← Stress Management for Highly Sensitive People (HSP): Inner Work and Strategies for Coping with Stress, Overwhelm, and Negative Emotions
Stress Management for Highly Sensitive People (HSP): Inner Work and Strategies for Coping with Stress, Overwhelm, and Negative Emotions
#242 | Is Sensitivity Natural? Here’s What 100+ Species Can Teach Us About the HSP Trait and Its True Purpose
00:14:59
Did you know that your high sensitivity might actually be an evolutionary advantage shared by over 100 species? If you’ve ever felt “too sensitive” or struggled to fit into a fast-paced world, this episode will reframe your sensitivity as a...
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
Todd Smith
By the end of this episode, you'll discover how your sensitivity may be far more natural and evolutionarily intelligent than you ever realized. Welcome to Stress Management for Highly Sensitive People, a podcast helping HSPs avoid overwhelm, eliminate stress, and find true inner freedom. I'm your host, Todd Smith, a facilitator of the work of Byron Katie, a way to question and reduce stressful thoughts. And you guessed it, I'm a highly sensitive person myself. In this episode, you'll Discover why over 100 species show signs of high sensitivity and what that means for you. How pause before acting became a powerful survival strategy in nature, and how understanding the roots of sensitivity can change the way you see yourself. Welcome to this edition of Self Compassion Wednesdays, where we dive deeper into understanding ourselves as highly sensitive people by exploring the unique traits that shape our experience. The presence of sensory processing sensitivity, which is the scientific word for HSP in various species, has been documented through behavioral studies and neurobiological research. Behavioral studies means observations of animals like fish or birds or primates that have shown that certain individuals consistently exhibit heightened responsiveness to environmental stimuli. For example, some birds may be more vigilant to predators and certain fish may be more cautious when foraging. And this has been observed in 100 species so far. And then neurobiological research has been done just in humans. This is using functional MRI studies which revealed that individuals with high sensory processing sensitivity, or hsp, showed an increased activation in brain regions associated with awareness, empathy and self other processing. That means the ability to hold what's mine and what's theirs, and this is when they're exposed to environmental stimuli. And the neurobiological research, though it's just been done on humans, suggests that there may be a similar mechanism in other animals as well. But what we're seeing is that it's not just humans that are exemplifying this trait. When we look at this from an evolutionary point of view, the consistent presence of high sensitivity traits like this trait across many different species implies that it has an evolutionary advantage. And so why would evolution keep something if it's not useful? So environments where there's a need to detect subtle changes in order to survive, people who have the HSP trait or animals that have this trait are going to be extremely helpful for the survival of that whole community or whole species. They're better equipped to respond to threats and to opportunities because they perceive them earlier and they're able to act on that. And so this creates a kind of balance. In a lot of societies, animals or humans, where some members are very bold and take risks and others provide a caution and kind of enhance the group's overall adaptability by having so much sensitivity. So when you look at over 100 species that have been observed, this includes dogs, it includes fish, like certain guppies, it includes, includes birds, it includes primates, insects, for example, some bees. And it's been observed that this sensitivity is there in all of these different species. And it's usually around 15 to 20% of the population that has this trait. And that is certainly the case for human beings as well. About 20% of the world's population has the HSP trade, or the SPS trade as it's called scientifically. And this shows that high sensitivity is not a flaw. It has an evolutionary advantage. There's a strategy to this. It's not a defect. It's something that is as important as the boldness and aggression that you see in other members of the same species. And I think together these two adaptations create a balance in a society where some people are bold, fearless, just run into the fight and others are very cautious and aware of potential risks. And between the two, there's a kind of balance overall in a group. So let's look at what the research shows. The main researchers for this are Dr. Bianca Acevedo and Dr. Elaine Aaron, who connected sensory processing sensitivity to these animal studies. And they showed that 15 to 20% of most species show a form of increased sensitivity to environmental cues. And this can include noticing subtle signals, being more cautious when acting, learning from others rather than rushing in. This is a big trait of a big part of having the HSP trait is the ability to learn from others mistakes. This is a major advantage in a way. And this research correlates to the pause to check survival strategy that is seen in sensitive animals. And they, as we do, survive by watching. First, there's a lot of advantage. My dog is, I think, a highly sensitive dog and he pauses a long time before he decides what he's going to do. And I think there's some definite advantage to it. So why sensitivity evolved the two survival strategies. There's the bold and quick, and then there's the observant and responsive. Responsive. Both strategies can work depending on the situation. Bold animals may find food faster, but they take more risk. They may end up getting hurt or killed in their rushing in to get the food. Sensitive animals may notice danger earlier and conserve energy, but they may not get the food as quickly. So there's pros and cons to both, both approaches. But Nature tends to preserve traits that offer advantages in specific environments and not necessarily universal strengths. So what's really powerful in one environment may be a weakness in another environment. And what's really powerful in that a different environment may be weak in another environment. So it's very specific. And so we all have our niche. And as HSPs, we have a niche which is this sensitive ability to look ahead, pause before acting, notice danger earlier, conserve energy. And this is really powerful in certain environments. Whereas in other environments, like on a battlefield, you may have some problems being an hsp, you may just not work in that environment. So every trait has its right place or its kind of ideal place. One of the advantages of high sensitivity is the ability to be perceptive and to deal with unpredictable or complex environments. Sensitivity allows for a lot of processing of these complex environments, a lot of understanding, and an ability to act in a way that is quite helpful, as opposed to rushing in, which can end up not being so helpful. We can look at a few animal studies that were done. One was on dogs, and they found that dogs are more attuned to. Some dogs are attuned to emotional tone, voice shifts or subtle gestures. They're sometimes called shy or high strung, but actually they're observant and responsive. They've noticed that certain birds wait and watch others forage before deciding whether it's safe to follow. It's just a perfect example of that pause and check strategy which we HSPs know so well. Fish, as we mentioned earlier, some of them consistently act more cautiously and are more sensitive to changes in water temperature and light and presence of predators. In primates, for example, chimpanzees and macaques, some individuals are more careful and sensitive to social dynamics and they're less likely to get into fights, and they are more likely to parent successfully. So you can see in certain environments, in certain roles, sensitivity is a major advantage. Look at parenting, it can be such an advantage there. And so these primates show this in their characteristics. Bees are another example where some bees are more responsive to subtle chemical cues and changes in the hive environment. And so it's detected even here on the level of insects. So what this means for human beings is that we as HSPs, are not, quote, unquote, too sensitive. We're wired in a way that has existed for millions of years. And I think this is just really important to take in and take to heart, because it's easy to think we're different, there's something wrong with us, we're a minority, 20% and. And probably before you learned these statistics, you may have thought there's like, it's just me, I'm. There's something wrong with. And of course it can be confused because sensitivity can also come from stress and trauma and other things. But there is a trait called high sensitivity, which high sensitive, like sensory processing sensitivity, which is. Is a natural quality of some individuals and has some major evolutionary advantages. So just seeing this in the larger perspective of evolution and biology, I think is very helpful for understanding ourselves and finding self compassion. Our sensitivity is part of a larger pattern in nature, one that prioritizes awareness, observation and depth. And in the modern world, of course, this wiring can lead to overwhelm because the modern world is not geared towards sensitivity, but with support. And if we can care for ourselves and protect ourselves a little bit, we have the ability to provide extreme value to our modern world, including deeper insight, more thoughtful decisions, emotional intelligence and creativity and empathy. These are the gifts that we bring. And it's just a matter of taking care of ourselves so that we don't get caught in overwhelm and that we can bring ourselves back from overwhelm when it happens. So I want to leave you with a few thoughts of for yourself. Like when has sensitivity helped you see something that others have missed? Think about that for a minute. Like where has your sensitivity been helpful to you? Where have you noticed things that others haven't noticed? Just like certain animals notice things that other members of their same species don't notice. And where has your paws and check instinct? Where has it protected you? Where has it protected others? Nature doesn't create traits by accident, and sensitivity is part of a much larger adaptive picture. I believe sensitive and bold types of individuals both contribute to a society or a group or a species in complementary ways. In this episode, we looked at why over 100 species show signs of high sensitivity and what that means for you. And we saw how the pause before acting idea becomes a powerful survival strategy in nature and how understanding the roots of sensitivity can change the way you see yourself. The feeling I'm coming away with is a sense of belonging. A sense that as a sensitive person, I belong in a larger evolutionary scheme and I have a role to play and I have value. So thanks for listening. It's always fun to explore with you. This podcast comes out three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Join me next time for Strategy Fridays, where we think about specific things you can do to help manage stress. As a highly sensitive person, tired of feeling overwhelmed by everything all at once. Take the HSP stress test@truinnerfreedom.com youm'll also find a link in the show notes. The test will reveal your unique sensitivity profile, including how your nervous system naturally responds to stimulation, emotions, social energy, and more. You'll also gain a clearer picture of how stress might be amplifying that sensitivity. Take the HSP Stress Test now. It's a powerful first step on your journey to true inner freedom.