Who are Emotionally Sensitive People?
Emotionally Sensitive People also known as Highly Sensitive People
(HSP) refer to those individuals who have a stronger sense of reactivity
and sensitivity to emotions. Such people often experience emotions and
feelings on very intense levels. They are reactive and more attentive to
even subtle emotional cues and usually experience all kinds of emotions
on an extreme level. This can range from emotions like happiness, to
sadness, from anxiety, to euphoria.
There is a lot of negative narrative around emotionally sensitive
people. They are not “just overreacting” always. They have the ability
to express empathy and understanding better than many others and have
strong intuitive instincts that help them deal with their emotions.
Along with many advantages, emotionally sensitive people face a lot of
troubles as well. They tend to be emotionally exhausted almost always
because they experience every emotion on an intense level. Experiencing
intense levels of negative emotion can cause such individuals to become
drained and fatigued. On the other hand, experiencing intense levels of
positive emotion can also cause strain by making people lose a sense of
reality.
Here are 5 signs you are an Emotionally Sensitive Person,
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You experience all emotions very intensely,
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You can easily pick up on other’s emotional states and are affected
by them,
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You are constantly emotionally drained from experiencing extremes of
emotion,
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You have a lot of jumbled thoughts because of the variety of emotions
you feel from time to time,
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You are very intuitive because you are intune with your
emotions.
What is Emotional Regulation?
Emotional Regulation refers to the ability to be aware of, understand
and manage one’s emotions along with helping others become aware and
help in managing their emotions as well. It is a crucial aspect of
emotional intelligence that indicates resilience because if you are able
to manage your emotions and help others do the same, then you are likely
to bounce back strongly from those emotions that are negative and
consciously work towards increasing positive emotions.
A crucial aspect of emotional regulation is non-judgement. When you are
managing your emotions or someone else’s you must never label the
emotion as
bad or good. All emotions are useful to the body and mind and often help you learn
more about yourself. If you label any emotion as
bad then all you are doing is suppressing yourself from experiencing that
emotion. It’s not possible to
never experience sadness just because we start labelling it as
bad, right? That is why it is important that you never pass judgement over
any emotion and accept the emotion as it is.
Emotional Regulation Strategies for Emotionally Sensitive
People
As emotionally sensitive people it can be difficult to use the
conventional strategies of emotional regulation. This is because you
experience every emotion in its intensity and hence, these are 3 useful
strategies you can use to help you regulate and manage your emotions in
a healthy way,
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Journalling -
While journaling might seem like a very commonly suggested strategy,
for emotionally sensitive people it is one of the most useful
strategies. Since emotionally sensitive people experience an extreme or
intense amount of emotion, journaling will help in reducing the
intensity of it. When the emotions are in your head they can overwhelm
you but when you begin jotting down your thoughts and feelings into a
journal then you can help in becoming aware of your thoughts. Once you
are aware you will be able to get clarity on how you can regulate or
manage them. Journaling is like unwrapping a tangled set of wired
thoughts into separate, distinct threads.
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Physical Exercise -
Emotions are always stored in the body. Emotionally sensitive people
tend to experience intense emotions so there is a tendency to store
unexpressed emotion in the body. When you move your body through regular
physical exercise you are releasing endorphins which are happy hormones
that not only help you feel positive emotion but also help in relieving
pain that comes from negative emotion.
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Cognitive Restructuring -
This is useful for both positive and negative emotions. Whenever you
find yourself experiencing an intense emotion a good way to reduce the
intensity of it is to cognitively restructure the thought. This means
that you must question the emotion and thought behind the emotion and
bring it to reality. For example, if you are having a recurring feeling
of sadness and a thought like this emerges,
“I will never find anyone in this world and I will always be
alone”
A helpful way to restructure is to question it. Is it true that you
will never find anyone? What about your friends? You found them at one
point. Perhaps it will take some time but you can find someone. This would be an appropriate way of bringing yourself out of the
intense loop and back into reality.
These are some of the strategies you can practise to help yourself or
help someone you know deal with emotions as a highly sensitive person.
If you feel that you need more assistance, you can always regulate your
emotions with the presence of a
Therapist's. Feel free to reach out to us!