9 Things Highly Sensitive People Do Differently

Highly Sensitive Person (or HSP for short) is someone who is born with an innate disposition of processing and understanding information on a much deeper level than most. This makes HSPs more perceptive, self-aware, intuitive, and observant because of their deep-thinking and empathetic nature. Recent surveys show that up to 15-20% of the global population are Highly Sensitive People – that’s as many as 1 in every 5 people all over the world! Still, even with so many of us experiencing the same thing, Highly Sensitive People remain misunderstood by those around them. So many HSPs don’t even realize that they’re HSPs because there is so little awareness about the matter. So, we made a list of things HSPs do differently from others to help you understand more about how HSPs think.

If you think you’re an HSP but still not entirely sure yet, we have a video on signs you’re a highly sensitive person: https://youtu.be/zP1Ac8fXBjE

Writer: Chloe Avenasa
Script Editor: Rida Batool
Script Manager: Kelly Soong
VO: Amanda Silvera
Animator: Karen Fong
YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong

Aron, E. N. (1996). Counseling the highly sensitive person. Counseling and Human Development, 28, 1-7.

Aron, E. (2013). The highly sensitive person. Kensington Publishing Corp.

Cooper, T. (2015). The Ordinary Magic of Resilience and the Highly Sensitive Person. The Guilford Press, New York: NY.

Greven, C., Lionetti, F., Boothe, C., Aron, E., Fox. E., Schendang, H., Pluess, M., Bruining, H., Acevedo, B., Bijttebier, P., and Homberga, J. (2019), Sensory Processing Sensitivity in the context of Environmental Sensitivity: A critical review and development of research agenda. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. Volume 98, March 2019, 287-305.Piechowski, M. M. (2017). Emotional giftedness: The measure of intrapersonal intelligence. Handbook of gifted education, 2, 366-381.

Zeff, T. (2004). The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide: Essential Skills for Living Well in an Overstimulating World. New Harbinger Publications.

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