Up until the turn of the millennium, an “excessive” sensitivity to daily stimuli – be it smells, light, colors, sounds and music – was considered a cognitive disorder. American psychiatrists in particular have taken a close look at this personality trait and found that around 20 percent of us have a clearly excessive sensitivity towards other people.
The facets that life offers in many areas to be perceived more intensively is due to a higher concentration of chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) that enable the transmission of stimuli at the nerve contact points (synapses). Usually, as with you, the emotional component is in the foreground of the different levels of sensitivity.
For some, it is shape and color that often lead painters, sculptors and caricaturists to high artistic levels as a source of inspiration. With composers and musicians, it is the finest nuances of sound that give us touching masterpieces. Even with advanced deafness, Beethoven was so permeated by the divine spark of heavenly sound that he was able to give us the European anthem. For us doctors, too, a high degree of sensitivity is a great advantage, not only to be able to assess laboratory findings and X-rays, but also to be able to feel deeply into the suffering of the patient and thus often get to the roots of the problem.
So this ability is not an evil or even a mental disorder, but – quite the opposite – a talent that you should be careful with, because it costs a lot of energy and can drain us. So treat yourself to a break from the sad images that enter our living rooms every day and relax in the great outdoors that will restore your sensitive soul.
Do you have questions about health?
Write to OÖN doctor Johannes Neuhofer (dermatologist), who oversees this column with a team of doctors: Clemens Steinwender (cardiologist), Reinhold Függer (surgeon), Rainer Schöfl (gastroenterologist), Josef Hochreiter (orthopaedist), Werner Schöny (psychiatrist). E-mail: doktor@nachrichten.at
Source: Nachrichten
