Just found out...
Two days ago now I found out that I'm an HSP. My fiancee and I were having a discussion about how sensitive I am to things that seem totally normal and not things to get upset about to him. So, on a whim, I Googled "Why am I so sensitive?" One of the top results was a test to find out whether you're a Highly Sensitive Person or not. I didn't take it right away, but instead read an article or two on what it was, exactly, first. After the first one, I thought "This sounds like my whole life." So I took the test. It was positive, but I still wasn't sure. So I read more about it, articles, descriptions, coping mechanisms, everything I could find. I even took another test. Still positive.
As I went, it was like puzzle pieces falling into place. Why I'm so sensitive to medications. Why my family has to have the tv sound so low. Why I react so strongly to things that just don't faze other people. Why I'm so sensitive to pain and touch. Why a grumpy family member sends me running the other direction. Why I notice subtleties that go completely over the heads of my friends.Why I'm so sensitive to criticism. Why I get so frustrated that NO ONE ELSE sees how unrealistic that book character or relationship is. Why I have to have time to myself, and defend it with the ferocity (and bad temper) of an angry grizzly bear.
Everything that ever made me feel like I was different had an explanation.
Over the past few days, I've started to recognize when I'm getting overstimulated, and therefore cranky. It happens much quicker than I thought it did, and I've recognized that one of my main triggers appears to be sound.
Something else I noticed just last night is that when my family makes a request, or asks me to do something, I view, and treat, it as an order or command. Not because it really is, but because I've picked up on their assumption that I'll do it anyway. Which totally fits with the HSP way of doing things. I picked up something that they never said to me, and acted to keep them on an even keel because I despise confrontation and conflict.
The good news is my mother and best friend both took the HSP test, too, and they both have it as well, so I'm not completely alone in this. My best friend has better coping mechanisms than I do, or doesn't have the same triggers or the same sensitivity levels as me. But my mother also has fibromyalgia, so she's far more sensitive.
My fiancee has been really supportive in helping me work on it and understand what's going on, and I'm very thankful for it.
As I went, it was like puzzle pieces falling into place. Why I'm so sensitive to medications. Why my family has to have the tv sound so low. Why I react so strongly to things that just don't faze other people. Why I'm so sensitive to pain and touch. Why a grumpy family member sends me running the other direction. Why I notice subtleties that go completely over the heads of my friends.Why I'm so sensitive to criticism. Why I get so frustrated that NO ONE ELSE sees how unrealistic that book character or relationship is. Why I have to have time to myself, and defend it with the ferocity (and bad temper) of an angry grizzly bear.
Everything that ever made me feel like I was different had an explanation.
Over the past few days, I've started to recognize when I'm getting overstimulated, and therefore cranky. It happens much quicker than I thought it did, and I've recognized that one of my main triggers appears to be sound.
Something else I noticed just last night is that when my family makes a request, or asks me to do something, I view, and treat, it as an order or command. Not because it really is, but because I've picked up on their assumption that I'll do it anyway. Which totally fits with the HSP way of doing things. I picked up something that they never said to me, and acted to keep them on an even keel because I despise confrontation and conflict.
The good news is my mother and best friend both took the HSP test, too, and they both have it as well, so I'm not completely alone in this. My best friend has better coping mechanisms than I do, or doesn't have the same triggers or the same sensitivity levels as me. But my mother also has fibromyalgia, so she's far more sensitive.
My fiancee has been really supportive in helping me work on it and understand what's going on, and I'm very thankful for it.
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