Hypersensitivity
In my clinical practice, the term “high sensitivity” appears frequently in the narratives of my patients. Many identify themselves as “highly sensitive,” often through spontaneous self‑diagnosis. Although widely used, the term covers very different realities and can serve multiple functions in a patient’s discourse.
Far from being a pathological label or a clinical symptom, high sensitivity is for me a valuable indicator such as an entry point to explore what, in the patient, manifests as anxiety, overwhelm or emotional intensity.
When a patient tells me they are highly sensitive, it often reflects an emotional or sensory overflow they cannot yet define precisely. This intense experience is neither a medical diagnosis nor a sign of superior intelligence. It is a singular expression of their inner world, revealing a particular way of perceiving and reacting to their environment. My work is to go beyond the label and understand what high sensitivity means within their personal history.
For some, it is a sensory hypersensitivity: noise, light or physical proximity become overwhelming. Clara, for instance, feels instantly overloaded in crowded supermarkets. For others, high sensitivity takes the form of emotional intensity linked to past experiences or unresolved memories. Antoine becomes submerged after a simple conversation, ruminating every detail until exhaustion. Sofia, unable to verbalise her emotions, expresses her sensitivity through unexplained bodily pain. Each person is sensitive in their own way.
In this context, it is essential to distinguish anxiety from anguish. Anxiety is a diffuse worry oriented toward the future, marked by constant alertness. Anguish, on the other hand, manifests more abruptly, often through somatic sensations of pressure or imminent threat. High sensitivity acts here as a psychological sensor, signalling that something requires attention.
High sensitivity is not a uniform concept. Some patients focus on physical sensations, others on inner agitation fed by rumination or over‑intellectualisation. This diversity reflects the richness of the phenomenon, which must be explored individually. The goal is not to confirm or deny a label, but to understand what it reveals about the patient’s relationship to themselves and to others.
In therapy, high sensitivity is not an endpoint but a starting point. My role is to help the patient decipher what this heightened sensitivity reveals about their coping mechanisms, their anxiety or their anguish. High sensitivity becomes a language that the psychologist helps translate.
This work involves identifying emotional or sensory triggers, soothing overwhelm through mindfulness, breathing or relaxation techniques, and giving structure and meaning to this sensitivity in light of the patient’s personal history.
Research on Highly Sensitive People (HSP), notably by Elaine Aron, has shown that high sensitivity is often associated with increased neurological activation, particularly in the amygdala, which regulates emotional responses. These findings offer valuable scientific insight, but they must not overshadow the uniqueness of each individual experience. Authors such as Thomas d’Ansembourg invite us to move beyond the label and return to emotional authenticity such as a perspective that can be integrated with nuance.
High sensitivity is neither a weakness nor a pathology; it is a rich and complex human characteristic. For the clinician, it is a key that helps understand and support the specific forms of anxiety and anguish experienced by the patient. Through attentive listening and a structured therapeutic frame, this sensitivity - sometimes overwhelming - can become a resource that illuminates the patient’s functioning, self‑perception and relationships.
References
Aron, E. (1996). The Highly Sensitive Person. Broadway Books. D’Ansembourg, T. (2001). Cessez d’être gentil, soyez vrai. Les Éditions de l’Homme. Bowlby, J. (1988). A Secure Base. Routledge. Sifneos, P. (1973). The prevalence of alexithymic characteristics. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 22(2), 255‑262.
