How is the Dark Side of Highly Sensitive People and Their Characteristics

The dark side of highly sensitive people includes a tendency to emotional exhaustion, anxiety and overestimulation. They are also prone to perfectionism and excessive self -criticism. Their emotional intensity can lead them to experience anxiety, stress and exhaustion with ease. In addition, they tend to extreme self -criticism and rumination, which generates insecurity and emotional blockages.

Their strong empathy exposes them to absorb others, feeling overwhelmed. Often, they avoid conflicts, but accumulate resentment in silence. They may also feel misunderstood or rejected, which reinforces their isolation. Thus, in this Psychology For article, we deepen How is the dark side of highly sensitive people and their characteristics.

What is the dark side of highly sensitive people

Highly sensitive people (PAS) have many positive qualities, such as great empathy, creativity and a deep capacity for reflection. However, Your extreme sensitivity can also have a “dark side” that generates these difficulties in their daily life:

• Emotional overload: They get overwhelmed by intense emotions, both own and others. They can experience anxiety for the amount of emotional information they process. If it happens to you, in this article we explain how to deal with an emotional overload.
• Difficulty: They tend to absorb the problems of others, which leaves them exhausted. They find it hard to say “no”, which can lead to situations of emotional abuse or wear.
• Hypervigilance and trend to anxiety: They are very aware of their environment and can detect subtle changes in people and situations, which sometimes makes them feel insecure. They can anticipate problems that have not yet occurred, which generates constant stress.
• Tendency to excessive introspection: They analyze everything deeply, which can lead them to rumination and paralysis by analysis. They tend to relive uncomfortable mistakes or conversations, which generates prolonged guilt or shame.
• Difficulty dealing with criticism: Negative comments are taken very personal. They can feel injured by things that other people consider trivial.
• Trend to isolation: To protect yourself from emotional overload, sometimes they avoid social interactions. In the long term, this can generate loneliness and disconnection.

Dark side characteristics of highly sensitive people

The dark side of highly sensitive people (PAS) can manifest in several ways. Although high sensitivity has many advantages, it also causes challenges. Discover the negative aspects below:

• Difficulty establishing limits: their empathy and willingness to help can get too involved in the problems of others, absorbing their emotions and neglecting their own needs.
• Lack of flexibility to changes: Meticulousness and rigidity are some of the characteristics of highly sensitive people. Given the presence of unexpected events, they can respond with anguish, anxiety or stress, among others.
• Sensitivity to the opinion of others: They feel easily injured by criticism of the environment. Despite the good intention that someone who issues a comment can have, they have a hard time accepting a different point of view.
• Perfectionism: Highly sensitive people self -exam. Many pas are afraid of failure or not to meet their own standards, which can paralyze them and make them postpone tasks for fear of not doing them perfectly. In this article we explain how to stop being a perfectionist.
• Repetitive thoughts: Highly sensitive people have the tendency to think about situations without making a definitive decision. This can lead to a lack of initiative to projects.

How to deal with the dark side of highly sensitive people

Lying with the dark side of highly sensitive people (PAS) requires strategies that help them manage their emotional intensity and to establish healthy limits. Discover the best below:

• Use a specific language: Although we cannot generalize, many highly sensitive people do not have the symbolic ability to understand the double meaning of words. This can disorient them and generate greater anxiety. Given this, we must speak with a language that is understandable and foster a safe environment.
• Do not judge: The tendency to perfection is a characteristic that implies an excessive demand on the qualities of highly sensitive people. Faced with some mistake or error they may make, it is important to demonstrate security, empathy and understanding. This will make social skills strengthen.
• Show interest in developed areas: If a person has a passion for a certain subject and has spent time of his life, it is essential to validate it. For that, we must point out the importance of having motivation and optimism for life projects that are carried out in the present.
• Provide personal space: These clinical paintings may require social isolation time, since contact with other people can wear them. Given this, it is worth moving away when they request it and encourage them to express in words those sensations they possess.
• Emphasize the opportunities that represent the changes: Instead of strengthening negative behavior against unexpected events of life, it is preferable to emphasize the possibility of improving. As an example, we can tell a highly sensitive person who lost his job, who will find time to develop a personal entrepreneurship.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology For we have no power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to How is the dark side of highly sensitive people and their characteristics we recommend that you enter our category of clinical psychology.

References

• Arabi, S. (2023). Guide of the highly sensitive person to deal with toxic people. Barcelona: Obelisk Editions.