Mini-Link Roundup: Fall 2018 Edition
Like a whirlwind – literally overnight, in my neighborhood – we’ve gone from summer to fall. The leaves are beginning to turn, temperatures are dropping, and all around kids are eagerly anticipating their chance to dress up and stuff their faces with candy.
With the change in weather, I find myself a little under the weather this week, so I am sending out a mini-link roundup! Today’s roundup includes a nifty resource (a self-test) as well as two articles. Both the self-test and the articles will lay the foundation for next week’s topic: the Highly Sensitive Person in the narcissistic home.
What is a Highly Sensitive Person, anyway?
I’m glad you asked, because that’s what my first link is all about! Dr. Elaine Aron, one of the foremost researchers into sensitivity, identifies three core traits of Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs):
- A sensitive nervous system that is very attuned to sensory input
- Heightened awareness of subtleties in the environment
- A tendency to be more easily overwhelmed than the average person in a highly stimulating environment
High sensitivity, or Sensory Processing Sensitivity, is a personality trait believed to affect about 15-20% of the population. HSPs tend to be deep feelers, creative thinkers, and often very intuition-driven. They are keenly aware of what happens around them, and are experts at “reading the room.”
Think you might be an HSP? Take the self-test and see!
Link #1: https://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/
A unique intersection of personality traits
Anecdotally, I have noticed a high correlation between HSPs and adult children of narcissists, particularly those with a tendency toward people-pleasing. While I will explore this further next week, this makes sense on several levels. Sensitivity to people and environments is a useful survival skill in a home where another person’s emotional state can dominate the household. And for that reason, the next two links explore what it can be like for HSPs growing up in difficult family environments.
Link #2: https://www.elephantjournal.com/why-children-of-narcissists-are-more-sensitive
Link #3: https://www.saraouimette.com/blog/The HSP and CPTSD
More to come!
Each of these reads is a fairly deep one. Each article is on the longer side, although the self-test takes only a few minutes. Because we will be exploring the crossroads between sensitivity and growing up in a chaotic home in greater detail next week, I will keep this roundup short and sweet. Enjoy the links, and be sure to check back in next week for my take on this unique personality trait!