I just really feel kind of alone in this sometimes. I react to everything so strongly - I have extremely low pain tolerance and stress tolerance and I feel like my body just gives up on me so easily.

Basically I need beta blockers just to survive any situation that makes me nervous (and there are a lot of those), since otherwise my nervous system will be a complete wreck and I can barely function. If I get into a conflict with someone, I'll start to shake and cry really easily and it's very hard for me to calm down. If I watch a series that has violence or any psychologically/emotionally intense content, I'll also be a wreck for the rest of the day and can't stop thinking about it. If I get my blood drawn or get vaccinated, I'll often faint and will also have pain in my arm for the whole day, while most people say they didn't really even feel the needle. I get excruciating ear pain in cold windy weather, and I simply can't wear tight fit clothing or itchy wool knits. And the list goes on...

Ugh, I just feel like it'd be so much easier to just have thick skin and not be so vulnerable to everything. I do feel like I feel all the pleasures strongly too though, so it's not all just negatives. Music very easily gives me chills and strong physical euphoria, for instance. But still, man, sometimes I feel like I'm definitely playing life on hard mode.

I’m a good friend, and I have lots of them. But whenever it comes to dating, I just hate the idea of being responsible for another person all the time. They’re constantly texting me, having emotional baggage, demanding a decent chunk of my time and energy, etc, idk I just think that sounds like a nightmare.

Plus, I have a sensitive nervous system and attachment issues. Unfortunately, I tend to fawn a lot/show the other person whoever I think they want. It is as though if I even approach dating territory, I lose myself in the other person, and I hate that. I feel like I’m not showing the other person who I actually am, and if I’m not doing that, who exactly is it they love spending so much time with? Not me. Idk, I see myself staying single forever or finding someone much later in life unless somebody knocks my socks off and I’m comfortable with them.

I was on a 9hr flight back home from vacation and the person ahead of me opened the overhead bin, then reached back and was fiddling w/ something in her seat, leaving the bin wide open. I was weary so i kept an eye out and sure enough a few seconds later her luggage comes tumbling down on top of me.

I'm first in complete shock, pain, and embarrassment. I have no problem being standing up for myself/ being outgoing/ but that's like falling in public/ throwing up in public - just something embarrassing out of your control happen. A large bag with a computer and large tumbler fell right into my right side as i ducked.

I kind of blew it off as i was in shock, but was pissed because it was completely preventable and now my head and half my body is throbbing. Of course they were apologetic, attendants checked if i was okay.

After the flight, I just broke down. The shock and actual physical pain manifesting into physical pain was too much. I don't know how to describe it. I was initially upset at myself for crying + feeling upset - something I struggle with being a HSP- letting myself be nonjudgmental towards how I'm feeling - it doesn't matter if it's "justified" to others or how someone else would react in that situation. It's okay to feel how you feel.

Anyway, I feel a bit better now, emotionally. I'm still physically in a lot of pain and regret not being more upfront about how much physical pain I was and am in.

I feel everything so intensely, I feel like I have a very high emotional need. I often feel a heavy lump in my chest, most of the time the emotions are intense I need to resort to physical sensations. I used to do all sorts of self destructive behavior but now I only do harmless things like eating candy, using lotions, and occasionally biting my tongue.

I have learned how to manage it by myself for the most part, but it makes me feel so lonely. I have a great family, friends, and recently an amazing girlfriend too, But no one has ever truly understood me. I’m just intense and if one actually tries to “get” to me, they will get overwhelmed. I’m dealing with it and I journal and therapy but I just wish I don’t have to do all this alone. I just wished that I’m not overwhelming and too much to deal with when I open up and tell someone everything that I’ve been dealing with.

Basically, I made a discussion post in a subreddit dedicated to a certain franchise. No one replied, and the only person who did respond started their comment with "ignoring the post" and then said something completely off-topic.

I’m not sure if this person was just an ill-mannered child or if they did it on purpose to make me feel bad (I’ve been attacked online countless times before, so I don’t expect much from the internet).

I’m just wondering if someone who isn't an HSP would also feel invalidated and excluded by something like this.

I’m just tired of the internet, even though I use it every single day to satisfy my need for human contact. I get the feeling that, in general, people passively hate me.

Hi everyone. Usually just a Reddit browser but I didn’t know this sub existed. Happy to be reading things I relate to - being the only HSP I know is really lonely at times. Anyway, I wanted to talk about something that has been on my mind. 

Does anyone else have a very rigid value system that makes it difficult to let things go?  Like beyond the traditional integrity. 

For instance: honesty, congruence and accountability are big ones for me. I have a friend who lies A LOT. And most of the time it’s harmless and honestly kind of stupid - “oh I’ve read that book” or “yeah I’ve been there too!” There there are times where it’s bigger, but that’s not really important to what I’m trying to say. It REALLY bothers me when she lies - I ruminate on it for days. I just don’t understand the point of it? And again, a lot of the times it’s not actively harmful so idk why I can’t just let it go. But I genuinely CANNOT and it’s making me resentful. 

Another friend is very hypocritical - will criticize others for acting a certain way then go do something similar and act as if it’s different because she’s morally superior to the other people. And that also REALLY bothers me. Again, it becomes something I’ll hyper-fixate on after witnessing it. 

Do others feel intensely rigid with their values, too? Is this an HSP thing or am I just too hash/judgmental or something? 

(Also, not to worry - I’m in therapy. Just looking to hear from other HSPs) 

especially caused by trauma. cause i know that some people become hard, insensitive and some too kind, too empathetic. im 20 just getting to find out the adult world and what ive seen and realized is that the world rewards malicious, mean, insensitive people. it is so so cruel and it hits me like bricks everyday that people are so rude and mean and theyre the ones thriving, happy, theyre the one who has friends. i tried to be hard too but it felt like i was selling my soul. please just someone tell me does it ever get better for people like me?

My doctor said I have a trait that makes me very sensitive to stress and causes variety of symptoms. I was diagnosed with depression, pmdd, CPTSD but as the doctor change it changes.

It's been 4 years since I first started feeling depressed and it's getting worse and worse.

I started hallucinating and got confused and tried to take my life last year.

Now, a little after I had a flu and got back from a trip, I started feeling very tired.

I can move but I take a nap for hours.

But now my body is always heavy and doing things takes a lot energy and it's getting worse.

I'm having vivid nightmare everyday and I wake up during the night.

I feel down and anxious. I feel like hurting myself.

What should I do?

Do you have any food sensitivities and does your body react sensitive to any food or milk products?

Do you get acne or other symptomes from milk products or other food?

Did you stop eating/drinking milk and other food or do you just live with that?

Do you live milk free because of that and what do you eat instead? How do you get your protein?

I think my acne is from milk products but I need the protein in the morning and it's cheap. I already eat meat, eggs and fish. I don't know how I should get my protein in the morning that is cheap and easy to make without cooking. I don't have time in the morning. I'm always in a rush.

Is it true that the blood sugar affects the nervous system?

I always get tired, exhausted and groggy after eating unhealthy carbs and sugar, and I loose the feeling in my fingers after a lot of carbs. I can only eat healthy carbs like complex carbs, fruits, honey and dates. I don't have diabetes.

Why is it like that and can it be some health issues and not just being sensitive?

Do you have something similar?

I am just wondering because I never met anyone else even remotely as sensitive as me to thing like caffeine or chocolate, plus less common things like bacopa monieri, gingeng, lecithin, even turmeric... These things cause me permanent insomnia, nightmares, even brain damage I think. I literally avoid buying anything that uses lecithin as an emulsifier or sweets containing cocoa. It affects my sleep long term. Coffee is something incomprehensible for me. How can people consume this? Besides the fact that it tastes awful, one little teaspoon early in the morning is enough to keep me up at night. Black tea the same. And if I refuse a cup they always look at me as of I am crazy. Am I really the one only one? Please tell me there are more people our there with this problem!

I will tell you my background first— my family consists of four people me, my mother, sister and father, in which my father was an alcoholic and a highly trupitudinous man and he left us when I was 5 years old or something. Like he used to come and go constantly and then finally left when I was 5 or something.

Now coming to my mother or sister, so their system was— yes, they did send me to school and college but that was for the name only, they never asked what I wanted to do or how am I doing, etc. but other than that they had no involvement in my life. It was like they just gave birth to me and left me on my own (emotionally) and at some level physically too. Like no holidays, no birthday parties, nothing. And yes I am living on their finances as for now but the condition still continues.

And due to sensitive, emotional, empathic caring nature and having no-one to rely on, I used to just simply go out of the way to help or care for people (which is my basic nature too) and never get that in return and due to my conditions I always got exploited or taken advantage of. Like I knew what was happening but I had no one to even talk to, so I used to ignore it because if I didn't do that then I would have been lonely, which I was anyways.

Now I am 25 and it still continues but going through all this compelled to never trust anyone and never show your emotions to anyone but that made my condition that serious that I isolated myself up for a decade straight.

So for dealing with all this I hired a therapist (she's a trauma informed clinically licensed therapist with a PhD with high credentials) and the things were going good until previous and today's session. Like i get panic attacks all the time and those are that serious that it makes a suicidal all the time.

Now, since i have no one who understands me — she was the main anchor of my life who knows me in and out and when I first send her the suicide note— she was anxious for me, she called me multiple times, got touched with my family that if he safe or not and like that.

But she stated the boundaries very clearly that do not message or call me outside the session because this is not a crisis help line and I cannot be available for you 24/7— which was not wrong at all. But since I live alone and get panic attacks quite often do I use to message her thinking that at least I have someone to inform that I am in distress so that she can help me but in previous session she harshly stated me that— do not message or call outside the session because I cannot be available 24/7. It's your family's job and not mine and if they are not doing it then it is not my problem— which hurt me because my intention was not to trouble her but to feel safe that yes I also have someone whom I can inform if something happens to me.

But she said in our previous session that "my boundaries are more important than your life because what you are saying is that if something happens to me then no one will be there to even inform is an unpredicted future outcome and nothing else because it can happen to me also even when I am surrounded by the people or family. So do not cross boundaries of not texting outside the message.

But it feels like she was saying that my life doesn't matter but her boundaries are more important than that. Maybe it was my interpretation and not what she was saying but she did say that your life matters to you only and if you die then surely people will mourn for two days but then they will move on like I never existed. So that hurt me too, does my life have no value?!

And the other incident was— as she is a doctor so interns come to her for an internship, so after my previous session when I was going back home, she asked one of her interns "Did you eat something?" If not, then go inside and ask my mother and she will give you the food, so that made me hurt too. Like i understand the difference between an intern and a client or a patient but I needed that care more than anyone who was present there but I was not getting that but she was. Like my concern was— "she's also an outsider and I am also an outsider but she's getting asked or cared but not me when it is needed the most for me!" So why behave differently with me?!

So when I confronted her in today's session she said— yes, I do behave differently with different people and all people does.

Now the problem is— that is fine that people behave differently with different people but I am special to no one and no one cares about me in the way I wanted them to be.

So she said — you are not a child any more who will get unconditional love, you are a 25 year old man so behave like one. Now, was it my mistake that I didn't get that unconditional love which I deserved?! Now if I am needing that then what's the problem in it?!

It would have been wrong when I was just asking to do it for me and not do anything in return but I am also provided unconditional love then what's the problem in wanting the same?!

But she said — that's the cause of your suffering, people will give whatever they can and not what you want them to be. But people have at least one person in their life who is the most important one to them but I don't have anyone and why everyone can do it for everyone but not me?!

What am I doing wrong?! What's the problem in me?!

Yes I have high needs. Yes I am desperate but what else do this fucking world expect from a person who was starved for affection, love, care and importance his whole Life?!

Why the fuck everybody wants a man who has all things figured it out and who don't care if someone is in his life or not?!

Just because my needs are high because I never got the love in my entire life, so that made me unattractive somehow?!

No amount of wealth, hobbies or work can make me happy but love! I only want one thing in life which is love and I don't understand what's the problem in wanting that?!