The Highly Sensitive Parent by Elaine Aron

Could you be highly sensitive person? A highly sensitive person is someone who can get overwhelmed by various senses such as noise, smells, clutter that would not bother most people.

I got two kids and sometimes they both are crying and screaming at the same time. Their screams causes my neck, shoulders and arms to get stiff and I feel tingling or pins all over my arms. This sounds like heart attack and I am going to doctor to have it checked but quick search showed that this might be due to High Sensitivity towards noises or screams. And that’s when I learned about Highly Sensitive People aka HSP.

I found this book at Scribd.com (my current employer). I am still reading but I highly recommend it if you feel overwhelmed by children or especially when they are misbehaving.

So far I have learned that there are many signs of HSPs, 1 out of 5 people are HSP. If you feel overwhelmed, anxious, or uneasy around certain stimuli than those might what you are sensitive to. For example, in addition to noise, I absolutely hate smells, both good and bad and try to keep our home at neutral smell. Food and cooking smells are good only for a few minutes before I have to step out or open windows.

Also what is strange that I cannot deal with loud screams, I am absolutely comfortable with loud music.

While I am halfway through the book, but just knowing that HSP is a thing and there are some strategies you can use to deal with it, is awesome.