By guest author Lisa A. Riley, LMFT (Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist)

Throughout my practice, I have encountered a connection between highly sensitive people and their own creative impulses.

This characteristic does not discriminate between painter, actor, or musician—they all appear to have one thing in common: they experience the world differently than the average individual.

Creatives often feel and perceive more intensely, dramatically, and with a wildly vivid color palate to draw from, which can only be described as looking at the world through a much larger lens.

Without a substantial filtration system firmly in place to screen out most of the busy noise, these people tend to receive a far greater amount of stimuli directly into their psyches.

As a result, they frequently become more attuned to subtle details in their environment, to the people they deal with, and especially to their own internal process.

Creatives might find themselves more easily overwhelmed, and often live chaotic lives, affecting not only personal relationships, but also their own productivity.

Over-stimulation can sometimes manifest further into anxiety or depression, bogging down their ability to cope with every day stressors or life’s challenges.

Pearl Buck, an American novelist living in China, and who received a Noble and a Pulitzer, best describes the highly sensitive person by saying,

“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them…a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death.”

According to psychologist Dr. Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You, 20% of the population has this innate quality.

I would even take that figure one step further and suggest that a large percentage of highly sensitive people would fall into the category of creative minds.

Although this is something many artists report struggling with, I don’t believe a high sensitivity to the world should necessarily be viewed in a negative light, but rather as a divine gift.

For without this quality, their art, script, music or performance might lack a necessary element capable of touching an audience deeply.

This might then bring up an important question: Do people create in an attempt to process, and survive, a condition that overwhelms them?

Pearl Buck also mentions, “Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create—so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off…They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.”

Along with the process of creating, there is perhaps the opportunity to exorcise out the thing that has accumulated and taken hold internally.

Once externalized, a highly sensitive person can finally make sense of the chaos, opening space toward escaping the overwhelming world they battle every day.

he work I do with clients is primarily focused on mapping out, and gaining, a deeper understanding of how an individual processes the world. Together we develop a plan towards building coping mechanisms required to better maintain a healthy equilibrium.

The key is to embrace this sensitivity with compassion and free from judgment of any kind. By then reframing it as a gift, rather than as an obstacle, people immediately grant themselves permission to be who they are freely and without encumbrances.

Putting together a “survival list,” so to speak, consisting of ways to channel overwhelming sensitivity can often serve as a means to cope.

Serving as something like a first-aid kit for the highly sensitive person, the survival list can consist of your choice of art.

That might include long walks, yoga, spending time quietly alone or with a friend, journal writing, or maybe even meditation.

When the creative person has something to fall back on, this can empower him/ or her in better managing high sensitivity as oppose to feeling debilitated by it.

Rather, they productively move forward and continue to focus their efforts into achieving the healthiest and most balanced life possible.

©2008 Lisa A. Riley. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reproduced or used on other websites without permission.

Published here with permission.

About Lisa A. Riley:

“In addition to her background in the arts, she has spent the last seven years counseling creative individuals such as artists, actors, musicians, writers and designers in the expressive arts.

“As a result of her own experience with the creative process, she is able to understand the unique qualities of the artistic personality and the drive to express one’s inner world.”

From profile on her site TheArtofMind.com

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By Andrea Runyan

While college can be an exciting and fruitful experience, it can also be a challenging time for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs).

As the first time when many students are living away from home, college presents many potential challenges for the HSP, such as eating dining hall food; living in a dormitory; having roommates; being around loud parties; and not knowing people at first.

College is a crucial time in life and doing well, both in classes and in general life, can have large ramifications for the rest of one’s life. Yet it can be hard to succeed when overly stressed, distracted, unable to sleep well, or emotionally distraught due to issues related to being a Highly Sensitive Person.

Here are some tips to make the experience easier.

Most important thing to keep in mind:

0) Your needs are valid. You are not at college to spend your time and energy learning to adapt to the lifestyles of others. You are there to do well in school and to grow in relationships, activities, self-knowledge, and other forms of development.

You might find that friends and activities you enjoy will comfortably draw you out of some aspects of your sensitivity. For instance, you might find that you don’t mind putting up with something if it means that you can enjoy something else you find that you like.

However, if any issue related to sensitivity is impairing your school performance or your ability to make the most of college, tell people about it and do something to address it!

Housing:

1) State clearly and boldly in your roommate application that the main (and perhaps only) thing you care about in a roommate is that their lifestyle will not cause undue problems given your sensitivity.

2) Depending on your needs, you might want to request a roommate who goes to bed early, doesn’t play loud music, is not a party person, etc.

3) If you know who your roommate is before school starts, email him or her in advance to ask about things that might be an issue for you given your sensitivities. In my own case, I needed the lights to be out and for there to be no laptop typing when I was sleeping.

4) If you have the option of being in a dorm with older students, such as graduate students, or living off-campus or in family housing, consider these options. Freshman dorms tend to be noisy. Ask around or look online to see how noisy different living options are and request to live somewhere that is not noisy.

5) Apply for special housing through the Disability Accommodation services. You might need a note from your doctor explaining your sensitivity issues (perhaps citing a diagnosis such as anxiety response, etc.). You might ask to live in a quiet graduate dormitory, family housing, or off-campus in a quiet location.

6) Discuss your HSP traits with your RA or residence dean in advance and ask for their advice about what to do if you encounter problems. My own RA had the idea of setting the hall lights on a darker setting at night to give people the signal to be quiet in the hall at night.

7) Wherever you live, find somewhere safe to go if there is too much noise or stimulation. I used to go into the basement tunnels where the laundry machines were. There might be a quiet park, a library, or some other quiet location near where you live which you can go to if the noise in your room becomes too loud.

Buy a fan or a white noise maker to drown out noises you don’t like.

Emotional life:

9) Consider signing up to see a campus psychologist on a regular basis to help with the transition to college. This person might be a helpful advocate or source of information regarding ways to deal with any problems that arise.

10) Find out if there are any help hotlines. Stanford had a 24-hour peer counseling hotline which I used to call when I was having trouble with noise in my dorm. Some schools have drop-in peer counseling.

11) Have a few self-care activities that you do on a regular basis, such as taking baths, taking a long walk outside, watching movies, listening to music, and being in nature.

Parties:

12) If you know that there will be a party in the place where you live, make arrangements for a back-up location for sleeping, for example with a friend, in case you are unable to sleep in your normal environment.

13) If you want to enjoy a party but can’t take the noise in the main room, try hanging out in the entryway or nearby rooms where other people might be hanging out.

14) Consult HSP literature for ideas about how to enjoy parties.

Eating:

15) If the noise and crowds at peak mealtimes are too much for you, consider eating slightly earlier or later.

16) Find friends to eat with for moral support and company.

17) If there are many different cafeterias to choose from, find those that meet your needs, such as being quiet, having the food you like and not having smells or music you don’t like, etc.

Studying:

18) It is imperative to find a location that meets your needs for studying. Determine your needs (the level of quiet, the type of chairs, the lighting, etc.) and make it a point to study in locations that fulfill those criteria. Don’t waste time studying in places that will not be comfortable or conducive to concentration.

19) You might need to look into alternative options besides the usual study places. Think about open classrooms not currently in use, libraries that don’t get much use, other rooms in libraries, etc.

20) Always carry whatever you need to make a borderline study situation more tolerable, such as earplugs, a water bottle, gum, sunglasses, relaxing music on an iPod, etc.

Professors:

21) You will likely find that your college professors treat you differently from your high school teachers. Recognize that in college, grading might be harsher, professors might be more critical, and the people running your education might not be as concerned about you as an individual. This doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with you; it is just a different set-up of education.

22) Seek out mentors, whether professors, academic advisers, resident deans, graduate students, or university staff. Find people with whom you can have a supportive relationship.

23) Even while challenging yourself, try to find at least one thing that you can do well.

Friends:

24) Find other HSPs. With an estimated 15-20% of the population experiencing some form of heightened sensitivity, there are certain to be other people who share some of your traits and preferences. Seeing that other people feel similarly can help you to see that your needs are valid.

25) Join clubs or activities where you can meet other people with similar interests and where you can see the same people regularly so they will get to know you. When people can see what you are like overall, they will see the real you, in contrast to just seeing you when you are asking them to turn down their music, etc.

26) If your school supports students starting their own clubs, think about starting a Highly Sensitive Person club! Other HSPs might thank you.

Andrea Runyan is a writer based in Boston, Massachusetts. http://andrearunyan.webs.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrea_Runyan
http://EzineArticles.com/?27-Tips-For-Navigating-College-As-a-Highly-Sensitive-Person&id=3625491
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In her Psychology Today blog post Are Introverts More Creative than Extraverts?, writer, cartoonist and musician Elizabeth Wagele writes about how this key personality dimension relates to creative expression. Here is an excerpt :

Are liking solitude and focusing inward creative gifts?

My café friends and I, mostly introverts, were discussing where our various kinds of creativity came from recently.

Our DNA is probably mostly responsible, but we each pointed to going inside at a young age to get away from a family situation.

One man had an abusive father who would ground him for weeks at a time-he would draw when under house arrest and eventually became a successful artist.

Another became an attorney and historian-his interest began when interacting with family members became so intense he would lose himself reading newspapers.

Another turned to photography for similar reasons.

Not only did I love the magic of music almost from birth, but a relationship with the piano took the place of a wished for playmate.

Had we been extraverts, we probably would have reacted differently. The “grounded” kid might have spent his time preparing for activities to do with friends when his father gave him his freedom, for example.

We introverts tend to process things so thoroughly that we feel quite certain about the conclusions we reach…

Extraverts show the world their favorite preference. An ESFJ expresses Feeling (the Judging preference) outright, while Sensing (how one Perceives) is secondary.

Extraverts are quick, don’t spend much time processing information, and tend to mesh with American society, which is 70-75% extraverted and 25-30% introverted.

They can be as creative as introverts but since they’re not as fond of solitude, they don’t lean toward introspection or focusing in depth as naturally as introverts do.

Continued in post Are Introverts More Creative than Extraverts?

Elizabeth Wagele is co-author with Ingrid Stabb of The Career Within You: How to Find the Perfect Job for Your Personality. She is also author of The Happy Introvert: A Wild and Crazy Guide for Celebrating Your True Self.

Her site: www.wagele.com

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“I am shy and I don’t start relationships with people normally. I guess I have a way that can seem aloof and sort of cold. They didn’t like me that much, but I never resented it. I was different than they were.”

Actor Kristin Kreuk – about being in high school.

Being highly sensitive may include or even encourage social isolation, and involve more than usual challenges with friendships and romance. True peer relationships can be rare and demanding.

Of course, highly sensitive is not the same as shy, but a majority of HSPs are introverted, which can mean you don’t seek out friends or other relationships as easily as most people seem to do.

People who are highly sensitive may also find they need protective separation, even from well-meaning family and friends, and likely romantic partners, to protect and more fully realize themselves.

Kristin Kreuk (tv series “Smallville” and other tv, movie projects) also said in the same interview that she did not have a real high school boyfriend: “No one worth mentioning – it just wasn’t something I found. I got a lot done that way!”

She said she was “totally OK” with not having a boyfriend, and notes she was not like many teen girls: “The friends that I surrounded myself with – we didn’t talk about boys and clothes and makeup; we talked about world issues and philosophy and the meaning of life.”

Emotional reactivity may be part of the challenge of any relationship, but can be particularly acute for HSPs.

In his book The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide: Essential Skills for Living Well in an Overstimulating World, Dr. Ted Zeff has a chapter titled “Harmonious Relationships for the HSP” in which he offers strategies to help work with strong feelings and reactions.

Here are summaries of a couple of his suggestion :

Practice the 1 percent apology. Because of their sensitivity to emotional turmoil it’s important for HSPs to develop conflict resolution skills that help them to restore harmony to a relationship with a minimum of emotional strife. Take responsibility for your part in the conflict – even if it is only 1 percent.

“Your expression of remorse gives an opening for the other person to apologize for their part of the disagreement… even if the other person doesn’t apologize, you have created peace of mind for yourself by opening your heart, not blaming anyone, and taking responsibility for your actions,” he says.

“Silence is golden and talking can tarnish the metal.”

Since HSPs feel more peaceful in a quiet environment it’s important for them to reduce the time they spend in mindless chatter. They should choose words carefully to avoid overstimulation.

[Also hear my podcast interview with Dr. Zeff.]

Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D., head of the Gifted Development Center, has talked about another issue: putting a relationship ahead of your own emotional needs.

She comments in her article Different Worlds at the Extremes: “Gifted children and adults often try to repress the real needs of the Self in order to maintain connections with others.

“They feel they must choose between loneliness and the negation of the Self.”

In his “Learn to Be Lonely” lyrics for The Phantom Of The Opera, Charles Hart acknowledges loneliness, but also encourages:

Ever dreamed out in the world / There are arms to hold you?
You’ve always known / Your heart was on its own
So laugh in your loneliness / Learn to be lonely
life can be lived / life can be loved / Alone.

Most of us when we were adolescents felt needs and pressures to be accepted and acceptable.

But being intellectually or creatively exceptional: gifted and talented – and sensitive – often includes having temperaments and qualities such as divergent thinking, asynchronous development and introversion which make fitting in with others difficult, even if you want to.

And many of us never really wanted to that much.

Not to sound too much like “socially awkward” physicist Sheldon (played by Jim Parsons, left) on tv show The Big Bang Theory, but intellectual and creative interests can be very highly valued by many of us – even more than relationships.

Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D., in an interview about her book The Highly Sensitive Person In Love, says people with more sensitive and excitable constitutions and personalities “need help with intimacy. Maybe we are afraid, have been hurt, and can’t forget it.

Feeling like we are “too much”

“Or we have trouble being known and appreciated for who we really are. Or we have trouble in relationships because of our different needs, so that we always feel “too much” or “overly sensitive.”

She also says highly sensitive people are “more likely to find sex to be mysterious and powerful, to be turned on by subtle rather than explicit sexual cues, to be easily distracted or physically hurt during sex, and to find it difficult to go right back to normal life afterwards.”

And she has found in her research there are as many men born with this trait as women, despite the cultural ideal for men to be aggressive.

High sensitivity can be an underlying inner pressure for many to avoid relationships that could become more than casual friendship.

For many highly talented people, isolation or reduction in social contacts can be a way to better incubate self development, and creative thinking and projects.

But there can be problems with isolation.

A research study found, “Teens who spend more time watching television or using computers appear to have poorer relationships with their parents and peers.” But there is no indication in the news story that teens were evaluated for giftedness or high sensitivity: Teens With More Screen Time Have Lower-Quality Relationships.

And if we choose to be in a relationship, there are special challenges, as both Elaine Aron and Ted Zeff write.

Anxiety can affect relationships.

One of those challenges may be anxiety, which can be especially intense for HSPs.

Mia Wasikowska (pronounced Vash-i-kov-ska) plays the lead role in TIm Burton’s new version of Alice in Wonderland. She has commented, “As a teenager I was very anxious. I had a lot of energy and passion that I wanted to channel into creative things, and I always felt like I wasn’t achieving enough.”

From post Mia Wasikowska on teen anxiety and energy.

For a variety of self-help and non-drug programs, see the Anxiety Relief Solutions site.

Related article: Sex and the Highly Gifted Adolescent, By Annette Revel Sheely.

Related pages :
Relationships
Relationships: teen / young adult
Solitude

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In addition to helping fuel creativity and a richer experience of life, being highly sensitive can make us more vulnerable to emotional overwhelm, anxiety, self-criticism and other issues. Healthy self concept and self esteem can be especially challenging.

As John Lennon once put it, “Part of me suspects that I’m a loser, and the other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty.”

Elaine Aron, PhD describes her new Psychology Today blog Attending to the Undervalued Self as “the result of years of puzzling over the ultimate foundation of our universal emotional problems.

“One answer I addressed in The Highly Sensitive Person: Evolution has made about 20% of us more susceptible to both the good and bad things in life.

She continues in her first post: Ranking and Linking, For Better and For Worse :

“Innate temperament cannot be the whole story, however. Research (and my own experience as a therapist) finds that low self-esteem underlies most depression, anxiety, and failed relationships.

“Yet in spite of our focus on raising self-esteem, we have had little success. In fact, research [indicates] low self-esteem is in a sense natural, one result of our instinct to rank ourselves among others… repeating self-affirmations, the most common self-help treatment, only increases low self-esteem in those already feeling bad, as many hapless souls have found.”

She adds, “Are you often stuck in ranking? Then you are often undervaluing yourself. It’s natural. No wonder raising yourself in the self-esteem ranking is not the answer. To get out of ranking, switch to linking, my next blog entry.”

Her upcoming book is The Undervalued Self: Restore Your Love/Power Balance, Transform the Inner Voice That Holds You Back, and Find Your True Self-Worth

Also see Self concept posts / articles

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Jenna Avery is “The Life Coach for Sensitive Souls” – helping individuals recognize and more fully express their gifts as highly sensitive people.

In our interview, she talks about some of the challenges we may face in taking care of ourselves and living our purpose, such as being overly self-critical or not setting good self-care boundaries.

Hear the interview at Inner Talent Interviews

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The Highly Sensitive Person, By Elaine N. Aron
Narrated by Barbara Caruso

Audiobook: The Highly Sensitive Person, By Elaine N. Aron

..

The trait of high sensitivity is experienced by 15 to 20 percent of us. In this video are some quotes by and about Winona Ryder, Heath Ledger, Amy Brenneman, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, and Ellen DeGeneres about their experience of sensitivity. Maybe you can relate to some of them.

..

Winona Ryder has said, “You go through spells where you feel that maybe you’re too sensitive for this world. I certainly felt that.”

“There was a time when I was 19 when I really, really, really thought I was going crazy,” she has said about her own brief stay at a psychiatric clinic.

“I was exhausted and going through a terrible depression.”

From post: Sensitivity and stress – Winona Ryder: “Maybe I’m too sensitive for this world.

Having mental health challenges like depression and anxiety may be all the more severe when we are highly sensitive.

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“At least 50 million Americans have a finely tuned nervous system.”

Books by Ted Zeff, PhD :

The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide: Essential Skills for Living Well in an Overstimulating World

Highly Sensitive Person’s Companion: Daily Exercises for Calming Your Senses in an Overstimulating World

Shrink Rap Radio audio podcast interview with Dr. Zeff

His site: www.drtedzeff.com

Source video: Highly Sensitive People: Coping Strategies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raN8mvJA_Xo

Related posts :

Our High Sensitivity Personality – a video

Video: The Highly Sensitive Person by Therese J. Borchard

Video: Elaine Aron on the trait of high sensitivity

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A recent news item by ScienceDaily reported on research that may explain more about the neuroscience that underlies high sensitivity.

“Researchers have discovered that a primitive region of the brain responsible for sensorimotor control also has an important role in regulating emotional responses to threatening situations.

“This region appears to work in concert with another structure called the amygdala to regulate social and emotional behavior.”

The story explains, “Georgetown University Medical Center researchers have recently discovered that activation of a primitive brain region, the deep layers of superior colliculus (DLSC), elicits defensive behaviors such as an exaggerated startle, hypervigilance, cowering, and escape…. in addition to triggering defensive behaviors, the activation of DLSC leads to a decrease in affiliative social interactions.”

Like mainstream media – and probably psychiatry in general – this news story was framed in terms of dysfunction: “Researchers say it is possible that a prolonged activation of this defense system may lead to emotional disorders” including post traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders.

[From Two Brain Structures Key To Emotional Balance Especially In Threatening Situations, ScienceDaily (Oct. 23, 2009)]

As we know who have one, a highly sensitive nervous system is not necessarily a “disorder.”

That is not to discount very real medical and mental health issues, such as anxiety, and PTSD – which can include very disruptive or disabling behaviors, emotions, and another kind of over-activation of the nervous system: hypervigilance.

That is something actor Ashley Judd experienced.

She had a “very unsafe” and disruptive childhood, and became what she calls a “hypervigilant child.”

From post Developing creativity: hypervigilance and highly sensitive people

Related post: Highly sensitive people: latent inhibition and creativity

More neuroscience posts

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