Thorsons
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
First published in the US by Carol Publishing Group
First published by Thorsons 1999
© Elaine N. Aron, 1999
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Elaine N. Aron asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks
HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication
Source ISBN: 9780722538968
Ebook Edition © MARCH 2014 ISBN: 9780007384778 Version: 2018-09-03
To Irene Bernardicou Pettit, Ph.D.
– being both poet and peasant, she knew how to plant this seed and tend it until it blossomed.
To Art, who especially loves the
flowers – one more love we share.
I believe in aristocracy, though—if that is the right word, and if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy of power … but … of the sensitive, the considerate.… Its members are to be found in all nations and classes, and all through the ages, and there is a secret understanding between them when they meet. They represent the true human tradition, the one permanent victory of our queer race over cruelty and chaos. Thousands of them perish in obscurity, a few are great names. They are sensitive for others as well as themselves, they are considerate without being fussy, their pluck is not swankiness but the power to endure …
E. M. Forster, “What I Believe,”
in Two Cheers for Democracy
Contents
Are You Highly Sensitive? A Self-Test
1 The Facts About Being Highly Sensitive: A (Wrong) Sense of Being Flawed
2 Digging Deeper: Understanding Your Trait for All That It Is
3 General Health and Lifestyle for HSPs: Loving and Learning From Your Infant/Body Self
4 Reframing Your Childhood and Adolescence: Learning to Parent Yourself
5 Social Relationships: The Slide Into “Shy”
6 Thriving at Work: Follow Your Bliss and Let Your Light Shine Through
7 Close Relationships: The Challenge of Sensitive Love
8 Healing the Deeper Wounds: A Different Process for HSPs
9 Medics, Medications, and HSPs: “Shall I Listen to Prozac or Talk Temperament With My Doctor?”
10 Soul and Spirit: Where True Treasure Lies
Tips for Health-Care Professionals Working With Highly Sensitive People
Tips for Teachers Working With Highly Sensitive Students
Tips for Employers of Highly Sensitive People
“Cry baby!”
“Scaredy-cat!”
“Don’t be a spoilsport!”
Echoes from the past? And how about this well-meaning warning: “You’re just too sensitive for your own good.”
If you were like me, you heard a lot of that, and it made you feel there must be something very different