What Is a Highly Sensitive Person or HSP?
Are You a Highly Sensitive Person? Recognising These Traits Could Be the Key to Your Mental Health
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Highly sensitive person traits were first identified by Dr. Aron, who was a pioneer in the research for high sensitivity, explained licensed creative arts therapist Sheilagh McGreal, MS, ATR, LCAT. Dr. Aron has identified four core categories of HSP traits using the acronym D.O.E.S.:
Each individual will related to these traits in different ways. For example, some may have high intuition, others might be better at sensing or "reading" the moods of others, have high empathy or sensory sensitivity (to itchy clothes, drafts, loud noise, etc.), McGreal explained.
Since high sensitivity (or sensory processing sensitivity as it's known in the research) is something 20 percent of humans are born with, explained licensed psychotherapist and author, April Snow, LMFT, and it's also found in over 100 other species, you can tell you're an HSP if you have experienced all of the D.O.E.S. characteristics since you were a child.