There is hope as well as challenge for HSPs. Sensitivity is an asset and a blessing as much as a “burden”.
Differential Susceptibility is the term given to show individual differences in how people respond to and are affected by their environment – “For better and worse”
Research shows that the highly sensitive are especially sensitive – and to both positive and negative influences.
Highly sensitive children who experience difficult childhoods – (including where they feel “different”, isolated, disapproved of, misunderstood etc.) are more prone that their less sensitive counterparts to experience anxiety and depression in adulthood.
Highly sensitive children who experience supportive, encouraging, validating environments where they can be fully themselves tend to excel in adulthood. They fare not just as well as their less sensitive counterparts – they do better.
Vantage Sensitivity gives the highly sensitive a positive edge.
A positive, supportive environment has an especially strong influence on the highly sensitive – more so than on the less sensitive.
So whilst the highly sensitive can feel particularly challenged by their environments, they are also at an advantage in supportive environments. The highly sensitive have better outcomes from therapeutic interventions, for example, than the not so sensitive and generally flourish and thrive in positive environments.
Belsky and Pluess, 2009
Pluess and Belsky, 2012