I’ve been struggling with this most of my adult life: on the one hand being quickly overwhelmed and on the other always looking to thrills/activities to avoid boredom. I already had the feeling I...
I’ve been struggling with this most of my adult life: on the one hand being quickly overwhelmed and on the other always looking to thrills/activities to avoid boredom. I already had the feeling I might be highly sensitive, but until someone suggested a book on the combination with high sensation seeking, I had no idea I was actually part of a group.
These two traits have been immensely conflicting for me. However, now that I have a little better insight into what’s in play, it almost feels like a gift. When you give attention to both sides, it really creates a great balance.
For the longest time I’ve had people tell me to slow down, not take on too much at the same time and not to pick up new interests too quickly. And I listened to them and thought that it would help the sensitive part. In the end, I think it lead to a massive bore out, which was then misdiagnosed as burn out.
Only when I also started fueling the sensation seeker, did I really start to feel better. I create things and I get to learn new things, both are like crack to me, and then I let myself be by myself after a day in the office, which gives me space to wind down and process the interactions with coworkers.
I hope posting this might help someone in the community. I’d love to hear your stories.
The short version is that sensory processing disorder or similar symptoms overlap with ADHD and rejection sensitivity has some overlap (though stronger correlation with anxiety for example) and...
The short version is that sensory processing disorder or similar symptoms overlap with ADHD and rejection sensitivity has some overlap (though stronger correlation with anxiety for example) and people with ADHD tend to seek novelty, danger and sensation from a mix of dopamine seeking, delay aversion and a lack of perceiving the negative outcomes.
The article is a bit confusing about whether HSP is related to sensation or emotion or both and but either apply.
I’ve been struggling with this most of my adult life: on the one hand being quickly overwhelmed and on the other always looking to thrills/activities to avoid boredom. I already had the feeling I might be highly sensitive, but until someone suggested a book on the combination with high sensation seeking, I had no idea I was actually part of a group.
These two traits have been immensely conflicting for me. However, now that I have a little better insight into what’s in play, it almost feels like a gift. When you give attention to both sides, it really creates a great balance.
For the longest time I’ve had people tell me to slow down, not take on too much at the same time and not to pick up new interests too quickly. And I listened to them and thought that it would help the sensitive part. In the end, I think it lead to a massive bore out, which was then misdiagnosed as burn out.
Only when I also started fueling the sensation seeker, did I really start to feel better. I create things and I get to learn new things, both are like crack to me, and then I let myself be by myself after a day in the office, which gives me space to wind down and process the interactions with coworkers.
I hope posting this might help someone in the community. I’d love to hear your stories.
Both of these traits sound like they describe parts of my ADHD symptoms, so I'm not surprised they're correlated otherwise lol
That’s interesting you say that, I had no idea there would be an overlap with ADHD.
The short version is that sensory processing disorder or similar symptoms overlap with ADHD and rejection sensitivity has some overlap (though stronger correlation with anxiety for example) and people with ADHD tend to seek novelty, danger and sensation from a mix of dopamine seeking, delay aversion and a lack of perceiving the negative outcomes.
The article is a bit confusing about whether HSP is related to sensation or emotion or both and but either apply.