This post is about 18 highly sensitive person traits.
If you suspect you might be highly sensitive but aren’t sure, I hope this post brings clarity and comfort. For years, I believed something was wrong with me, why did I feel everything so deeply, need more time to process or become overwhelmed in situations that others seemed to handle with ease?
This blog explores 18 Highly Sensitive Person traits and how to support your sensitivity rather than resist it. I invite you to reflect on each trait with curiosity and honesty. Let’s dive in.
What It Means to Be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)
A Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is someone with a biologically based trait known as Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS). This is not a disorder that needs to be fixed, but rather a natural temperament that calls for deeper understanding, and awareness. High sensitivity is found in approximately 15–20% of the population, and maybe you’re one of them.
Scientific Perspective:
Sensory Processing Sensitivity is defined by a more finely tuned nervous system and deeper cognitive processing of emotional, sensory, and social input. HSPs respond more strongly to both positive and negative stimuli. This can lead to increased susceptibility to overwhelm but also heightened creativity, empathy, and intuition.
Emotional Perspective:
Emotionally, HSPs often feel like they’re “too much” for the world—feeling beauty, conflict, pain, and joy more intensely than others. This sensitivity can be a profound gift, making HSPs incredibly compassionate, intuitive, and wise, but it can also lead to emotional burnout, overstimulation, and anxiety.
Fun fact: Sensitivity is about 50% genetic and 50% environmental. So if you’re highly sensitive, chances are one of your parents is too.
Next, I want to walk you through 18 traits of a Highly Sensitive Person to help you better understand yourself. You don’t need to identify with all 18 to be an HSP, but if you resonate with most, there’s a good chance this is you.
If only a few traits resonate, you may lean more toward being an empath rather than a full-spectrum HSP.
Is being an empath the same as being an HSP?
This is a common question I hear, and the answer is no. Not all empaths are HSPs, but all HSPs are empaths.
18 Highly Sensitive Person Traits
(That will help You Understand Yourself Better)
- You feel everything deeply—joy, sorrow, beauty, and pain.
Even seemingly small moments can move you to tears or lift your spirit completely. - You absorb the emotions of others like a sponge.
You don’t just witness energy, you carry it, often without realizing it’s not your own. - You need more alone time than most people.
Solitude isn’t loneliness, it’s how you reset, recharge, and return to yourself. - You get easily overstimulated by noise, lights, or chaotic environments.
Your nervous system is finely tuned, and too much sensory input quickly becomes too much. - You notice subtle details others miss.
Changes in tone, body language, or energy never escape your awareness. - You’re deeply affected by beauty, nature, and art.
A piece of music, a sunrise, or a few perfect words can stir your soul. - You process things slowly and thoroughly.
You need time to digest experiences, emotionally, mentally, and energetically. - You avoid conflict and criticism because it feels personal, even when it’s not.
Harsh words cut deeper than others realize, and you may carry them for days. - You crave deep, meaningful conversations.
Surface-level talk often drains you. You long for soulful connections. - You’re highly intuitive.
You just know things, without needing logical proof. Your inner voice speaks clearly when you give it space. - You often struggle with people-pleasing and over-giving.
Your empathy makes it hard to say no, even when you’re running on empty. - You feel responsible for the emotional tone in a room.
You sense what others need, and often shift to accommodate it, unconsciously. - You are profoundly impacted by others' moods.
If someone close to you is upset, it can feel like your own nervous system is under siege. - You’re easily startled or jumpy.
Your body is often on high alert, wired for protection, even when there’s no threat. - You struggle to function when sleep-deprived or hungry.
Your body needs consistency and care, otherwise, everything feels ten times harder. - You hold onto memories and emotions longer than others.
You replay conversations, moments, and decisions over and over in your mind. - You’re naturally compassionate and thoughtful.
You often anticipate others’ needs, remember the little things, and care deeply. - You feel different and always have.
You’ve sensed, since childhood, that you were wired a little more tenderly. That you walk through the world just a little more softly.
How to Support Your Sensitivity Instead of Fighting It
By now, you hopefully feel more seen, and maybe even validated in your sensitivity. Understanding that you’re a Highly Sensitive Person can feel like a revelation. Suddenly, so much of your life begins to make sense.
As I mentioned earlier, your sensitivity is not something to "fix." It’s something to honor with intention. With a few intentional shifts, you can support your sensitivity in ways that empower you instead of depleting you.
Here are a few gentle practices to get you started:
Rest:
Give yourself permission to rest more often, and to do nothing. You need more space to process, which may include more sleep, slow mornings, or even midday naps. This is not laziness, it’s self-respect.
Say No: Learning to say no is essential for your well-being. After a full workday, it’s okay to pass on social plans—even with close friends. Protecting your energy is not selfish; it’s sacred.
Live Intuitively: The more you understand your emotional rhythms, the more you can live in flow instead of force. Your sensitivity is a compass. Let it guide you rather than override it.
Join my free training: Healing Burnout with Soft Power.
You’ll learn the top 3 mistakes HSPs make that keep them emotionally exhausted, and the new path to sustainable empowerment.
I hope this post gave you space to feel seen, soften, and feel empowered. Your sensitivity is not a weakness, it’s your superpower. You’ve simply never been taught how to work with it, but that can change, and it can start now.
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