Sensitivity conference report

As HSPs, we know our sensitivity is often not understood or enthusiastically received.  So it was gratifying to attend the sensitivity conference I mentioned in my last blog, and to hear so many enthusiastic researchers report on so many projects around the subject.

It was primarily an event for researchers by researchers.  And I have to admit that some of the content and terminology went way over my head.  But let me share some comments that, as a lay HSP, I found particularly interesting:

  • Sensitivity questionnaires generally are being revised to bring out more of the positives of being sensitive, rather than just the challenges
  • Emotional reactivity remains a core dimension of sensitivity
    • we are more receptive to emotional cues and information
    • we have stronger reactivity to both positive and negative stimuli
    • the emotional impact of our environment requires effective emotional regulation
  • HSPs are ‘good at anxiety’ – because we take in a lot of information, think about it all a lot, and consider all that can go wrong.  An interesting spin on it!
  • Sensitivity + adverse childhood experiences (especially when these are within the family) can lead to more depression and anxiety. And paternal rearing can be a greater predictor of symptoms and issues than maternal rearing.
  • Workplaces could (and should) make better use of HSP traits, and would benefit more if they matched HSPs to jobs and job roles
  • What matters is not just how sensitive someone is but also
    • how their sensitivity is expressed
    • what environmental factors matter most
    • how an individual’s processes evolve across a person’s development.

These are just a taster of what was discussed and of research findings.  More information will be available in due course on the Sensitivity Research website.

For now, I’d like to finish with some words from Esther Bergsma, a Dutch researcher, author and HSP expert.  She spoke about the importance of research being combined with lived experience.

And she came up with a nugget in a nutshell that could be an HSP mantra:

‘It’s not about feeling less, but regulating better’.