Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

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MysticDreamFaerie
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Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by MysticDreamFaerie »

I'm a Highly Sensitive Person. I've always watch horror movies all my life. There's only so much violence I can take. I just don't watch a lot of it I guess and if I watch a horror movie, I tend to watch something different next time and the same goes if there's a violent movies or anime if I ever come across some. I've also realized I'm an Empath and I pick up on people's moods a lot, I get affected easily by people's moods and I noticed anytime someone is angry, it tends to wear off on me and I find myself getting angry as well. Is being an Empath and a HSP the same or completely different? I'd like to hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter.
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SpiritTalker
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Re: Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by SpiritTalker »

Geez, I never can watch horror movies! I saw one, one mind you, old late night, black and white movie with Bela Lugosi as a vampire. It was corny but I had nightmares. I cant even watch high suspense movies and I don't like roller coaster rides either. Nuh-uh.

By highly sensitive, do you mean you are distracted by surroundings, noise, conversation and interruptions? That to me would be different from an empathic sense of picking up others feelings. So I'd say they are two different things.
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Ethereal Moon Rose
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Re: Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by Ethereal Moon Rose »

I struggle with this also. I call myself an empath, but I also wonder if I'm 'just' a HSP.

I can't watch horrors lol. I can't watch the news without a flood of different emotions (I've experienced this since I was a child). I swear I can feel animals emotions. If my husband is in a bad mood I can feel it.

I also have anxiety. I wonder if it's connected somehow? Hmmm..
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Chalice
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Re: Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by Chalice »

MysticDreamFaerie wrote:Is being an Empath and a HSP the same or completely different? I'd like to hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter.

It is different.

Psychic Empathy is a psychic ability. (It is not as common as people think.)

Highly sensitive person, is what it is. I don't even think it needs a psychic proponent.
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Etbonusmalum
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Re: Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by Etbonusmalum »

I think there is a bit of a difference. I consider myself a HSP. I am highly empathetic of others feelings and ideas, especially when they are in turmoil. I can easily sympathize with them, even if I have never gone through their experience myself.

I think being a HSP and an Empath are similar but not exactly the same. Both are part of a weird connection between individuals, but I think being an Empath requires more psychic ability.

I think HSP are great listeners, passionate and are very caring, which is also very hard to find. And because they have those traits about them, it is very easy for them to connect with people emotionally. It can be a bit of a burden, because it is hard to find that in return. When i express myself it's hard to get others to really identify with me, because they lack that emotional empathic quality (whatever it is) that HSP have.
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MysticDreamFaerie
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Re: Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by MysticDreamFaerie »

Yeah I'm both and I just wanted to hear people's thoughts on this.

I get distracted by noise, conversations and anything going on around me. Anytime a volume is up way too loud it tends to annoy me and when people sing very loudly or talk very loudly it affects me and drains me. Just awhile ago my niece had her ipad was up way too loud and I told her to turn it down. I tend to suffer from headaches and migraines and have to lay in total darkness whenever I get them. People yelling and arguing drains me dry. I feel other people's emotions as I'm sitting in the room. Once I was in the room with somebody else and I could pick up on their anger and pretty soon I felt myself getting very angry. There's times where I believe I'm both a Empath and an HSP. I took both of these tests online and scored both on both of them.

Here's the links:
HSP Link:
http://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/
Empath Link:
http://www.empathtest.com/
"Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it." ~Tori Amos
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moonraingirl
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Re: Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by moonraingirl »

I strongly recommend book called Highly Sensitive Person by E. N. Aron. She's both a psychologist and a HSP so she is great and professional in describing this personality type. She explains it from a neurological as well as evolutionary perspective and than continues to write about common problems these people face. There are also self help exercises.
I've found this book to be so valuable. I always thought I was the only one so weird and no one understood me. But reading the book explained so many situations and my reactions to them! The very fact that I was able to give a name to my personality type is so therapeutic!
I also think there's a difference between empathy and being a HSP but I believe they often overlap. However, it is possible to be only one of them.
Etbonusmalum
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Re: Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by Etbonusmalum »

@MysticDreamFaerie sounds like we suffer from the same issues. I also have migraines and laying in darkness helps. I've been to neurologist and they couldn't detect anything wrong. I can't take too much sunlight and strong smells.
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Re: Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by Firebird »

I think being a HSP has very close ties to PTSD. If you can get a bit of a handle on the PTSD then the sensitivity issuses should lessen some.
I know after 4 years of really hard work, things that used to impact me greatly have lessened by about 30%. I still have a lot of work to do, but have made it a spiritual journey...so it's been interesting and enlightening.
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SnowCat
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Re: Empathy and HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

Post by SnowCat »

I think some overlap exists between empath and HSP. There may also be some overlap with ADD and ADHD. A lot of it is in the brain's hard wiring, which does get changed by PTSD. Some of the programming gets overwritten by the trauma.

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