5 Misconceptions About Highly Sensitive People (PAS)

Have you ever heard of highly sensitive people? The trait of high sensitivity was first brought to the fore in the 1990s by Dr. Elaine N. Aron. According to his criteria, one in 5 people would actually be highly sensitive (PAS).

We are facing another type of personality that has a series of its own characteristics that make it unique and different from its own introversion, that dimension with which it shares some brushstrokes, but without having the same essence or the same way of seeing and understand things.

From the 90s to the present, several books have already been written, such as Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide by Ted Zeff or The Gift of Sensitivity: Highly Sensitive People  Also by Elaine N. . Aron.

The issue advances creating an impact on the population, especially since many people, in adulthood, finally discover why they have felt different or why they have always experienced that sensitivity that, during certain times, has meant more a problem than a benefit.

Highly sensitive people don’t have it easy. However, when you delve into those traits that make this personality unique, we take more control over life by taking more care of self-esteem. Or by understanding that feeling more does not mean suffering more, but seeing the world from one’s own heart.

We invite you to delve into this topic by clarifying those false myths that are usually had about this type of personality.

1. Highly sensitive people are shy

Thinking that highly sensitive people are shy is a widespread myth.

• We see many children who, in classrooms, choose to sit in the back looking for privacy and calm.
• There are those who, in meetings, are usually the quietest and the one who first leaves the parties or social events.

• High sensitivity has nothing to do with shyness.
• This type of personality enjoys their space in solitude, appreciates the silence and those relaxed environments where they can be with their own thoughts . 
• The fact that you enjoy your solitude does not mean that you “hate” being in a group, that you are uncomfortable with parties or people in general. He enjoys it, but prefers to control the moments, the moments when he feels ready to socialize.

At the same time, the good role that highly sensitive people can have as leaders is also emphasized today.

By more intuiting the emotions of others and that climate that characterizes an environment, they would have more skills to manage the human resources of a work setting.

2. Highly sensitive people are weak

This is another misconception that needs to be cleared up. High sensitivity is not synonymous with weakness of character.

• Someone who is infected by the emotions of others, who worries more than necessary or who is affected by things with greater intensity is not showing weakness, but a different emotional threshold.

• This is undoubtedly very difficult for other people to understand. Hence, they are common phrases like ” is that you get angry for nothing”, “it is that you take things to the tremendous” .. .

High sensitivity is strength of heart, that is why it is more intuitive, more receptive and delicate for everything. It is that language that for many is invisible.

3. They are indecisive

This idea is also often maintained: highly sensitive people or PAS are indecisive.

• After this idea what happens in reality is that they need much more time to make a decision.
• The world is full of subtleties, details to attend to, options to consider, and many approaches to consider.
• Highly sensitive people need to value all of them.

However, when they make a decision, it will be firm and immovable.

4. Only women are highly sensitive

It is very common to think that everything related to emotions, empathy or high sensitivity is “feminine territory”. This is a myth as classic as it is wrong. High sensitivity is a personality type that characterizes both men and women.

In fact, and as curious as it may seem due to this bias, the man who sees and feels the world in a more emotionally intense way is usually seen with bad eyes or with surprise.

5. All PAS experience depressions

That all highly sensitive people go through depression at some point in their lives has nuances.

• There is a high risk of suffering from depression, it is true, because “feeling more intensely” often means letting sadness, disappointment or failure control us.
• However, when you learn to set limits, to take care of your own self-esteem and to understand that being highly sensitive is a virtue and not a curse, you will be able to face those moments of personal complexity.

The topic of high sensitivity is increasingly accessible, and that is positive. It offers us more strategies to get to know ourselves better and manage our emotions. Let’s put these false myths aside.