Highly Sensitive Person Is Different Wiring

"Whatever your perception of sensitivity may be, keep in mind that telling a highly sensitive person to “get over it” and “develop a thicker skin” is an exercise in futility; they cannot change the way their nervous system responds any more than you can change the natural color of your eyes or the size of your feet."

Understanding the Highly Sensitive Person

Research psychologist Dr. Elaine N. Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person (1996,) defines a highly sensitive person as "According to Dr. Aron's definition, the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) has a sensitive nervous system, is aware of subtleties in his/her surroundings, and is more easily overwhelmed when in a highly stimulating environment" She also mentions this includes 15-20% of the population. She has a Self-Test, too, but it is only helpful as a list of things to ponder, in my opinion.

"An HSP is not a person with Asperger’s Disorder (formerly Asperger’s Syndrome). Whereas there is a number of overlaps between the diagnostic criteria for Asperger’s (a form of high-functioning autism) and the description of High Sensitivity, the two are not the same. An HSP may have Asperger’s, but being an HSP doesn’t mean you have the disorder; having Asperger’s doesn’t automatically make someone an HSP. Although sometimes difficult to distinguish in the short term, Dr. Aron points out those even mild examples of Asperger’s have at their core some form of pervasive developmental disorder which is simply not present in the majority of HSPs. Similarly, sensitivity to sensory stimulation or sensitive sensory processing is never mentioned in the diagnostic criteria for any Autism Spectrum Disorders, including Aspergers."
Understanding the Highly Sensitive Person

I take umbrage on that paragraph as it labels Asperger's as a disorder rather than a difference in neurological wiring, which I am beginning to think is what the different parts of the full spectrum of what it means to be alive as a human are reflecting. I think we are all neurologically wired uniquely, individuals amidst the herd. The majority, even the vast majority are wired very similarly apparently. The neurological minorities would be differently wired, but this is called normal variation amongst a population, not a disorder or a disease.

Why is this important to me? It explains how to view the world differently, from different perspectives. It provides whole new realms to experience, to feel, to explore, and to enjoy. It gives me new tools to learn and to investigate, to experiment, and to discover more about me and about the world around me. It helps me know more of how to understand and to communicate truly with another person or group of people and even with myself on ever deeper levels. It also aids me in the rapture and ecstasy of being alive and being a woman.


more on various definitions of being highly sensitive -
Synesthete? That's Merely the Beginning of the Full Spectrum of Me

or on Shameless here:
Synesthete? That's Merely the Beginning of the Full Spectrum of Me