Previous
hoogsensitief hoogsensitiviteit
The power of a highly sensitive brain
Karolien Koolhof •
You are sitting in an open-plan office where phones are ringing and colleagues are talking over each other. At the end of the day, you are not just tired, but completely drained. You might also sometimes have the tendency to absorb the feelings of others. Sound familiar? Then you might well be highly sensitive.
Dr. Elaine Aron, the founder of research into high sensitivity, discovered that about twenty percent of the population is born with a nervous system that processes information much more thoroughly and intensely. In a busy world, this often leads to overstimulation.
For a long time, people thought that being sensitive was something you had to unlearn, a kind of bothersome character trait that got in the way of building a career. But Elaine Aron's discoveries showed that it is not a choice, but a physical trait you are born with. To understand this properly, you can view your brain as a large sieve through which all the events of a day fall. For most people, this sieve has fairly large holes, meaning only the most important and largest chunks of information remain, while the rest of the stimuli (like background noise or the subtle tension between two colleagues) simply drain away unnoticed.
But if you are highly sensitive, your sieve has extremely small holes. That means absolutely everything sticks. Every little sound, every change in the light, every glance from your boss, and every unspoken emotion in a meeting. Because your brain has to process all these little bits of information throughout the day and give them a place, your mental hard drive has to work much harder than those of your colleagues. This directly explains why you often crave absolute silence after a workday.
Deeper
This way of processing information brings with it a number of very specific traits. First of all, it means that you unconsciously think much deeper and longer about things before making a decision or forming an opinion. Where others might immediately jump enthusiastically onto a new idea from management, you don't swallow it all at once; instead, you ruminate on it, so to speak. You examine the plan from all angles, immediately spot potential obstacles, and oversee the long-term consequences. This deep thinking can cause others to sometimes find you a bit slow or overly cautious, but in reality, you are extremely thorough and often save the company from ill-considered mistakes.
The downside of this deep processing, however, is that the proverbial bucket fills up much faster. Every stimulus you pick up is a drop in that bucket, and in a busy office environment, the tap is wide open. Once that bucket overflows, overstimulation occurs. That is a purely biological limit: literally no more information fits into your system, which can suddenly make you feel exhausted, irritable, or physically unwell.
Thermometer
Additionally, you often function as the emotional thermometer of the department, because not only do you experience your own emotions very intensely, but you also soak up the feelings of others like a sponge. You have a flawless radar for when a colleague is not doing well, even if they say everything is fine with a smile. You sense the undercurrent in a team, the tensions that remain unspoken, and the needs that remain unfulfilled. This enormous capacity for empathy makes you a highly valued and loyal colleague with whom people like to vent, although, on the other hand, it also costs you a lot of energy to wring out that emotional sponge at the end of the day and let go of what is not yours.
Finally, you possess an internal magnifying glass with which you notice details that others completely overlook. You see the small inconsistencies in a report, you notice if the tone in an email is just slightly different than usual, and you flawlessly extract irregularities from complex data. This eye for nuance allows you to work with great precision.
High sensitivity can be a strength in the workplace, if you know how to leverage it. For example, ensure that you can empty your own bucket in time and take into account the fact that your brain needs more recovery time. Provided it is used well, it can truly make a difference.
About the author
- Karolien Koolhof is a coach voor introverts and gifted individuals
- Author of the book Introvert Leadership
- Contact