High Environmental Sensitivity: Signs And Properties

Sounds or strong smells, crowds… These are examples of things that people with high environmental sensitivity can struggle with. High environmental sensitivity characterizes people who experience high stress levels as a result of certain social, physical or emotional stimuli that are present in their immediate environment. Far from just being something “just in your head”, this condition can affect both productivity and psychological stability.

John Dewey, a well-known American teacher and psychologist, said that our well-being depends on how well-adapted we are to social situations. Any changes, small irregularities or friction create an immediate psychological and physiological instability.

For example, being in a very hot room is uncomfortable, so we will try to adjust the temperature to our needs. Another example: If you walk alone at night in a dark, empty street and hear footsteps behind you, you will feel threatened. This stimulus tells our brain to respond: run, cry for help or turn around and face the attacker.

High environmental sensitivity refers to more serious reactions to your environment. Think of a scenario where a group of people (for example in a work environment) all feel comfortable together, except one person. This person has a lower threshold for sounds. This person is more sensitive to conversations, to office lights and to the smells from the kitchenette or break room. It is more difficult for this person to be comfortable socially or physically in a work environment that can be completely comfortable for everyone else.

High environmental sensitivity: Why do we suffer?

High environmental sensitivity is not a new problem. As interesting as it may seem , ecological psychologists have spent decades studying how we relate to our immediate environment. They assess the effects of our environment on our bodies, our  minds  and our culture.

Authors such as  Lazarus, Folkman and Cohen developed a theoretical model in which they explained that this sensitivity is based on a number of very specific conditions. All have thresholds for tolerance when presented with certain stimuli. These stimuli are especially those that we cannot control and those that we have not developed personal strategies to deal with their influence.

Introversion and environmental sensitivity

However, there are also approaches that take personality into account. Consequently, and as an example, Harvard University was able to demonstrate that the brains of introverted people show high environmental sensitivity. On average, an introverted personality type leads to greater attention to daily details. This attention often generates an overload when there is excessive stimulation in an environment.

Consequently, this excess of stimuli, whether auditory, visual, tactile, etc., will lead to a higher level of stress and fatigue in these people. Not to mention this other relevant fact: people with high environmental sensitivity also tend to have higher sensitivity to other people’s feelings, as well as anxiety, worry or fear. These people can pick up these emotions in the atmosphere and can not filter them out. This emotional infection often occurs in people with high environmental sensitivity.

What are some characteristics of high environmental sensitivity?

An important thing to remember about this condition is that those who suffer from it can fall within a range. There are people with greater sensitivity than others. Some people who suffer from this have a threshold that is a little more resistant to the psychosocial stimuli in their environment. Let’s take a look at some of the most common features:

• Discomfort when it comes to bright lights, loud noises and certain smells.
• Slightly frightened by sudden noises such as when a car brakes, a door closes or a glass shatters.
• Discomfort in situations with a large number of people. They can also feel high stress levels in places where many things are happening at the same time (the TV is on, conversations are happening, children are playing, a phone is ringing…)

• Highly sensitive people are often very affected when they see or listen to bad news.
• It is also common for these people to feel angry, sad or disappointed when they see or read about situations where humanity is unfair and violent.
• All of these feelings can be accompanied by physical problems such as headaches, fatigue or skin problems.

Ways to deal with high environmental sensitivity

We already know what environmental sensitivity is. Well, how do we handle that? The best way to respond to this condition is not by avoiding what is causing stress. We can not control everything in our environments. For example, we can not turn down the volume of traffic or ask people to stop talking or leave the area we are in. It is impossible for us to create ideal environments to avoid sensitivity issues. Today, most environments are characterized by hyperstimulation and unpredictability.

Instead of looking to solve the external factors, we should instead work with what is happening internally within us. There are ways to minimize the effect that these stimuli have on our minds and bodies. The best way to deal with hypersensitivity is to work on our emotional and sensory protection against stimuli.

Techniques for dealing with environmental sensitivity

• Find out what your stressors are. Consider how you can defend yourself against them. (If it is light, wear sunglasses. If there is sound, consider some noise-canceling headphones).
• Work on relaxation techniques or try to focus your attention on something else. For example, if you are overstimulated by large groups of people, you can train yourself to look at a particular object when you begin to feel uncomfortable. Whether it’s a roof, a window, a painting or an advertisement on the street, you focus only on that object. Work on your breath and try to relax while focusing.

• Give yourself specific times throughout the day where you take a break. Sometimes you may only need 5 minutes every hour to relax your mind. Get up and walk around a bit. Go to a quiet place or give yourself a few minutes to meditate.
• Finally, to avoid emotional contagion, it is necessary to stop focusing so much on other people. Instead, you should begin to become more aware of what is happening emotionally within yourself. Focus more on your own feelings and work to protect yourself from the influence of other people’s feelings. Do not let the feelings of others change how you feel. Work on staying calm no matter what is happening around you and focus on your own mental state.

To conclude, everyone is sensitive to their environment in one way or another. However, the goal is to make these external stimuli affect us as little as possible. By finding ways to filter out stimuli and protect ourselves from social infection, we can prevent high environmental sensitivity from affecting our productivity, efficiency and emotional state. It’s about finding techniques that work for you.