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Do you like doing personality tests? While I am usually cautious of them, I have just completed one, as it is based on a field of psychology research that is currently in the news.
It concerns the theory that some people are more sensitive than average to their environments, and that this has both positive and negative impacts.
But sceptics say the idea of these “highly sensitive people” is unscientific and that the claimed signs could really indicate a different condition, such as autism or anxiety.
We might even suspect that parents who claim their child is extra-sensitive could be using that to excuse bad behaviour.
So, how can you find out if you or your child are highly sensitive and how good is the evidence supporting the concept?
The idea took off with a 1996 book called The Highly Sensitive Person, by a US psychologist called Dr Elaine Aron. It has since been adopted and expanded on by other researchers around the world – although it is not a formal diagnosis by doctors.
Highly sensitive people are said to be sensitive to the physical senses – like sights, sounds, tastes – and emotional or mental stimulation.
They may sometimes get overwhelmed by things like loud noises, and have difficulty concentrating in busy or intense environments. The upsides are that they are also supposed to be more perceptive, thoughtful and creative.
Open-plan offices can be too noisy for some (Photo: Getty)According to Dr Aron’s website, they tend to reflect on things deeply and have a “rich and complex inner life”.
If you want to know if you could be a highly sensitive person, you can complete Dr Aron’s checklist, or do a slightly longer survey developed by researchers including Professor Michael Pluess at the University of Surrey, who collaborates with Dr Aron.
Can children be highly sensitive?
Both adults and children can be highly sensitive – indeed, the trait is supposed to be stable over a person’s life.
But there seems to be more attention and research into high sensitivity among children, perhaps because there is such a lot of interest these days in parenting methods. “If a child is highly sensitive, you might want to parent that child a little bit differently,” said Professor Pluess.
As a result, there are a multitude of books, websites and podcasts about how to parent highly sensitive children.
To be clear, being highly sensitive is not claimed to be a medical condition – it is just an aspect of our personality, and everyone is on a continuum. Some of us are highly sensitive – about one in five according to Dr Aron – some are relatively insensitive, while most of us are in the middle.
But proponents of the idea say it is an especially interesting and useful personality trait to consider, because adults end up happier if they take it into account in how they arrange their lives.
For instance, highly sensitive people can find that they get overwhelmed by open-plan office environments, both from the lights and noise and the conversations. “They’ll pick up on tensions in the room and between people. That is a lot of information that can be over-stimulating,” said Professor Pluess.
When children are highly sensitive, it is claimed there will be fewer tears and tantrums if they are parented taking that into account.
The most obvious advice is that parents should be understanding if such children express dislikes for certain foods, loud environments or clothing textures, for instance.
More controversially, parents are usually advised that when sensitive children misbehave, they should be admonished more gently, rather than with raised voices and consequences.
But, this seems to be challenged by one of the few pieces of research that has actually investigated parenting styles and sensitivity.
Psychologists usually classify parenting styles into four approaches. These are: authoritarian (strict, with high expectations), authoritative (less strict, with some negotiation allowed), permissive (very warm, nurturing and little punishment) and uninvolved (very hands-off).
The permissive style is probably closest to what most people would today call gentle parenting, as in these families, children rarely get told off.
Surprisingly, in a study of 200 American children, those who were classed as highly sensitive at the age of three were more likely to end up with depression symptoms by the time they were nine if their families had a permissive parenting style.
That might be because permissive parenting doesn’t give highly sensitive children enough support and guidance, said Dr Francesca Lionetti, a child psychologist at the University of Pavia, in Italy, who carried out the research along with Professor Pluess.
“Permissive parenting is good in the sense that it gives you freedom. But if you process things more deeply, maybe you need a bit of sensitive, structured guidance,” she said. “Maybe you need someone that can help you in regulating your emotions more than other children.”
What do sceptics say?
Before parents get too concerned about getting exactly the right parenting style for their sensitive child, they should be aware that not all psychologists are convinced by the concept.
“The problem with the highly sensitive person label is that it isn’t scientifically robust,” said Amanda Moses, a psychologist and researcher at La Trobe University in Melbourne. “It risks giving people a false sense of explanation while overlooking possibilities such as autism or anxiety.”
People with autism may also have sensitivity to physical senses, for instance to loud noises. And feeling uncomfortable in emotional situations could be a sign of anxiety.
square EDUCATION OutnumberedI homeschool my kids - parents like me are judged and exhausted
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In fact, a study by Professor Pluess that came out this month found that adults who are highly sensitive are more likely to have a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
This could be taken as a sign that sceptics such as Moses are right, and sensitivity is being mixed up with anxiety. Alternatively, it could be taken as confirming that sensitivity is an important trait that needs to be more considered in mental health research and treatment.
“It’s a fundamental difference between people that has implications for the well being of those people,” said Professor Pluess.
Where does that leave us? It’s still unclear how valid the highly sensitive concept is. It isn’t an NHS diagnostic label, but some people seem to find it useful in interpreting their sensations and feelings.
People who believe they are extra-sensitive should not be dismissed, but we need to ground our explanations in evidence, said Moses.
“While the idea has captured public imagination, [we] need to approach it with healthy scepticism.”
Cancer, one of the most feared medical conditions, is often seen as an unstoppable force. But in fact, the opposite is true. It is common for our bodies to successfully eradicate early cancers without us even noticing.
By middle age, most of us probably have several microscopic tumours dotted around the body that are in the process of being destroyed by the immune system.
Now, many scientists believe the fact that the immune system can defeat at least some early cancers suggests it could hold the secret to developing better treatments.
I’ve been watching
The current production of the musical, Evita, in London, has earned bouquets and brickbats for the way it stages the show’s anthem, Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.
Lead actor Rachel Zegler leaves the stage to deliver the song on the building’s outside balcony. So, us paying theatre-goers had to watch this part of the show on a screen, while the crowds outside got the live experience.
While a break with tradition, this did not mar my enjoyment of the iconic show, and Zegler’s charismatic and gutsy performance more than made up for her temporary absence from the stage.
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