With my upcoming book, Spirituality Through a Highly Sensitive Lens: An Objective Look at Meditation Methods and Enlightenment (coming out this April), I’ll be sharing two parts in each blog post—the first will explore research, HSP news, and current insights, while the second will offer a more spiritual reflection and deeper inner perspective.
CLARIFYING SPS, AUTISM, AND ADHD–AND MUCH MORE
Damatac, C. G., ter Avest, M. J., Wilderjans, T. F., De Gucht, V., Woestenburg, D. H., Landeweerd, L., … & Greven, C. U. (2025). Exploring sensory processing sensitivity: Relationships with mental and somatic health, interactions with positive and negative environments, and evidence for differential susceptibility. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences, 8, 100165.
We are often asked about the relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and SPS as well as its relation to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD). This complicated, ambitious study looked at both these issues as well as differential susceptibility to mental and physical health and life satisfaction. In case you get mired down in the details, here is what you probably most want to know: This study did not find that overall the measures they used for autism, ADHD, and SPS were all measuring something similar. However, factors within the measures overlap. That is, there is an overlap in some areas but not all. That is, some of the same people answer yes to items on two or three of the measures.
The participants were 252 adults from the Netherlands’ Healthy Brain Study, which includes 1000 persons selected to be a good representation of the larger population, except all are aged 30–39 years (in the midst of life, past thresholds like marriage, first child, and first job). They filled out several measures, but most important for us, they took De Gucht’s measure of SPS, involving six factors. These are similar to the HSP-R’s six factors, except the De Gucht measure (the Sensory Processing Questionnaire or SPSQ) does not include depth of processing. To make sense of the rest of the study, you need to know what these six are: Sensory Sensitivity to Subtle Internal and External Stimuli, Emotional and Physiological Reactivity, Sensory Discomfort, Sensory Comfort/Pleasure, Social-Affective Sensitivity, and Esthetic Sensitivity. (Clearly this is very similar to the revised HSP Scale, the HSP-R.)
Importantly, there was no statistically significant association between De Gucht’s overall measure of SPS and the six-item ADHD measure or the longer measure of ASD. That is, this study does not support the idea that SPS is simply either ASD or ADHD. There were however associations between SPS, ASD, and ADHD on some SPS factors: “Sensory sensitivities” and “emotional and physiological reactivity” from the new measure and “ease of overstimulation” from the old HSP Scale are features that high SPS, ASD, and ADHD have in common. That is, these specific traits or experiences are common for all three to some degree, which is why they can seem to be the same trait if one only looks at being easily overstimulated.
As for ASD in particular, among the subscales of the ASD measure (which were attention to detail, childhood behavior onset, limited imagination, limited social skills, and rigidity), “limited imagination” was especially not associated with SPS and among the SPS factors, “sensory comfort” and “social affective sensitivity” were not associated with ADS. That is, these are ways SPS is not like ASD. Regarding ADHD, only the “inattention” aspect of that measure had small associations with subscales of SPS, mainly, again, “higher emotional and physiological reactivity.”
The study also tried to look at both positive and negative environments, in childhood and in the present, in order to continue to understand differential susceptibility, the tendency for HSPs to be more affected than others by both good and bad environments. As expected, HSPs with positive histories and present situations reported more life satisfaction than those without the trait, while those with negative histories and present situations were more likely to have autistic traits (that is, they answered yes to more items on the ASD measure).
An odd result was that HSPs who had more of what were called “uplifting” events during a given week were more likely to exhibit autistic traits! But most of these uplifting events were very stimulating: Relating well with your spouse or lover; relating well with friends; completing a task; eating out; visiting, phoning, or writing someone; or spending time with family. These all could be a source of overstimulation and increase emotional and physiological reactivity, an SPSQ subscale correlated with autistic traits. My guess is that by the time an HSP has been “uplifted” by some of these, they will want to withdraw, as measured by items on the autism scale such as “not liking parties” or “not liking having your daily routine disturbed.” I think the point is that it can be difficult to find the right measures of positive outcomes for HSPs—what is “uplifting” for others may not be for us.
The authors also looked at health, and found that higher SPS related to more burnout, anxiety, depression, stress, health complaints, and nonprescription medication use, even after controlling for neuroticism. However, other studies I have cited [link to that blog https://hsperson.com/are-highly-sensitive-people-more-prone-to-illness/ ]indicate that stress may be the main underlying cause of health complaints in HSPs, but this study did not separate out stress.
This is a complicated study, and I am sure I have not done it justice. But it is a fine example of what is to come in research with SPS—for example, more teasing out of the differences among ASD, ADHD, and SPS, and more detailed studies of differential susceptibility.
Bottom Line: Again, this study did not find that overall measures of autism, attention deficit disorder, and SPS were correlated. That is, SPS did not appear to be the same as either trait. However, factors within the measures did correlate with SPS. That is, there is an overlap in some areas but not all. And if an HSP had a negative history, or too many “uplifting” experiences in a week, they scored higher on some aspects of the measure of ASD. (And remember, it is possible to be an HSP AND in addition to having ASD or ADHD.) But they are not one, single trait or condition.
HIGHLY SENSITIVE ADOLESCENTS FEEL MORE PHYSICAL PAIN THAN OTHERS
Hochreuter, J., Wehrli, S., Locher, C., Lionetti, F., Kossowsky, J., Pluess, M., & Koechlin, H. (2025). Painfully Sensitive: How Sensory Processing Sensitivity Affects Healthy Adolescents’ Perception of Pain. Journal of Pain Research, 719-733.
A hundred healthy adolescents, aged 16 to 19, completed questionnaires and participated in an experimental heat pain paradigm. As a direct measure of pain, participants were asked to raise the intensity of the heat on their hand until it became “painful,” and then to stop. How high that level was and how long it took to reach that level was the direct measure of pain. This was done three times, and after each time all participants were asked to report how painful the whole thing had been, from zero to ten. Highly sensitive adolescents were more sensitive to pain than others as measured during the procedure itself, However, they did not report experiencing more pain than others.
In another part of the experiment, all participants were shown photos intended to make them happy, sad, or neutral, to see if this affected their experience of the pain, but these had little impact on any participants (the authors realized the photos they used were so dated—puppies, birthday cakes, snakes, auto accidents—that they were not likely to affect any modern adolescent!). Finally, the authors used questionnaires to look at the quality of parenting these teenagers were receiving, their social support, and their emotional regulation. None of this had very much effect on any participants’ experience of pain, even HSCs. That is, regardless of other factors, HSCs simply physically felt more pain.
Bottom Line: I repeat, HSPs, at least in adolescence, seem to be more sensitive physically to pain, even if they do not report it. (This makes me think of the many HSPs who have told me that they know they are more sensitive to pain than others are, but are not very inclined to admit to it—that is, complain about it. How many times have we been told “Don’t be so sensitive? It’s nothing. It’s all in your head!”)
HARDLY “BREAKING NEWS”: GOING TO THE DENTIST IS MORE STRESSFUL FOR HSPS
Golonka, K., Gulla, B., Kościelniak, D., Darczuk, D., Cienkosz-Stepanczak, B., Bystrowska, B., … & Krzyściak, W. (2025). Sensory processing sensitivity in adult dental patients and its relation to perceived stress, cortisol, and serotonin secretion. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 1-14.
This study looked at 157 adult dental patients on the day of a routine dental visit. Patients took the HSP Scale, a measure of feeling stressed, and one of positive and negative emotions, plus various biochemical tests. The higher the patient’s score on the HSP Scale, the more they reported feeling stressed and having negative emotions, plus they had higher levels of cortisol (a sign of stress) accumulated over the last few months as measured by hair samples. The authors saw various reasons why this would be so and suggested some effort could be made to help HSPs during dental appointments.
Okay, I will make this personal. Thank goodness and amen. For me, going to the dentist has always involved stress, how much depends on what is being done and the kindness of the dentist. To keep the stress from ruining my life for weeks in advance of the appointment, I learned not to think about it until the day I was going. And I have always taken crazy care of my teeth to avoid anything difficult. But just getting my teeth cleaned is painful. (It is not painful for my non-HSP husband, who falls asleep during teeth cleaning). The last time I had my teeth cleaned I took two acetaminophens beforehand and it actually helped. I’m not saying you should. It was probably just a placebo effect. But the big point is, if going to the dentist bothers you, it’s probably your sensitivity—to pain, to anxiety about the condition of your teeth, to fear of criticism for not taking proper care of your teeth, and all the rest. Once again, high sensitivity explains us to ourselves.
Bottom Line: Especially given that HSPs are usually physically more sensitive to pain (see above), it might not be surprising that going to the dentist makes them nervous.
HSPS MAY BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE THAN OTHERS WHEN DEALING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS
Bakhshayesh Eghbali, B., Hosseini-Nejad, M., Saadat, S., Babaee, M., Eyvani, K., Kohandel, K., & Shabani Chobe, M. (2025). The Role of Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Self-management on Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis. Caspian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 11(1), 67-76.
This study provides a sense of how being highly sensitive can actually help a person living with a serious illness. Multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms lead to all sorts of impairments that predict limitations, unemployment, and withdrawal from social and leisure activities. This study used questionnaires to measure SPS, health related quality of life, and “self-management.” These were given to 320 “relapsing-remitting” MS patients registered in the nationwide MS registry of Iran.
I found self-management an interesting concept. It refers to how much a person actively copes with a chronic illness through, for example, adherence to treatment and medication, participation in medical decisions, self-care, maintaining social relationships, and keeping one’s emotional balance. That is, it is learning and using the skills necessary for an active life and a satisfactory mental state while living with a chronic disease. The measure tapped five areas of self-management, including communication with health care providers, treatment adherence, knowledge of MS, and overall health maintenance behavior.
The findings showed that the quality of life in people with MS was higher if they were highly sensitive and if they scored high on self-management. They did not report the correlation between the two, but I would guess it is high. They studied SPS because they thought people who are more aware of sensations in their bodies might manage their illness better, and if being overstimulated bothers them, that they might be better at reducing it and thus improving their well-being. But we know HSPs would also process everything about the illness more deeply, which would certainly lead to better self-management. I hope someone repeats this research looking at other long-term illnesses, to see if being an HSP improves outcome.
Bottom Line: This opens a new avenue of research, into whether and how HSPs might be better patients, by paying more attention to their bodies, to professional advice, to details about any illness they are dealing with, and to their own individual needs.
ONCE AGAIN—HSPS BENEFIT MORE THAN OTHERS FROM BEING CONNECTED WITH NATURE
Wigley, I. C. M., Nazzari, S., Pastore, M., Provenzi, L., & Barello, S. (2025). The contribution of environmental sensitivity and connectedness to nature to mental health: Does nature view count?. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 102, 102541.
This is yet one more study about HSPs benefiting from being in nature—in this case, living with a view of nature (trees, a garden, or a park)). In a sample of 807 Italian citizens, it was found that those high on the measure of SPS were more at risk of reporting symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, but feeling connected with nature reduced this risk for them in particular. Being connected with nature was of course associated with exposure to nature, so this study tested whether, particularly for HSPs, having a view of nature would have this same positive effect on connectedness with nature and on mental health, and it did. That is, routine, daily visual exposure to nature appeared to enhance the feeling of connection to nature, particularly among HSPs, thereby mitigating the risk of psychological distress.
Bottom Line: Most HSPs know this very well, but the research continues to show it: Feeling connected to nature really helps us, and we learn from this study that just being able to see it in our daily lives can do that. So try to make it a priority to live or work, preferably both, where you have a view of nature. And while they did not study it, having plants in your house or pets, even goldfish, may help too!
Part II
The Container and the Contained
Have you ever thought (at any age) that you are getting older but something in you is not? That you are really the same person you have always been?
Have you ever felt like you were witnessing yourself in a situation? That you were not the “doer”?
Who is that person that does not change, and the one that can witness without participating? This is a huge subject, but let’s take on a piece of it.
In the second half of recent newsletter blogs I have been addressing “spiritual” topics, I guess in the classical sense of spiritual as opposed to material, since I began by writing about the possibility of experiencing two aspects to life, the relative and the absolute or transcendent. In the second blog, I simplified matters by talking about expansion and contraction. Even forgetting about anything absolute, we all know that there are expanded and contracted mental states. There is nothing wrong with contracted states. We contract or constrict our awareness when we focus. If you want to speak more philosophically (HSPs usually like to), ultimately, everything in the relative, material world is contracted in the sense it is one aspect of the whole. Being expanded is when we relax those constrictions and see the bigger picture or enjoy some rest.
In this blog post I want to talk about these two aspects of life in a different way, the container and what it contains.
The Contained? What’s That?
As always, I hope to be both factual and practical. By the “container” I mean our body, but we can extend that to everything else in the relative that “belongs to us”–our name, history, education, career, family. All that is ours. But the body is so central, because it at least seems that without a body, especially without a brain, everything else goes. We may forget, ignore, or deny our physical vulnerability until we get seriously sick or are caused to notice that we are aging. (I secretly think there’s something mean about those birthday cards that make jokes of our adding another year.)
I am sure all of you view death and what does or does not remain after death in very different ways. Some of you are already yawning–you totally believe in an afterlife. Maybe reincarnation. But others of you are already annoyed, that I would even bring it up. When we die, everything goes. How is it factual or practical even to discuss it?
The Factual
True, it seems that just as most people only know about the relative and not the absolute field of life, most people only know about the relative container, the body, and completely identify with that. Yet the fact is that a vast number of people think they have a soul or spirit that lives on after death. Some people feel they have experienced it during a near-death experience. The research on these experiences is quite solid and substantial (e.g., the work of Bruce Greyson). Many say they have experienced visitations by a loved one who had died and was able to come back to speak to them or show them some sign of their presence. Further, every single religion (even Judaism) has some idea of the soul or spirit living on, reincarnating into a new body or eternally living in a place where the soul goes after death.
Those are the facts of countless human experiences, and it can be hard to believe that so many are simply wrong–except you and me. I’m saying “you and me” because I’ve never been sure what I believe about all of this. (A friend who is certain about reincarnation teased me that it was my karma to be born with the burden of not believing I would be reincarnated.) One practical part of the container plus contained perspective is that it really does change how you live your life if you are certain that death does not end it.
But forgetting about the question of whether something survives death, some people I really respect have no doubt that the body is the container of something more. Indeed it seems to me that all spiritual teachers and writers have discussed it. For example, I like Thomas Merton on the subject of the “individual,” which our culture relentlessly encourages us to develop, to “self-actualize,” and the “person” God means for us to be, which we can only know when we let go of the outer trappings of ourselves and our lives and seek to do God’s will and to know God’s love.
Then there is Ram Dass, that jolly, charming author of Be Here Now, who had a stroke in his sixties and then wrote Still Here to explore for us the issue of aging and death, using his personal experience.
The Practical
While I am not sure about life after death, like Ram Dass I know about life now. After fifty years of consistent meditation practice and eighty years of living in my body, I have the clear experience of my body being the container of something else, a witness to it all, or the Soul as Ram Dass calls it. This is not a belief, but an experience, and it is extremely practical. The experience can be overwhelmed for a time by something like being in chronic pain, a new scary diagnosis of something, or losing another activity that I once enjoyed. But that “this-is-it” feeling does not last. Without much of an effort, the transcendent–the Soul, the Great Whatever–prevails. I just feel this equanimity return. It is something big, boundless. And I can tell that it is due to my not identifying with my body or its changes very much. I am something else. Again, it is not a belief or attitude. I experienced that. And it certainly makes aging and illness less difficult, so far.
Here’s another practical story: I turned to Ram Dass after reading the transcript of an interview with Riyas Motan on “Buddha at the Gas Pump” (one of my favorite podcasts). Riyas was born in Kenya, of Indian ancestry, and while working as a psychotherapist, privately pursued a spiritual path until he had a permanent “awakening.” This eventually led to his being given “dharma transmission” by one of his spiritual teachers, Adyashanti. This meant he was considered evolved enough to teach others, so in a way it was the pinnacle of his life. But four months later, this very health-conscious, spiritual man learned he had fourth stage, probably terminal lung cancer, and was plunged into the treatment for that.
Adjusting to this extreme change in his life demanded that he use his spiritual life as never before to come to a place of not just acceptance, but growth. After much inner work he says he is actually grateful for the cancer, saying that it “happened not to him, but for him.”
That line really caught my attention. He was quoting Ram Dass, who felt the same about his stroke, which left this dynamic man in a wheelchair and able to speak only very slowly. How does one get to that place of feeling this is the best thing that could have happened to me? Not easily, when you live in a culture that focuses entirely on the body and its health, as if that is all you are. But Ram Dass has a lot to say about undoing that perspective in his Still Here. And it comes down to finding a way to get to know the difference between the container and what it contains. Of course the container, the body, is important. The contained must have a container. But how many of us really know the contained? Really can identify with it?
How to get there is another subject, so complex that it led me to spend five years researching and writing a book about it, Spirituality Through a Highly Sensitive Lens. It will be published next spring, but in the meantime I hope these blogs will give you some ideas. It is always, in the end, a very personal journey to reach a place like that of Thomas Merton, Riyas Motan, or Ram Das. But I wanted to make it clear that it can be done. By anyone.
I like your articles on spirituality. I turn 63 next month and for the last several years I have been thinking about these topics a lot, prompted no doubt by parts of my “vessel” starting to wearing our, like an old car that still runs but is rusting and dented, with an occasional part falling off, lol. I could willfully ignore this into my 50’s but after the deaths of family members (my parents lived very long relatively healthy lives into their 90s) that was no longer possible.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on Echart Tolle’s take on spirituality. As a career scientist in a field where most are avowed atheists (geology), I find his explanations to be the most sensible, albeit still “out there”, lol.
Thanks
Thank you, Elaine, for these deep thoughts. This quote, that I’ve read at a few funerals, comes to mind…
Excerpt from “To Those Who Mourn”
By C.W. Leadbeater
For that is the real truth.
Man is a soul and has a body.
The body is not the man; it is only the clothing of the man.
What you call death is the laying aside of a worn-out garment, and it is no more the end of the man than it is the end of you when you remove your coat.
Therefore you have not lost your friend; you have only lost sight of the cloak in which you were accustomed to see him.
The cloak is gone, but the man who wore it is not; surely it is the man that you love and not the garment.
I really appreciate this perspective, as always. There’s something so grounding and comforting about remembering that we’re more than just our bodies. I’ve actually been lucky enough to experience that firsthand lately—being in a classroom with not just one but two other HSPs. It’s wild how much more heightened everything feels in that kind of environment. Not in an overwhelming way, but in a way that makes everything more alive somehow.
What really stood out to me is how clearly I could feel that thing I sometimes get around certain people—that tingly, charged feeling, especially when there’s attraction. I always thought that was just a “me” thing, or maybe just how chemistry works. But being around other HSPs helped me realize… no, that’s not how everyone experiences other people. It’s not just in my head. It made me way more conscious of it, and also more curious about how much I “contain” or hold back around others.
It’s hard to put all of this into words, but what I’m trying to say is: there’s something almost otherworldly about what happens when highly sensitive people are together. The shared presence seems to amplify not just emotions, but awareness itself. And that in turn makes me more curious—what parts of me are mine alone, and what parts awaken only in the resonance with another?
Thank you for this post!
I find it especially interesting with the research on ADHD. I have wondered for a while if being HSP can easily be mistaken for having ADHD (especially inattentive ADHD). And especially if one is HSP/HSS.
I know people with ADHD struggle more with executive functions than HSPs, but as far as I understand everyone struggles with executive functions when they’re overwhelmed. Let’s say a HSP is living a life that is not well suited for their sensitivity. They would be overstimulated most of the time and probably struggle with executive functioning because of it – wouldn’t that look like ADHD? How can one tell the difference? And HSPs can be messy too. A naturally messy HSP that’s overwhelmed a lot would probably look like someone with ADHD.
And in terms of distractibility, a common symptom om ADHD. Couldn’t that be present for HSPs too? We have a thought that’s so compelling or a feeling suddenly overwhelms us and suddenly we’re distracted.
I wonder if there is more research on this.
(I know Elaine doesn’t have time to answer comments on this blog, so not expecting an answer from her. Just thinking aloud a bit, and maybe some of my other fellow HSPs who visit this site has any insights).
Thank you that is really interesting to think about.
That is really interesting, Elaine, and I look forward to this new book! I have found that many HSPs are interested in spiritual life, especially as they get older. I am lucky to have several HSPs as friends, and some of my HSP clients have mentioned this as well.
i have found nature to be a way of connecting to my inner deeper self, and to experience the wholeness, what you might call the Divine, Spirit, Life energy which flows through every living thing. And it does help to cope with the stress of everyday life, especially in this time of upheaval!
kind regards, Wilma
As a therapist and researcher specializing in the adult-discovered autistic, who is both autistic and highly sensitive—and who works with thousands of people discovering the same—I want to express my concern and disappointment with how autism is framed in this article.
While I appreciate the interest in exploring the overlap between SPS, ADHD, and autism, the analysis here relies heavily on outdated, deficit-based models of autism. These models—especially those drawn from the DSM-5—focus on what autistic people are perceived to lack (like imagination or social skills), rather than acknowledging the deep internal experiences, emotional intelligence, and sensitivity that are often present in autistic individuals, especially those discovering their identity later in life.
This article also misses a much larger truth that deserves to be asked plainly:
How do we explain the hundreds of thousands of adults who once believed they were “just highly sensitive,” only to later discover they are autistic?
That’s not a coincidence—it’s a pattern. One that reveals just how much the current models of both SPS and autism miss when it comes to lived experience.
For many people, what has long been labeled SPS is, in fact, better understood through the lens of the the sensitive autistic—a presentation that includes depth of processing, emotional intensity, sensory sensitivity, burnout, and profound empathy. These are not “non-autistic” traits. They are often autistic traits that simply weren’t recognized because the tools used to measure autism weren’t designed to see them—especially in women, masked individuals, and those socialized to be caregivers.
It’s time to move away from framing autism as a set of observable deficits and toward the neurodiversity paradigm, which sees autism as a natural and valuable variation in human neurology. Continuing to separate SPS and autism without acknowledging their significant overlap—and without including the lived experiences of late-identified autistic people—reinforces stigma and leaves many feeling unseen or misrepresented.
I hope future writing and research will reflect this evolving understanding and center the voices of those living at the intersection of sensitivity and autism.
You ask: How do we explain the hundreds of thousands of adults who once believed they were “just highly sensitive,” only to later discover they are autistic? It seems that question is at the heart of the matter – How is sensory processing sensitivity defined and assessed? And how is autism defined and assessed? I think Aron is trying to look at the research and show where they overlap and where they differ.
You may want to check out a recent NYT op-ed “Autism rates have increased by 60-Fold. I Played a Role in That” by Allen Frances, the person who chaired the task force for DSM-IV which expanded the definition of Autism in the late 80s from classic Autism (identified before age 3, cognitive/developmental differences) to include what was then Aspergers. He writes: “Still, we should be concerned about the increasing tendency to mislabel socially awkward behavior as autistic. … Diagnoses, especially in children, should be written in pencil, not engraved in stone or rendered eternal in medical records. A false diagnosis of autism can haunt someone for life and be very difficult to remove from medical records. Overdiagnosing autism also often misallocates very scarce resources away from the more severely impaired people who most need them” (see https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/opinion/why-autism-rates-increased.html?unlocked_article_code=1.RE8.vae5.EPnrFaKfffr0&smid=fb-share&fbclid=IwY2xjawLGb1JleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFOMDhTS3hIWW9NZzBKYk45AR4dOzAZCXOc1y126jw-rmzzlx2N8kudw3IuYafqMaTCaOfEVlKo85pjcBjHjQ_aem_DP2AVX_qKWOEIReFiglYMQ).
I think the point is that for some people “long-labeled SPS” may or may not be better understood “through the lens of the sensitive autistic.” For you and the clients you treat, it seems like it has been helpful and healing which is wonderful. Other HSP’s may not find the label as helpful not because we feel shame but simply because an ASD diagnosis does not feel like our lived experience. I believe that Elaine Aron did highlight significant overlaps between ASD and SPS while also showing where they differ. Can we hold a Both/And approach and embrace the similarities and differences between SPS and ASD (and ADHD)? I’m grateful that we can continue to have these types of conversations. I too hope research will continue to help us understand more about the intersection (and differences) between SPS, ADHD and autism.
I purchased “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass in 1978, and saw him in person in San Francisco about the same time. I have “Still Here” as well and both are still on my bookshelf, lovingly tattered and well worn.
I am joyfully anticipating Spirituality Through a Highly Sensitive Lens next year … and know it will be quite happy living among all your other books. Thank you dear Elaine for all you contribute to the world.
Elaine, I love, love, love, this article. My mind dives deep with joyful resonance! I believe my high sensitivity, or high perceptivity. as I like to call it, comes from my soul and consciousness, more than from my biology and genes. But, it is really impossible to measure where life and awareness begin and end. Where does the soul exist? What makes the heart beat and electrical impulses fire in the brain and heart? What makes them stop firing?
Believes in Life-After-Life say the physical body literally weighs a few ounces less a few moments after ‘death’. The Sacred Crossing Project is a group created by author William Peters, author of At Heaven’s Door. We join together online, from around the world, to share experiences of accompanying family, friends or loved ones in their transition from inhabiting their body to leaving their body. Shared Death Experiences (SDEs) are similar to NDEs, only the person sharing the experience doesn’t need to die to experience it.
I believe we are each on ‘the spectrum’ aka LIFE. I feel these are exciting times we are living in. Some fear them, and the scary term apocalypse, which means lifting of the veil. I eagerly look forward to your new book!
SAME COMMENT as prior COMMENT – EDITED
Elaine, I love, love, love, this article. My mind dives deep with joyful resonance! I believe my high sensitivity, or high perceptivity, (as I like to call it), comes from my soul and consciousness, more than from my biology and genes. It is really impossible to measure where life and awareness begin and end. Where does the soul exist? What makes the heart beat and electrical impulses fire in the brain and heart? What makes them stop firing?
Believers in Life-After-Life say the physical body literally weighs a few ounces less a few moments after ‘death’. The Sacred Crossing Project is a group created by William Peters, author of: At Heaven’s Door. We join together online, from around the world, to share experiences of having accompanied family, friends or loved ones in their transition from inhabiting their body to leaving their body. Shared Death Experiences (SDEs) are similar to NDEs, except the person sharing the experience doesn’t need to die to experience it. I feel that at least 50% of those that join the calls are highly perceptive people.
I believe we are each on ‘the spectrum’ aka LIFE. I feel these are exciting times we are living in. Some fear them, and the scary term apocalypse, which means lifting the veil. I eagerly look forward to your new book!
Yes, ma’am. We all have problems/
things bout U.S. that defy logic, doll.
But, yet, in 7thHeaven, humanity if
you accept Jesus will be One:
While you’re PONDERn
to see if I’m sane, babe,
lemme XXplane what you
might wanna think about
to stop yore WANDERn –
meetn I in the starry sky:
● NOPEcantELOPE.blogspot.com ●
Cya@the Wedding Party-Hardy,
ya gorgeous wildflower you…
Thank you for the enlightening article. I loved Part II, and I appreciate your ability to recognize the contained without delving into what it might mean in terms of an afterlife and all the other spiritual questions that arise. When I start asking all the other questions, I lose that sense of calm that you imparted in Part II. That is a lesson I am taking from this article, and I am excited about your new book!
always been obsessed with these spiritual topics, especially life after death (if any). after leaving fundamentalist christianity and all of its religious trauma bestowed upon me at 32 years old (and after a near-death experience where I confronted my mortality very uncomfortably, and being atheist during this time, felt deeply afraid of dying and there being nothing, but also dying and going to “hell” for being my true queer self), i searched for years for answers about this.
still nothing concrete four years later, but there will never be anything concrete until i’m dead i guess. Resources I have found comforting and enlightening during this time include thesearchforlifeafterdeath.com, Let’s Talk Near Death podcast, Bruce Greyson’s work, Raymond Moody’s work (who coined “NDE” to my knowledge), Michael Newton’s past-life regression books, Carl Jung’s collective unconscious theories, the “Spirit Molecule” and studies about DMT in the brain during brain death, Ram Dass, psychedelic therapy and ego death experiences, etc.
my largest question, still (as a spiritual atheist, lol): how do i find peace when the innocents of this world die and there is potentially no paradise awaiting them after? how can i find peace with the potential i may never see my loved ones (mainly including animals, trees, flowers, bodies of water) again?
i do not know. it is not fair. these are not normal questions for a 36-year-old, are they? yet i ponder them always.
one more anecdote that resonates here: after a spiritually transcendent ireland trip a few years ago, while deep in jetlag and awake at 4 a.m. reading, i in a half-awake state was reading Anne Lamott’s Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage. i mistook a phrase she wrote about our bodies as the “soul container.” it didn’t say that, but that’s what i read.
i’ve been calling my body my “soul container” for three years now since.
thank you tremendously for your work Dr. Aron.
At the risk of distracting everyone away from the above recap of recent research on HSP’s as well as the beautiful discussion of metaphysics, I want to talk about Elaine’s teeth. I, unfortunately work 40 hours a week in the same room with someone who simply can’t stop gossiping, and this with haste and exuberance. While I was reading the above notes about Elaine’s teeth, at that exact moment, our local office gossip happened to be telling everyone that her dentist says her son has the toughest enamel he has ever seen. She went on to explain he’s an old dentist who has seen a lot of teeth so that must be some seriously mighty enamel. But, nobody cares about the old dentist or his opinion about enamel, and we’re all just really annoyed that we had to hear about it in the first place. And we are also annoyed that we now have to wonder what this gossip must be saying to other people she knows about our various enamels. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Elaine’s humble story about her teeth is not gossip in that it’s pertinent to and set in context with other facts of the matter at hand. She was confirming research with personal example. Moreover, she wouldn’t have troubled herself to tell it, except that she knew that us HSP’s would nod along with her without the slightest hint of Schadenfreude. I want to suggest that maybe the easiest way to spot another HSP is watch people and see who squirms when somebody around is gossiping.
Now, to get us back to the metaphysical, which was the second part of the above essay, may I say that I agree with Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice, that the soul of man never dies, and nobody has ever sung about it more beautifully than them. May I add that I’m certain I’ve felt the presence of angels, and I recognize times when I’ve been inspired, protected and blessed from on high. Finally, I would like to add that I agree with Elaine when she says that the same can be done by anyone. But, I wonder if HSP’s might be a little more likely to.
Dear Elaine,
This blog has been very helpful to me. Now I know that I am not autistic. Just an introverted HSP with some family issues in childhood.
I also appreciated the “Spiritual” part of the blog, though lately I’m becoming more and more pessimistic about the functioning of human rational thought.
In this last part of my life I rather follow the teachings of ‘Stella’ , the nice cat that lives with us, at our home.
She already knows everything.
Thank you.
I can hardly wait!! Thank you for sharing so much of you….I get it.