The Highly Sensitive Person

Zusatztext I wept through almost every page of this book out of sheer self-recognition. To say this book changed my life would be an understatement. I am forever grateful to Elaine Aron. Alanis Morissette! singer! songwriter! activist "This remarkable book . . . gives a fresh perspective! a sigh of relief! and a good sense of where we belong in society." John Gray! author of Men Are from Mars! Women Are from Venus "Elaine Aron's perceptive analysis of this fundamental dimension of human nature is must reading. Her balanced presentation suggests new paths for making sensitivity a blessing! not a handicap." Philip G. Zimbardo! Ph.D.! author of Shyness: What It Is! What to Do About It "Enlightening and empowering! this book is a wonderful gift to us all." Riane Eisler! author of The Chalice and the Blade Informationen zum Autor Elaine Aron Klappentext NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Are you a highly sensitive person? Discover how to better understand yourself and create a fuller, richer life with the help of a clinical psychologist. "To say this book changed my life would be an understatement. I am forever grateful to Elaine Aron."-Alanis Morissette, singer, songwriter, activist Do you have a keen imagination and vivid dreams? Is time alone each day as essential to you as food and water? Are you "too shy" or "too sensitive" according to others? Do noise and confusion quickly overwhelm you? If your answers are yes, you may be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). Most of us feel overstimulated every once in a while, but for the highly sensitive person, it's a way of life. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Elaine Aron, a highly sensitive person herself, shows you how to identify this trait in yourself and make the most of it in everyday situations. In The Highly Sensitive Person, you will discover: • Self-assessment tests to help you identify your particular sensitivities • Ways to reframe your past experiences in a positive light and gain greater self-esteem in the process • Insight into how high sensitivity affects both work and personal relationships • Tips on how to deal with over-arousal • Information on medications and when to seek help • Techniques to enrich the soul and spirit Drawing on many years of research and hundreds on interviews, The Highly Sensitive Person will change the way you see yourself-and the world around you "Cry baby!" "Scaredy-cat!" "Don't be a spoilsport!" Echoes from the past? And how about this well-meaning warning: "You're just too sensitive for your own good." If you were like me, you heard a lot of that, and it made you feel there must be something very different about you. I was convinced that I had a fatal flaw that I had to hide and that doomed me to a second-rate life. I thought there was something wrong with me. In fact, there is something very right with you and me. If you answer true to fourteen or more of the questions on the self-test at the end of this preface, or if the detailed description in chapter 1 seems to fit you (really the best test), then you are a very special type of human being, a highly sensitive person--which hereafter we'll call an HSP. And this book is just for you. Having a sensitive nervous system is normal, a basically neutral trait. You probably inherited it. It occurs in about 15-20 percent of the population. It means you are aware of subtleties in your surroundings, a great advantage in many situations. It also means you are more easily overwhelmed when you have been out in a highly stimulating environment for too long, bombarded by sights and sounds until you are exhausted in a nervous-system sort of way. Thus, being sensitive has both advantages and disadvantages. In our culture, however, possessing this trait is not considered ideal and that ...

Autorentext

Elaine Aron

Klappentext

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Are you a highly sensitive person? Discover how to better understand yourself and create a fuller, richer life with the help of a clinical psychologist.

"To say this book changed my life would be an understatement. I am forever grateful to Elaine Aron."-Alanis Morissette, singer, songwriter, activist

Do you have a keen imagination and vivid dreams? Is time alone each day as essential to you as food and water? Are you "too shy" or "too sensitive" according to others? Do noise and confusion quickly overwhelm you? If your answers are yes, you may be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).

Most of us feel overstimulated every once in a while, but for the highly sensitive person, it's a way of life. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Elaine Aron, a highly sensitive person herself, shows you how to identify this trait in yourself and make the most of it in everyday situations.

In The Highly Sensitive Person, you will discover:
• Self-assessment tests to help you identify your particular sensitivities
• Ways to reframe your past experiences in a positive light and gain greater self-esteem in the process
• Insight into how high sensitivity affects both work and personal relationships
• Tips on how to deal with over-arousal
• Information on medications and when to seek help
• Techniques to enrich the soul and spirit

Drawing on many years of research and hundreds on interviews, The Highly Sensitive Person will change the way you see yourself-and the world around you

Leseprobe
"Cry baby!"

"Scaredy-cat!"

"Don't be a spoilsport!"

Echoes from the past?  And how about this well-meaning warning: "You're just too sensitive for your own good."

If you were like me, you heard a lot of that, and it made you feel there must be something very different about you.  I was convinced that I had a fatal flaw that I had to hide and that doomed me to a second-rate life.  I thought there was something wrong with me.

In fact, there is something very right with you and me.  If you answer true to fourteen or more of the questions on the self-test at the end of this preface, or if the detailed description in chapter 1 seems to fit you (really the best test), then you are a very special type of human being, a highly sensitive person--which hereafter we'll call an HSP.  And this book is just for you.

Having a sensitive nervous system is normal, a basically neutral trait.  You probably inherited it.  It occurs in about 15-20 percent of the population.  It means you are aware of subtleties in your surroundings, a great advantage in many situations.  It also means you are more easily overwhelmed when you have been out in a highly stimulating environment for too long, bombarded by sights and sounds until you are exhausted in a nervous-system sort of way.  Thus, being sensitive has both advantages and disadvantages.

In our culture, however, possessing this trait is not considered ideal and that fact probably has had a major impact on you.  Well-meaning parents and teachers probably tried to help you "overcome" it, as if it were a defect.  Other children were not always as nice about it.  As an adult, it has probably been harder to find the right career and relationships and generally to feel self-worth and self-confidence.

What This Book Offers You

This book provides basic, detailed information you need about your trait, data that exist nowhere else.  It is the product of five years of research, in-depth interviews, clinical experience, courses and individual consultations with hundreds of HSPs, and careful reading between the lines of what psychology has already learned about the trait but does not realize it knows.  In the first three chapters you will learn all the basic facts about your trait and how to handle overstimulation and overarousal of your nervous system.

Next, this book considers the i…