How I learned to accept my hypersensitivity

June 24, 2015

For a long time, I considered my hypersensitivity a sign of weaknessmadness too.

I felt things so vividly and intensely that I came to feel guilty, find myself useless to have anxiety attacks, cry so easily, and develop panic fears about pretty irrational things.

Over the years, however, I’ve learned to tame (a little) this hypersensitivity and to accept it: it’s part of me, it’s as essential to my personality as melted cheese is to nachos!

NB: this article obviously talks about MY hypersensitivity and MY vision of things, everyone is different and I make absolutely no generalizations, everyone in their own way, pass the message on to your neighbor.

Explain hypersensitivity to others

“I didn’t ask for these powers, they were given to me.”

The problem with hypersensitivity is thisit is difficult to understand for those who do not have direct experience. Among the multiple rotten panties options, there are people who tell me I need to bulk up, that life isn’t Care Bears’ world, and that crying never does anything.

They are the ones that annoy me the most, because besides shit happily on what i can hear and making cardboard shortcuts without knowing me, they speak their general truth about the rest of the world… Despising sensitivity and associating it with weakness.

Being oversensitive is not being weak or strong, no relationship: it just is feeling things very intensely… and above all in a different way.

Still glad we don’t all live the same – we weren’t going to step out of the sand!

Hypersensitivity, a women’s problem?

Others tend to associate my hypersensitivity with my gender.

I’ve lost count of the times they’ve told me that if I’m hypersensitive it’s because I’m a girlor that if I sometimes have major anxiety attacks, it’s because I’m on my period.

Hypersensitivity also affects men and my vagina is not a continuous flow of periods. Sorry Zozo!

Again, I feel this reaction reinforces gender stereotypes, putting me in the ” fragile woman who feels things more strongly than men”. You know, that famous theory that nouléfilles, we think so because we want to protect our child in the cave…

To make matters worse, these comments are often accompanied by a little condescending pout, again associating hypersensitivity with weakness!

Finally, there are those who think so Calling yourself hypersensitive is a way of showing offto tell the world that you are a misunderstood artist and that they, poor soulless people, will never understand life.

Let me tell you no. What makes humanity beautiful is its complexity, its variety; hypersensitivity is just one difference among others!

Being hypersensitive and knowing how to surround yourself

The main thing, when you are hypersensitive, is to do it know how to surround yourself.

During my teenage years, I experienced a lot of bullying in school based on ” but it’s to make you stronger “… NO. If someone constantly puts you down, makes you feel worthless for who you are, and looks down on you, run. Away.

This idea applies to absolutely everyone, not just the hypersensitive! Really, if someone around you reacts like I described in the previous part, they run away.

This is neither productive nor encouraging.

Personally, what has helped me is surround myself with people who are open, attentive and above all, ABOVE ALL, caring. The base.

My best friend, also hypersensitive, understands my way of feeling things, knows how to calm my anxiety attacks and supports me never questioning my ability to discern.

No judgment with her, no oh alright, get over it, it won’t do you any good to cry » : Only love in twelve-packs and pint emoticons.

It is also important to surround yourself with people who are not hypersensitive but who are ready to help, even without understanding everything.

My boyfriend, for example, often helps me put things into context and take a step back without taking off faster than a rocket at the first crisis.

He knows that I have problems with loud noises, that I have a phobic fear of hurting myself, and that I physically feel pain a little harder than others.

So he gives me earplugs for concerts, he gives me a heating pad when I have a tummy ache and he makes me promise never to watch a movie when he knows it might traumatize me!

Surround yourself with kind people it really helps to deal with everyday life with a little more calm and gain self-confidence!

Hypersensitive people of all countries, let’s get rid of the guilt!

Ah, feel guilty… the story of my life.

I’ve always had a tendency to apologize for nothing, to calm tempers to avoid a conflict that might hurt. Step by step, I’m learning to stop blaming myself for my emotions or my easy tear.

Everyone has their own way of handling crisis situations! Some do yoga, others scream or accept everything. I cry a lot, it allows me to empty myself and move on.

Because this is also important: moving forward, learning from your own experiences and going full speed ahead on the highway of life, as the other would say.

Finally, I think true strength is knowing yourself, to learn what our limits are and who are the people we need around us. They can be friends, family, a lover or even golden colleagues (hello editorial): the important thing is to feel understood, and to trust each other a little!

Because even from one hypersensitive person to another, the way of thinking is totally different. And through that, you end up giving the world a rainbow of ways to look at life, and that’s AWESOME.

To get rid of my hypersensitivity, I chose to laughto tell my loved ones about it, to kiss him full on the mouth like an American actress in an 80s romantic comedy!

You can choose to express it through writing, speaking, the arts, sports…

As long as you’re comfortable, you can evacuate your sensitivity or overflowing emotion into whatever you want (as long as it doesn’t hurt others of course: we’re not animals).

Without using hypersensitivity as a reason for everything you can do about Step Jojo, try to accept itit’s part of you and it’s not that bad.