything. But now as a teen my mum isn't very.. pleased about my sensitivity haha. I want her to tell her about the trait but I'm not sure how she would take it.
@LoveMyMoonflowers Ah, I see. My mom is the same way, she doesn't like how sensitive I get about topics. Even historical topics and whatnot, sometimes learning about history can make me feel wrong inside. My dad feels sad whenever he sees me cry due to something (like a sad ending of a movie) but he knows it'll pass. It's cool to see that every HSP is different in their own ways, we are different individuals even if classified into a trait group. I never told anyone about the HSP trait either... but I do know that everyone in my family is sensitive. Also, could you give your in-take on this question of mine? Do you think HSPs can feel positive emotions just as strongly as negative ones? Because I can get really goofy, energetic, and silly at times. This also happens when I was younger. I can laugh and joke a lot. I don't know if this is some kind of mood swing, but I would like to understand more about this. Also also, sorry if I am bombarding you with messages. I'm just really curious and want to find out more about things.
Yes definitely. We HSPs don't *just* feel negative emotions intensely- we can feel positive ones this way as well :) And yeah I relate with a good deal of those too, sometimes I can be quite energetic and happy.
Ah! Interesting, thank you for helping me understand more about HSPs and my identity. You are a real help! ♥️
My pleasure :) I love learning about this trait as well.
I know I'm a bit late posting here, but I am fairly new to 7cups and just searched HSP since I'm one as well and it really influences how I'm feeling. Thanks for sharing where you are at and I encourage you to embrace the HSP label if it seems to fit. Understanding how the world impacts us and how we process things is immensely helpful. Great job identifying these characteristics at such a young age! I didn't even know about HSPs until a therapist told me in my late 40s. It really helped me gain perspective on how I function in the world and allowed me to take better care of myself (an ongoing learning process!). Keep sharing and learning about yourself.
@anonuser2023
Hi! Also, thanks! It does help to know and learn about these things. It helps to know somewhat on "why" you experience things in a certain way unlike from others (although there's still people like you, of course!). Good luck on your learning journey! Blessings!
