Are you a highly sensitive person (HSP)?

Oh drugs are something I've always felt odd about. As I said at another topic related to this, me and a friend both were suspected of having ADHD (or whatever they call it these days). He took some meds I think, or some kind of training, I faked not having symptoms and went on my merry way. By senor year in highschool, the kid drooled and twitched and I felt so sad for him, but always defended him from bullies. I did not take any kind of medicine for it nor anything to treat it. I learned to control my "symptoms" and soon they came under my control. Today I am a normal fully functioning person.

One of the reasons I twitched was from nerve damage from an allergic reaction to Aspartame. It took me years to recover, but soon I did and went on my way. I never took drugs or medicine for the conditions I had. I was hyperactive, nerdy, and couldn't pay attention. But I have learned to tame all that. As I said back a few posts, I don't have any negatives to this HSP thingy, if I have it. I think I might have once had very bad negatives, but forced myself to ignore them and destroy them. To the mind of the child who just watched power rangers, it was like a war over my mind. The forces of order and good, and the forces of chaos and evil. Maybe this is a bit crazy, but I actually use to create invisible friends who I tied these forces too. There was Concentration, Mr. aggressive, Ms. lust, so many. I usually dreamed the battles and fun. But whenever I got the urge to touch something an even number of times, or repeat a word, I imagined me shooting the invisible friend who represented it, or doing other things. Mr. aggressive was caged in a man-trap like from the old movie Willow.

If you ever watched the Simpson, there was an episode where they were in Lisa's brain and there were characters representing feelings, like what I did.

yea, I was one crazy kid. but it worked. I have to say, the willpower and strength I learned at such a young age for fighting the negatives has been one of the best lessons I learned. Now my will is like an unmovable force. If I seek to accomplish something, I will not surrender.


Thank God I never took any of those drugs for my "symptoms'. If I ever have kids and they are like me, never ever will I let them have any kind of drugs that alter the mind. Never.

[edit on 9-6-2009 by Gorman91]

[edit on 9-6-2009 by Gorman91]

reply to post by Gorman91
I, unfortunately, take meds for my anxiety/panic attacks. I was told they are not addictive, but when you go off of them, you crash. You crash hard. So hard, that I wanted to die and had to go back on them. My doc told me it should be in the drinking water if that tells you anything. Personally, I wish I had never taken them, but they did stop the attacks minus a few heart bounces thingys. I dont know what they are called, but they are annoying to say the least. feels like that scene in Alien.
Anyway, glad to hear you wont allow it, you are the perfect parent for a child with it, you could teach them how to cope.

Originally posted by seagrass
My doc told me it should be in the drinking water if that tells you anything.

It tells me he should have his license revoked.

The thing is, I took meds for a time, and it was necessary for me. I was able to get away from them in time after finding alternative ways of healing. But that isn't to say even remotely that everyone with a problem needs them or should take them.

And you aren't the only person I know who has experienced the issue of 'crashing'. I did myself. In fact, I was back to work on the meds I was taking at the time and when they were changed I had to leave my job because my mental status became unmanageable again.

I wish I could more lucidly explain my own process; how I came off the pills, but to tell you the truth, it's a bit of a mystery to me in ways.

reply to post by seagrass


Well thanks. I sure hope so.

I have a heart murmur too (that's what they're called) from too much coffee and things like that. Check what you eat. Anything with caffeine would cause it if it's eaten in mass. Caffeine and things like it is a drug too. After a period of time of drinking 5 cups a day, I stopped and holy crap it was like a pain I can't describe. I just laid on the couch for days on end and let it pass. How to stop a murmur is hard. I find that if I go into a room and make sure there's no noise, I can just close my eyes and think my heart go normally again. It's weird though. Because it usually accelerates my heart, but after it goes slower again, it's normal. Some kind of music might help too. Oddly enough, if I like a song enough that has a symmetrically distanced beat, my heart will adapt to the beat in the song, so long it isn't too fast or too slow.


Also, lots of water are to flush out the chemicals. Water and milk are good for that I think. It flushes you out. If you want to get off them, drink lots of water and anything that calms nerves. I'm talking about like 5 cups of water every hour or every other hour. There's some teas and things that help with that. I find a good warm cup of anything will calm me down from a bad day enough. Just like coffee, getting off any drug you've taken too long can be very difficult. I don't take anything that affects my mind, but I do take asthma meds once every other year against a certain plant I'm allergic to when it pollinates. I find that if I take them too long, I feel like crap. So I exercise, drink water, and it leaves and I stop taking the meds.

That's your best bet to try and kick the addiction. I know how hard that can be whenever I try to kick coffee or the asthma meds. It's very annoying. But if you do try again, just keep calm and cut yourself off from thinking about the meds. Do anything that's physically active and drink lots of water. Sleep so that you sweat a lot, just keep moving liquids through you. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for me. But it does go away eventually. Once the body learns to live without that chemical, you're good.

[edit on 9-6-2009 by Gorman91]

well if you notice my location you will understand.

I know.. I treat my body like crap.

OH, lol, didn't see that. well there's your heart problem, that's for sure. I'm sure I'll pay the price when I'm older, but yep, I need coffee to live.

Originally posted by berenike
reply to post by Malfeitor

 

Hey, you're in good company, me too. And CaitlinFae

Just dropping in to say hi to the other nerdy hsp's here....how are you all doing?

I also wanted to add that this thread has kinda changed my life...I'm sorry if that sounds over-dramatic, but there it is. I discovered that I'm not so unusual that I need help, which I was starting to worry about, and my natural tendencies towards sensitivity, order, and organisation should be celebrated and channelled into something powerful. Don't let anyone ever tell you that you *need* medication for how you are. There are huge advantages to being so perceptive, sensitive and precise.

Originally posted by Gorman91
OH, lol, didn't see that. well there's your heart problem, that's for sure. I'm sure I'll pay the price when I'm older, but yep, I need coffee to live.

It's not classified as a heart problem when tested. It is a random "flip flop" not a murmur, but then it may be very much related to coffee and such. It usually only happens when I lay down though so you are close about that part.

The HSP book explains HSP as the "check" for the other 80% of the population. When the 80% want to do something in a dramatic fashion (wage a war, beat up a neighbor, ex) the HSP, due to the chemical reaction, uses the "pause", the insight, to offer advice. It doesn't help if a leader/person doesn't give a flying fig about getting advice!

Gorman pointed out about the use of a "strong will". That trait certainly ran in my family. So I think if being HSP is combined with a strong willpower, one can put the sw to work to mitigate the negative side affects of HSP.

I also was able to search out "self help" books, listen to advice, etc, to learn how to navigate in Life, to get what I needed out of Life. Jeez, only took me over 40 years
I always took to heart Churchill's speech
"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
My "enemy" was myself, how my body/brain reacted to certain things, and how I was reacting to those reactions. Once I accepted that I wasn't hopeless to change things, the change for better happened.

Coffee? I'm on my second mug now, but I learned years ago to cut back, as it was explained to me that, after 5 cups, one is a clinical neurotic "Decaffeinated" still has some caffeine, and I can feel it. And, yeah, a caffeine withdrawal headache can be merciless. One thing, I can buy more expensive coffee by drinking less and savoring what I drink. Afterall, coffee advertising made us all feel we needed to drink pots of the cheap stuff...can't start our day w/o it. MrD and I still remember the ad jingles.

Oh, I'm currently reading a book about autism by Temple Gardiner. She explains it like it is, as she is autistic. She is all for helping the child to overcome the negative effects by making sure the child engages in actions (as simple as playing games to learn about taking turns, ex) that allow for the undesired effect to be lessened, and to work with the strengths the child has (broaden the keen interest in a subject, ex) It's all hard work.

I didn't know any better when I was young, so I probably stumbled on to mitigating some undesired HSP stuff. Like, if I had to give a speech in front of classmates, I made sure it was on some topic of interest to me.
As an adult, I had to learn to do what was best for me, even if that meant not joining (social) groups that others found "fun"; I had to learn to get comfortable saying "No" a lot.
Oh, yeah, and be comfortable with who I was and laugh it off...I sure wasn't harming anyone or myself...like not joining a bunco group is going to ruin my life or someone else's life. OTOH if I wanted to sit in an audience to hear my favorite music live, then I made sure I did it. Everyone else seemed to be able to do what they wanted, so decided I could, too.

reply to post by desert


Dear God...I've been in that situation soooo many times...when I've been the only one saying "But wait a minute...." and sadly, it always seems to be with people who are happy to make me redundant!

The Churchill quote is my all time favourite too. I love this attitude.

Which book are you referring to btw? Did I miss the link? I have to read that.

Edit to add....don't worry...I found it!!


Cait x

[edit on 9-6-2009 by caitlinfae]

"but, wait a minute" is my specialty too. Often I actually took the time to try and understand what people were insulting me with, and point out the flaws in such insults, sometimes turning them around. I actually became friends with some bullies once I had them realize that their aggression was misplaced and that I understood their problems.

I've recently been making the rounds on youtube to tell people calling for war and revolution to wait and think a second. I often claim that if we are repeating the past, then we are in the 1750s, not 1776. It's a long way from not being able to go back to normal.

Hopefully I'm doing some good. There have been times that I would swear that I prevented the next columbine back in high school.

reply to post by Gorman91

hey planting seeds is the gardening of saints... but I really like your location....

reply to post by Gorman91

Excellent, Gorman. Thank you! There are times, especially in these totally increasingly complex times, when your voice must be shared, must be heard. Individuals can get lost in the complexity of Life and need to find their way again. Human to human understanding and caring can make all the difference. You make a connection, a bridge on which they might cross to find the way again.

The planting of seeds seagrass mentioned. One must continue to sow, overcoming thoughts of despair, for it is the soil and other conditions which are responsible for the growth. While your voice might be sweet or welcome to some, others might turn a deaf ear. It is only up to you to sow.

for all you risk takers out there...

Emotionally I'm far from sensitive. However, physically is another story.

If somebody is sitting within a foot of me I can feel them, like an uncomfortable pressure and heat on the side of my arm/leg next to the person. It's an extremely irritating feeling. it drives my girlfriend nuts. I'm ok if she lays her head on my lap for a few minutes at a time, but if her hands start moving involuntarily I'll begin flinching.

There's also a certain sound that makes my skin crawl, the sound of a fingernail moving across a holographic notebook cover. the sound is similar to a zip-tie fastening, but possesses a frequency that damn near paralyzes me.

the first one though, that's a real bitch. it's a gut-level physical reaction that I can't help. Just casually sitting on a couch I can stand someone being that close for 30 seconds to a minute before it becomes physically uncomfortable. I don't like it when people place their hand on my forearm, it feels like they're sucking energy out of me. asking people not to touch you also makes you sound a little crazy. c'est la vie.

[edit on 10-6-2009 by Chilkoot]

reply to post by seagrass


Our pediatrician called it a functional murmur. Our son had it for a few months. He didn't even put it on the records because it would've made it harder for him to get insurance in the future.

I use to be - a little death, pain and failure has fixed that right up!

Now I am like a stone, I'm tough, sometimes too much so.

this is all too familiar

been reading elaine arrons book and much of it resonates

am only now on 1 10mg dose of an anti d a week but really want to come off it, but there would still be some withdrawal and that is pretty naff as I remember

but circumstances that felt beyond my control a year and half ago resulted me going back on them in the first place

good thread

Wow, all these things fits me perfectly!
Everything in the test sounds unbelievable familiar.