You’re so sensitive, you probably think this post is about you. 

But is it? Are you what is most commonly known as a “Highly Sensitive Person”? Here are 17 not-scientific-at-all clues that you might be as big of a basket case as I am:

1. On Facebook, you notice when a friend likes everyone’s comment but yours. And it hurts, okay? It really hurts. Why do people have to be such dicks?

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2. It is common for you to have a nervous breakdown over a book.

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3. Music has the power to destroy you.

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4. That person who broke your heart 15 years ago? Still dreaming about them.

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5. If it is after 11:00 p.m., there definitely a serial killer, a zombie, or an alien outside of your window. Any ordinary nighttime sound is a killer creeping down your hallway to saw your limbs off as you lay frozen in panic.

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6. You wonder all the time why people are so mean. Can’t we all just be nice to each other?

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7. You can’t believe that there are people on this earth who don’t like dogs. Like, are they just not paying attention?

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8. Shows like Breaking Bad, Orange is the New Black, and Game of Thrones are “too much” for you.

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9. You say sorry all the time. When someone says, “Don’t be sorry!” you respond with, “Oh. Sorry.”

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10. If, when instant messaging with a friend, you see the little dots indicating a forthcoming message, but the message never comes, you assume the person thinks you cannot be trusted with secrets. You will never stop wondering what they decided not to tell you.

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11.You always let people cut ahead of you, whether it’s on the road or in the grocery store checkout.

12. People are always telling you, “Don’t be so sensitive!”

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13. You’re pretty sure that weird thing you said three weeks ago at your kid’s open house has marked you as a social pariah. That one popular mom has totally stopped looking you in the eye.

14. A mistake at work is cause for a 3-week period of deep personal introspection laced with intermittent bouts of self-loathing.

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15. Sometimes you ugly cry in the shower because the world is such a beautiful disaster.

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16. If someone tries to tickle you, you will kick them in the junk. But it will be by accident, and you will feel terrible about it later. (But not too terrible.)

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17. This list is making you emotional. (Sorry.)

Eh? Sound familiar? Now do you feel validated but also like someone just peeled off your top layer of skin and now all your nerves are exposed and everything’s all tingly and you can’t tell if that’s a good or a bad thing? It’s okay. I understand. Let’s internet-hug.

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{{{hug}}}

Isn’t that better?

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28 Comments

  1. Being a person with the sensitivity of an anvil, I really appreciate this insight.
    I would hug you and keep you from all the bad things, except that creature outside the window. So scary.

  2. I’m right there with you on like 90% of those! Although, this hugging creatures at the end kinda creep me out…that might just be me though :-/

    • Honestly, I wish I weren’t. (Because another name for it? “BASKETCASE.” Not flattering. haha)

  3. I’m with you 100%. As a child my parents told me I needed to thicken my skin and not take everything so personally. I’ve never done that. It’s funny–some stuff rolls right off, but other stuff I take to heart and there’s no logic to which ones will make me shrug, and which ones I will internalize and be hurt about for the next thirty years. For example, I always feel bad when I post a comment on a FB post or blog, and the poster or blog author replies to everyone but me. If they only reply to one or two out of a dozen, and I’m not one of them, I go “eh, OK.” And I try to remind myself, duh, it’s social media–RELAX. But…*sniff* maybe I just need a hug. Or, you know, to calm down. 🙂

    • Yes I also had lots of people tell me to “lighten up” and that I needed a “thicker skin.” But this was the skin I was given, you know? You can’t just CHANGE your skin. 😛

  4. Some of them I can absolutely relate with, and my husband calls a couple of these, “Popsicle Logic”. It’s a term he coined during my first pregnancy. I was waddling to get myself a popsicle when I asked if he would like one as well. He said no, so I proceeded to get one for myself and sat down to enjoy it. Not three minutes later he got up and got himself a popsicle. I was crushed. He wanted a popsicle, he just didn’t want a popsicle from ME. He found me in our bedroom, forty-five minutes later, still sobbing uncontrollably about the situation. Hence, Popsicle Logic. It still baffles him to this day, but at least we can both laugh about it now.

  5. I’m sensitive, too. But for the most part I think I hide it. I was told by a “friend” once that she didn’t want to be friends with someone who was “so needy.” Me being needy was wanting to plan a dinner out and her not answering me. I guess it took me awhile to figure out she didn’t want to be my friend! But ever since then I’ve given up on making friends because it just doesn’t seem worth it.

    I’m the same with the online comments. If my comment gets a short reply or no reply I’m crushed. And then I wonder if I said something offensive, or did it come off as snobby….you can’t type with inflection and tone…gah! I should just hide under the covers.

    And the text bubble…totally get that. Like, why was the text bubble there forever and ever and then the response was “ok” or a smiley face. What did they erase??

    Yeah, it sucks to be so sensitive. And it gets worse the older I get. I think it’s because I’ve lost some self confidence which I’m working on getting back!!

    • Haha… yeah I haven’t gotten “needy” yet, probably because I tend to withdraw if I sense someone is annoyed by me. The problem is that many times they are not actually annoyed; it’s just me being a paranoid idiot. lol

  6. Thank goodness it’s not only me.

    Or wait…maybe it is only me. Is it only me? It is isn’t it? I need to go curl into a ball in the closet.

  7. OMG! Are you living inside my head!? Oh wait! Are YOU the one outside my window?!
    Hubby and I have a rule, we all eat together…no one eats until I have my plate and sit down. Why this rule? Well, it all started when I had my hysterectomy several years ago and we were having dinner, at the table for the first time since the surgery, and the I dished the kids up, hubby dished his up and by the time I got to the table they were all finished eating and well…I didn’t take it to well. (putting it mildly) I cried about it for an hour! I felt left out, like life had gone on without me while I was recovering from the surgery (and had to have my gallbladder out 4 weeks after hysto.)…that I wasn’t NEEDED any longer. Yeah, that was a fun night. LOL So, now we have that rule in place. LOL

  8. Oooh, lots of this list. I have a tendency to rethink everything after the fact. And, I’m totally serious about this, I have been debating for 5 years whether or not I should message an old friend of mine about a comment I made in passing that I’m afraid he might have taken the wrong way. 5. Years. Ago.

  9. Even as far back as my high school days, I was accused of being too sensitive. So of course I could relate to all, except I do still love The Sopranos 😉

  10. #8. Yes. Yes. YES!! I used to watch Without a Trace and really enjoyed the characters, but I was a little relieved when the show ended because it was so intense I couldn’t sleep after watching episodes. I don’t even watch the trailers for scary movies. I will literally close my eyes and hum if I can’t look away and hit mute. I say “sensitive,” you say “chickenshit.” Potato, potahto. 😉

  11. It’s twice as bad if you’re introverted. (Points to self.) My husband is my one and only friend and I honestly don’t know if I would change that.

  12. My father always tells me that I’m ‘too sensitive’ after he makes me cry, but I LOVED Breaking Bad… What does that MEAN?!?! 😉