In a previous post I described the difference between Sensory Processing Disorder and Sensory Processing Sensitivity (otherwise known as being a Highly Sensitive Person).
I am the latter – a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). And dang, do I wish I had known that growing up. What I could, I just blamed on maternal genetics (sorry Mom). Everything else I just shrugged and said “I don’t know, I just do.”
As a young child I was often disbelieved.
As a young adult I was often a circus side show.
Now, I simply own it and, when needed, adapt as best I can.
What am I talking about? Let me give you a couple of examples from just one of my senses…my sniffer:
- When I was younger, I could NOT tolerate the smell of alcohol or hops. (This made being a Shriner’s child all kinds of interesting.) In fact, I nearly threw up in the hops room on a Budweiser tour as a child.
- As a high school and college student I could smell if someone had drank alcohol, no matter how many Altoids they chewed.
And yes, no matter what anyone begged me to try because “you won’t taste it, I promise!” I could taste the alcohol and it was gross.
As an adult I can tolerate the smell, but no, I won’t try your fruity cooler because yes, I will taste the alcohol. Water is fine, thanks.
- Cigarette smoke and powerful (non-organic) fragrances give me nasty headaches.
Essential oils or herbs? Great.
Homemade soaps or lotions with real ingredients? Awesome.
But those cheap store-bought candles or a cigar? I’m going to have to excuse myself.
In fact, I am in LOVE with AirBnBs partly because the likelihood of a ‘no smoking’ AirBnB smelling good is very high. However, the likelihood of a ‘non-smoking’ hotel room not having a hint of lingering smoke in the curtains or walls is sadly pretty low. If it was ONCE a smoking room or above a smoking room, I will know. I’m like the female version of a basset hound.
And my mother? (Reasons I just blamed her DNA sometimes):
- If you have a dead mouse in your house, even in the walls, she’ll know. Immediately.
- Wearing a perfume? She’ll have to leave the room.
- Chicken given antibiotics? She’ll taste it in its eggs.
In general, she’s not nearly as highly sensitive as I am, but it obviously runs in the family.
‘Okay,’ you may be thinking, ‘so you have a sensitive nose and maybe taste. People have refined palettes. No big deal.’
You’re so right! But like I said, it’s just one example. And you know what? It’s not even that HSPs like me have extra amazing senses. It’s actually that an HSP notices “…levels of stimulation that go unobserved by others.”*
Research has shown that It’s not that HSP senses are more acute (for example, I was blind as a bat before LASIK surgery), but that “…the difference seems to lie somewhere on the way to the brain or in the brain in a more careful processing of information. We reflect more on everything. And we sort things into finer distinctions. Like those machines that grade fruit by size – we sort into ten sizes while others sort into two or three.”*
All of this happens in the same amount of time the average person takes to sense something. So, a potential negative consequence to all of this is that HSPs can tend to get worn out sooner or ‘overload’ faster than the average person.
We’re not lazy or emotionally weak (which yes, I sometimes felt I was guilty of over the years), we’re simply processing a lot of sensory input all the time…and that’s exhausting!
So if you know someone that can relate to this or YOU can relate to something I’ve said here, don’t beat yourself up or feel like you have to try to ‘overcome’ this. You may very well be one of 15-20% of the population that is a Highly Sensitive Person, and the world needs us – evolutionary research simulations have proven it.*
*Aron, Elaine N. (2020). The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You (25th Anniv. ed.). New York, NY: Citadel.