What you are describing here would be some of the behaviors of my adopted brother, who’s mother drank heavily during pregnancy which caused fetal alcohol syndrome and a later diagnosis of Aspberger’s.
As to the percentages, Elaine’s early research pointed to 15%, but as the number of human (and animal) studies about high sensitivity increased, they began to see a higher percentage. Some researcher estimate 25%, some as high as 30%, with sensitivity being viewed as a human trait along a bell curve — some have low reactivity to their environment, while the majority are moderately sensitive and a percentage are highly sensitive, to which I non-scientifically added an even smaller category, extremely sensitive or empathic.
I agree, HSP does not describe everything about me either, however in eight years working with thousands of clients and people in my community, I’ve never met anyone who didn’t relate to DOES. Depth of processing, Overstimulation, Emotional Responsiveness and Sensitivity to Subtleties. They always say, yes, I have those four characteristics.
The tendency towards perfectionism is because as an HSP when you notice every subtlety, you notice what’s right and what is wrong. This does not have to be a permanent tendency, as a sensitive person can learn to ease up and allow things to be ‘good enough.’ Speaking from experience.
I am not certain how PTSD or brain trauma intersects with the HSP scale. I’m not an expert, but I don’t imagine brain trauma would suddenly induce depth of processing or sensitivity to subtleties. It seems like it would do the opposite, make it more difficult to process information. Dr. Aron states that someone must express all four aspects of the trait to be HSP.
Just being easily overstimulated would not make someone HSP. Just being emotionally reactive by itself would not make someone HSP, which could happen during and after PTSD.
I do know researchers have found consistent patterns of HSPs in families, which suggests the level of a person’s sensitivity may be passed through DNA. While attending a training with Elaine, she said she was not pursuing genetic studies because of the excessive cost and complexity. She believes the HSP trait is likely a combination of genes, rather than 1 genetic indicator.
In my family, I can trace HSP characteristics back 4 generations based on family temperments and my mother scored higher on the HSP self-test than I did. Elaine has said science is based on theories, that if anyone tells you something is fact or proven, be cautious. It’s the beauty of the continuous search for answers and deepening clarity.
I believe HSPs are empathetic (able to imagine themselves in someone else’s experience) because of our wider emotional range and conscientiousness, however being an empath is different than being empathetic.
Someone with autism could also be HSP and an Empath, only autistic, or only autistic and one of the others. We are complex beings, with no offense to science, which has discovered so many amazing things, there is more that we do not currently understand than what we do.
How do I define being an empath? Someone who has the ability to have a direct experience of another person’s way of being. If a person feels sad in a room, I can feel sad inside without having something happen that caused it. If one of my close family or friends has a physical pain, I can feel it in my body, even from 900 miles away — it happened not too long ago. Without going online or watching TV, I can sense when there is very heavy emotions collectively or something’s happened.
Empaths can sense shifts in energy fields: mental, emotional, physical, environmental, collective or spiritual.
There is an intuitive empath quiz on my website, which you are welcome to check out, over 5000 people have already taken it and I’ve begun to realize maybe it’s the largest non-scientifically survey for empaths so far. I would love to have someone who is formally trained in research take a look at the data…
I also made a video breaking down the three most common reasons people seek me out: being HSP, Empath and intuitive. Once there, click on the Master Your Gifts menu:
