Is it anxiety or just overwhelm?

In her book, The Highly Sensitive Person, Elaine Aron makes the point that there is a difference between who you are (both physically and mentally) and the social skills which you may or may not have developed.

If you are highly sensitive, then being highly sensitive is part of who you are, both physically and mentally. It is part of how you are made. (which leads me to think logically that there is no point in trying to reject this about yourself or in feeling like there is something wrong with you. what do you think?)

The core distinction of being highly sensitive is that your neurology is more sensitive to the people, environment and things around you. And therefore, because it is more sensitive, it is taking in more information about your surroundings and you can get more easily overwhelmed -- on a bodily, physical level -- than other people will.

This could also mean that you might be able to let go of some of your judgment that you are anxious or shy around people. What if instead of thinking you have anxiety, you approach your experiences with people as if they are situations where you need to be keenly aware of what's going on with your energy?

The neat thing about this realization is that: It seems like there might be an error in how you are labeling your experiences with people.

You might be judging your anxiety as evidence of your fear and discomfort with people, while really it may just mean that you need to take care of yourself and do things to calm your over-stimulated body and energy.

Caring for your body and mind in this way does not mean you cannot handle a situation. You might just need to take really good care of yourself, so that you have the energy when you need it and so that you can be strong and focused when you need to.

Comments

[Tom]

This is a really good post - I think it definitely applies to me , but I wonder what you mean by caring for your body and mind when in a physically uncomfortable situation. Do you mean doing stuff like yoga/meditation, or more specific things to make oneself more aware of, and more able to handle the energy associated with anxiety?

[Sarah Malik]

Hi Tom,
yes, in this post, I am speaking about taking really good care of yourself 24 hours a day. This can mean anything from taking care of yourself, so that you sleep well to learning how to manage your energy during the day. Feeding yourself well to keep you nourished. Not doing things you don't really want to do that are too draining. Doing things that are really important to you. And focusing your energy there. It's really about priorities and making your true desires central to what you put your energy towards.