If you have ever been told you are too sensitive – this article is for you.

The Highly Sensitive Actor

Highly Sensitive People make great actors. They are empathic and able to access their emotions easily. Yet, the acting industry is hard for regular folk, let alone HSP (Highly Sensitive People) so I wanted to write and talk a bit about what it is to be HSP, so that if this resonates with anyone, they can find the support and solutions I did – when I first discovered I was HSP.

High Sensitivity also called Sensory Processing Sensitivity is not a weakness, a fault, or even a choice. It is innate. So you can’t do as you might have been told and stop being sensitive. It is who you are.

I didn’t know that until I came upon the work of Elaine Aaron who recognised high sensitivity across a variety of species. It accounts for 15% – 20% of all humans and about 100 other species too.

If you aren’t sure if you are and HSP or not, you can do Elaine’s test on her amazing site here.

Deeper Experiences

Being HSP is like having a wider bandwidth than everyone else. You sense more, feel more and this can be a joy and a curse. Let’s just take one of the senses as an example: sound. To non-HSPs sounds might be pleasant or annoying, whereas to the HSP one sound is pure bliss, the other unbearable and enraging. We experience higher extremes.

Labelling it

Does another label help? I think so. When we know we are HSP we can cease judging ourselves and find the following help which we did not have before:

1. An understanding that whilst we aren’t statistically in the norm, we are normal and not broken. We do not need to judge ourselves or change.

2. We can find our tribe. The first HSP group I went to was a really wonderful experience of being accepted and belonging, as well as a source for support and advice. (see Meetup for groups when lockdown is over or Facebook groups)

3. You can learn the tools you need to make the world less overwhelming, such as understanding you need to eat differently, are more affected by medication, caffeine and you need time, alone, daily, to process. There are many further ideas and resources on The HSP site here.

Even if you aren’t HSP, statistically you will know someone who is, or perhaps play the role of someone who is. So thank you for reading this and increasing awareness of it. The world doesn’t need people to be less sensitive, so if you are HSP perhaps, now, you can be handle it better and learn to be proud of it.

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You may also be interested in my other blogs: In This Industry Do We Need To Toughen Up? and The Importance of the Downtime