There’s been a lot of buzz in recent years about HSPs, or highly sensitive people. Highly sensitive people and children have been around since the beginning of time. But the traits of a highly sensitive child have often been misunderstood.
Many people mischaracterize highly sensitive children as odd, anxious, or too sensitive. It hasn’t been until recent years that highly sensitive people have been given the space to name their condition and validate their experience.
If you’re the parent of a highly sensitive child, your child might feel misunderstood by their peers or family members. That’s why being able to identify the signs of a highly sensitive child can be important in knowing how to support them.
We’ll discuss the traits of a highly sensitive child, and some tips on how to best support their experience.
What does it mean if my child is highly sensitive?
Oftentimes, when parents hear that their child is highly sensitive, their first reaction may be a negative one. They may worry that having the traits of a highly sensitive child will put them at a disadvantage in society.
On its own, being a highly sensitive child is not a predictor of future success. The truth is, it’s often people’s judgment and misunderstanding of what being a highly sensitive person means that can negatively impact your child, rather than the trait itself.
In fact, being a highly sensitive child has many advantages. It can be viewed as a strength, rather than a weakness. Your child’s perceptiveness and empathy for others can be harnessed to do great things and puts them at an advantage for succeeding as artists, healers, and creators.
Highly sensitive children can grow into creative, perceptive, and innovative adults – especially when their inner worlds are validated and supported. That’s why it’s so important to cultivate an atmosphere where your highly sensitive child is allowed to be themselves, without judgment, fear, or criticism.
What are highly sensitive traits?
Highly sensitive children makeup about 15-20% of the population and affect boys and girls at similar rates. Highly sensitive children have a hyperactivated nervous system that reacts to their environment and stimuli around them. Identifying a highly sensitive child is not always clear-cut, but knowing the traits of a highly sensitive child can help
Some traits of a highly sensitive child include:
- Feeling overwhelmed by lights, sounds, and smells
- Asking a lot of questions
- Being aware of changes to their environment and people’s moods
- Feeling impacted by other people’s emotions
- Being intuitive and perceptive
- Having high empathy for others
- Sensitivity to pain
- Feeling bothered by their clothing tags, itchy or uncomfortable fabrics, tight-fitting clothing
- Enjoying a quiet activity over a loud one
- Displaying cautiousness, especially in new situations
- Anxiety about new situations
- Shyness or introspectiveness
As mentioned earlier, many people misunderstand or mischaracterize highly sensitive children. People see their sensitivity to their environment, people, and situations as shyness, cautiousness, or being temperamental.
Their behaviors – such as being worn out by a birthday party, wanting downtime after school, or throwing a tantrum when their environment is too overwhelming – may appear as anxiety or moodiness. But when you understand a highly sensitive child’s behavior within the context of their personality, their behavior starts to make more sense.
For example, a tragedy may bother a non-HSP. However, a highly sensitive child may start to cry because they are overwhelmed with their emotions and their empathy for those close to the tragedy. The magnitude of their reaction may be greater than someone who is not highly sensitive.
Noticing these patterns of strong reactions to certain stimuli will be helpful in identifying whether or not your child is highly sensitive.
Raising a highly sensitive child tips
- Acceptance – Supporting your highly sensitive child starts by turning inward and finding acceptance for your child. Highly sensitive children can pick up on your anxieties very easily, so it’s important to create a space where your child feels comfortable and confident in being themselves.
- Encourage your child to see their sensitivity as a strength – Children who have the traits of a highly sensitive child should be celebrated for their unique strengths – such as intuitiveness and empathy. As an HSP, your child can see things that no one else does and connect with others on a deep level. Their sensitivity is a strength in many ways, as long as they’re willing to see it that way.
- Give gentle reminders – When you need to discipline your child, it’s best to avoid harsh tones and reprimands. That’s because highly sensitive children are already tough on themselves. They are their own worst critics, so giving your children harsh discipline may lead to an outburst or tantrum. Giving gentle reminders is a better way to approach discipline.
- Learn their triggers – Once you are more aware of your child’s particular sensitivities, you can help identify their triggers – such as bright lights, loud music, or confined, stuffy spaces. You can then either help them avoid or cope with those triggers. You can buy them noise-canceling headphones or soft lightbulbs for their room.
- Schedule downtime – Highly sensitive children may need more time to recharge after being out in the world. Help them relax by being mindful of their schedule. Don’t jam-pack their days, and create a calm space for them in the house to unwind and relax after a long day.
Help is a Call Away
If you don’t know how to support your highly sensitive child, our licensed counselors are here to help. They can help your child learn to accept themselves and adopt healthy coping skills to deal with overstimulating situations.
There’s no shame in asking for help. You call. We match you to a counselor. It’s that easy. With convenient locations in the Georgetown and Liberty Hill area, we are never too far away. Give us a call today!
Here for you,
Jenna
