18 Signs You’re A Highly Sensitive Person

1. You’ve been told your whole life you’re sensitive. When you were a child people always pointed out what a sensitive kid you were, friends would probably describe you as someone who wears their heart on their sleeve. You just have SO MANY EMOTIONS. All the time. And you always have.

2. You have an incredible intuition that’s rarely wrong. You trust your gut instinct and have learned to hone in on the way your body communicates to you when something doesn’t feel right or when something’s about to happen.

3. You can’t function without alone time.  You need time to be by yourself to recharge, to get away from social stimulation, and just be alone with yourself. If you go too long without having a break from sensory input you feel worn out and exhausted.

4. You get overwhelmed easily. Large crowds, bright lights, strong smells, big groups – many of these things can overwhelm you instantly. A lot of stimuli can ruin your experience and although you can deal with them, you can’t wait to escape.

5. You have a tough time dealing with people’s negativity. Pessimistic people, people who always seem to want to bring others down, people with a negative energy – these types completely drain you. You just can’t deal with them.

6. You can read people really well. Just by spending a short time with someone you can easily get an idea of what they’re about. You can always tell when someone’s lying or being deceptive. Your perceptions of people are typically always on point.

7. You’re highly empathetic. When a friend or loved one is going through something it’s basically like you’re going through it too. Forget sad movies, sad songs – you WILL cry. You don’t mind it though. You love having a good cry.

8. Everyone always wants to talk to you and tell you their problems. You’re one of those people that seems to draw others no matter where you’re at. You can sit down on a bench in a park alone and someone will usually come up and sit next to you. 20 minutes later you know their entire life history. You’re a good listener and because of that you’re always the first person someone calls when they have a problem.

9. You have multiple rich inner lives and love daydreaming. Sometimes the world becomes too much, it’s too overwhelming, and you must escape. Your head is the best place for this because of your highly imaginative brain you’re able to create vibrant inner lives that flourish when you’re going through a rough time. Other times when you’re neither here nor there, perhaps on a bus or in a waiting room, this is another time you tap into your daydreams. It’s one of the best ways for you to recharge and get away from it all for a bit.

10. You avoid overly violent movies or images online. These things are just hard for you to deal with. You know they’re going to make you feel sad or disgusted or angry so you don’t even bother with them anymore.

11. You make different playlists for all the various moods you get into on a regular basis. When you want to cry and think about something you’ve dealt with you’ll turn up Drake or Taylor Swift or some random indie song that makes you FEEL things and just let it all out. Or if you want to sit introspectively and reflect on life you’ll put on a Bon Iver mix. You have a playlist for any and all moods that help you decompress.

12. You use your emotions to fuel the creative process. You can’t have all of these feelings and not release them somewhere! You might be into writing or drawing, painting or sculpting. You love taking the things you’ve gone through and releasing them into a work of art.

13. You’re always observing others and the environment around you. Maybe it’s just the way someone hesitated before they said something. Maybe it’s subtle body language between two people across the cafe. You’re always picking up on little clues.

14. People are always asking you, “Why are you so sensitive?” And honestly, this is one of the most annoying questions to ask a sensitive person.

15. You’re conscientious of the way others perceive you. You know when you’re performing your best or worst at work. You know when you’re being unusually quiet in a group outing or when you’re in the mood to be the life of the party. You’re always polite and notice when other people aren’t. You’re intuitive and insightful on the way you come across.

16. You’re extremely detail oriented. You have a way of noticing the things others seem to miss sometimes. You take notice immediately if someone did their hair differently or of the different complexities in a room.

17. When it comes to dating you always fall hard and fast. You’re an all or nothing kind of person – either you fall in love passionately or not at all. When you like someone you REALLY like them and it can be hard if they aren’t on the same page. It might lead to a lot of failed romances but you’ve never been very good at the casual, chill kind of relationships so many other people are good at.

18. You take a long time to make decisions. It’s easy for you to weigh the pros and cons of situations so when you need to make a decision it can be a daunting process for you. You think about every possible outcome that could come from going one way or the other on a choice so you want to make sure it’s the best decision. And if you make a decision and it turns out not exactly the way you hoped it would, you go back through your thought process to self-reflect and see where you went wrong.