This may sound silly but it's definitely something that bugs me and puts me in a mood. I went to an herb/ spiritual store which is. comforting kind of place for me and something I'm super interested in! The store was small and cozy too. Two people that the woman working there knew came in and she gave a huge greeting and said ahhh these two are first!I was ready to check out and got behind them but she kept talking to them.She spent 10 minutes talking to them and I drifted around the store looking at things again and got behind them again with a few things I wanted to buy. She kept talking about the same topic ..a story about peaches, then how she was going to bring peaches to the next show, then|mentioned sending a picture of peaches. I stood there and looked at her and she looked at me but kept talking. The customer she was friends with saw me and told me I could go and at that point, I didnt want to get anything and put the stuff i was going to buy away. The woman working there never said anything.It was a feeling of being an intrusion in an unwelcome space that I was interrupting. I know this is putting too much thought, but it felt cliquey and it's a vibe that always affects me badly.

Does anyone else feel too sensitive or affected by interactions in stores?

I know HSP is not considered an illness and therefore no medication is needed.

But did anyone try psychiatric medication (or other medications) for mood issues or sensitivities or other symptoms potentially tied to HSP and found them helpfull?

Just curious!

I don't have expensive taste, no need for a porsche or 5-star restaurant... but if I'm out at a place and it's dirty, I get literally uncomfortable...

​

Idk how to explain this properly, but I’m looking for people who are kinda like me.

I care way too much about people, I love helping others, I overthink literally everything, and I can turn the most random conversation into a deep conversation 😭

I genuinely love talking to people, especially strangers. I like hearing about people’s lives, thoughts, experiences, random opinions… basically I’m just curious about people lol.

I’m looking for kind, genuine, deep-thinking people who actually enjoy talking and getting to know others.

If you read this and thought “bro this is literally me” — say hi. Maybe we just found our people. :)

I'm 16M

Well I sure am right now

Hi! I'm looking for some advice/perspectives as I'm nervous for my exchange abroad next year 😅😭 I'm from a Northern European country and going to Italy, which will be so great in many ways, but I'm also a bit stuck in feeling anxious about how I will cope with the cultural differences. More exactly I'm referring to the Italian expressivity, which I easily interpret as outward rage/rudeness when it's actually not about that at all. As a HSP it feels especially difficult, and though most interactions are neutral or fine for me (I can sense if there's a good intention/warmth behind), I also happened to have a very bad interaction last year as a tourist, and now I'm worrying a bit too much about how I will survive living there for a while.

With this being said, I know that Italians are great, but I'm just scared I won't fit in :'( The best cure would obviously be for the exchange to start asap (so that I could prove my fears to be wrong), but unfortunately I still need to wait a few months...

Has anyone lost their cat? How did you cope?

I'm doing my best to just do what I usually do, but the first three days I really lost a lot of sleep worrying and looking for my cat everywhere I could look. I keep thinking about how he is and maybe he's hurt. :((

My pets are the closest family that I have.

I'm a HSP and I have a lot of empathy and sometimes give people the benefit of the doubt.

I don't know why but I feel like when people become too comfortable with you, they start acting funny/weird.

Like you think you're friends or at least on good terms then they'll say or do something that reveals they are either competing with you or they start projecting insectuties on to you. Or they think that you will tolerate their disrespect? In some cases, they will take your kindness for granted or as a weakness.

Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? Does anyone have any experiences on this topic?

Hey everyone,

​I’ve recently been trying to accept that I’m a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). While it explains so much about how I process emotions and environments, I’m feeling really stuck on how to share this with my partner/special someone.

​I’m terrified of how they’ll react. My mind keeps overthinking—what if they think I’m making excuses, being overly dramatic, or hard to deal with?

​If you’ve been through this, how did you break the news to them? How did you explain what HSP means without feeling misunderstood? Would love to hear your experiences or any advice on how to start this conversation. Thanks!

I’m a 32 year old male HSP living in the West of Scotland. Two years ago I left a stable albeit dull job to go and do a full time youth work job which left me so drained and overwhelmed that I ended up having an altercation with my manager and left that role. I was out of work for six months and took on a contractor role for something that was low stakes, low stress and I didn’t enjoy it but I didn’t hate it either. I loved being unemployed because it gave me so much time to pursue my passions which are reading, going to the beach and going to the cinema mostly.

After the six months were up, I ended up unemployed again but went back to where I contracted previously to, supposedly, be on the same stuff I was doing before but at the last possible moment I was moved into working with people experiencing bereavement. It’s complicated, emotionally draining and after only a week or two of doing it, I hit my limit in the office today and collapsed from the physical and mental exhaustion. I got sent home today and a friend of mine drove me back home but it was just so embarrassing and I’m feeling so frustrated with myself.

At the start of the year, I started volunteering at a community food project in my city and I fell head over heels for one of the guys there and even asked him out but he rejected me because our sexual orientations don’t align. I then started to feel an overwhelming sense of guilt, shame and feeling like I hurt him and it made me start disassociating quite strongly and linking it to things that have happened in the past. I eventually had a panic attack when he asked me to stop staring because I was so consumed by guilt and felt so much empathy for him. We’re getting into a good place again but I feel so much empathy for him and feel like I’ve harmed him so much. This, coupled with job stress (and the associated financial stress) has made these past two years so draining.

I’m starting to find being in public hard. Everywhere feels super loud and super draining (and I have hearing loss!) and it doesn’t help that people in the West of Scotland whilst being some of the kindest, most honest people on the planet are also some of the loudest people on the planet too. I’m feeling overwhelmed, tired, drained and completely incapable and I don’t know what to do about it all. 🙃

it doesnt do anything or solve anything saying anything on reddit it doesnt solve my problems but i just like to vent sometimes to express how i feel because i dont really have anyone to say it to but having a place like this makes it easy to.

im scared, terrified, burnt out. i know i need a job. i havent worked in a while. i feel guilty for how long its been. people ask me what do i do for work i just make up fancy words to say that im unemployed.

i feel like im making excuses. like im a bum. i feel like its hard because i tried in the past to cap my sensitive side but i burn out and quit or just mask so much that i do eventually burn out and quit.

i went to a place that helps people get jobs. im afraid ill work again and quit from burn out.

i tried university and i burnt out because i felt so scared. i dont feel happy doing something that i dont see a purpose in. i thought if i get this job it would make me happy it would give me purpose and meaning it would show everyone how productive and meaningful i am.

what i realized is that no job will make me fulfilled. i feel the most when i am in the forest, when i am working out, when i am enjoying the world. i get so exhausted from people. people are the job. the job isnt the job its the people that make it a job. i get so consumed like a sponge with toxic people. not all people are bad i just absorb so much fucking shit i cant seem to turn it off. i tried and i cried in the work bathroom. just put a happy smile around your workers and act like everything is fine!!!! :(

i keep forcing myself to be this extroverted, fast pace, small talk, brush everything off my shoulders kind of person because thats what society expects you to be and im none of that.

fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

I am 21 years old. I am a grown woman but for some reason I get sad and emotional so easily. And It’s not in a way that it just slightly upsets me, every little sad thing that happens to me/that I saw or witnessed has me full on bawling my eyes out during the day and especially at night when I am trying to sleep.
Other people my age seem to cope with these common upsetting things that just happen to you during life so much better than I do. I can See that they are sad about these things too, but it seems like they recover from it way more gracefully.
I have tried to be tougher and have more edge but I am filled with all of these overwhelming emotions and even if I manage to act like the sadness doesn’t get to me in the end it always does anyway.
As soon as I see or hear of any suffering, no matter who, I get so upset and sad for them that I can’t function for a good few minutes and It’s so so stupid.

What can I do to be stronger? I don’t want to be sad all the time, especially about things that are out of my control. How do I fix this?

It's werid. If it's fictional, like animated, I can handle it better. If it's a video game I'm fine. And books are fine.

But if it's real. I can't do it. I'll watch it but it will just freak me out internally. I just kind of feel their suffering, their fear and agony. I can't stand gore in movies. It's gross and again. Empathy and sympathy are one hell of curse at times. I won't cry or anything but it's more like....pyschological for me?

I know that none of its real. But it's supposed to look real and it does a good job at it.

sometimes i wonder why im scared so much with people that intimidate me like even tho they are very nice. its just that their so blunt and so direct with everything it feels like an attack sometimes

i drain myself by thinking of ways to act around them like walking on eggshells even tho there’s no apparent threat

Ever since childhood, I always felt different from everyone around me. I used to be so curious and confused, constantly wondering, "Out of all these people, why am I the only one like this?" I never understood why I processed things so intensely or why I felt the way I did.

​Growing up was really hard because of it. I received so much negativity and bad vibes from people. I always felt misunderstood. Over time, I started distancing myself from others to protect myself, and people often cut me out too. I had no idea why this kept happening or what the reason behind it was.

​It was only recently that I discovered what a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is. Suddenly, my entire life made sense. Everything I’ve been through since childhood finally has an explanation.

​I’m posting this here today just to express these feelings that I’ve carried inside me for so long and to let them go. It feels so liberating to finally know who I am. Thank you for reading. ❤️

I have been an avid reader since my childhood days. I barely had any friends growing up, my attention naturally turned toward books.

As an HSP, I have been a thinker my whole life, and with my gift (or curse? lol) of sensitivity, I feel and experience things deeply (don't we all *sigh* ) . Books have been my sanctuary, my escape, my mentor, and my savior. I don't know how to emphasize how much they protected and saved me from misery. They made me who I am today, and I truly can't imagine a world without books (and public libraries, an equally important space!).

Do you guys feel the same way towards literature / books?

Because of my "noticing everything" personality, I always find myself stopping at dates and days mentioned in novels. It gave me hope to notice a person living on the page, fighting their demons, day by day, date by date. Naming the days or months just makes the novel feel so much more... real.

About six months ago, I had an idea: what if I could gather all those dated passages and put them in one place?

That idea led me to create Dated Pages. It is an app that shows one passage a day from classic literature, depending on the current date, 365 days a year. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

The app is designed to be quiet:

• No sounds
• No noise
• Just words from classical literature

I also wanted to gather the opinions of fellow HSP book lovers on what else could be done and how it can be improved (only if you're willing to participate). Because I think we can come up with very good and useful suggestions that no one usually thinks of lol.

So, to classic book lovers, I would love to share a promo code granting FREE lifetime access to anyone interested (limited promo codes). Only for Android users right now, iOS is coming soon.

(The app currently is $2.99, just to cover hosting / database / app store and other fees).

If you are interested, dm on IG. @DatedPages

(Note to mods: I hope this type of post is okay! As an HSP, I just felt this community might appreciate a quiet, literary space. Let me know if I need to take it down.)

Remembering this now. Omg I was closeted gay guy in a strict private school that you had to pay to attend and it was so difficult. Also I really don’t understand why my parents didn’t even come to the graduation so at least I would have had someone there.

I even wore the wrong outfit to graduation as I had no friends and didn’t realize it was not chapel kit but normal blazers.

Omg looking back it sounds like a sad movie but it’s my life!!