Highly Sensitive People: Understanding Burnout, Anxiety, and the Strength of Sensitivity
Have you ever felt like you experience the world more intensely than others? Maybe you’ve even been put down by others for being “too sensitive”. To you, sounds feel louder, emotions run deeper, and subtle shifts in mood, energy, or environment are quickly and easily noticeable. If this feels familiar, you may be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), a trait found in roughly 15–20% of the population (Aron, 1996).
High sensitivity is not an official DSM diagnosis nor an illness to be cured. It reflects a nervous system that processes information deeply and responds strongly to both internal and external experiences. While this trait can be a powerful strength, it can also make fast-paced, noisy, and demanding parts of life especially exhausting.
Many highly sensitive people struggle with burnout, anxiety, people-pleasing, and a persistent feeling of not quite belonging. Let’s talk about understanding sensitivity through a compassionate lens that still offers room for relief and growth.
What Does It Mean to Be Highly Sensitive?
Highly sensitive people tend to notice nuances others miss, such as emotional shifts, sensory details, and subtle social cues. According to Granneman and Solo (2023), sensitivity involves deeper cognitive and emotional processing, strong empathy, and heightened responsiveness to the environment.
Common experiences of HSPs include:
Strong emotional reactions (to both joy and pain)
Deep empathy and attunement to others
Sensitivity to noise, crowds, light, or chaotic spaces
A rich inner world and reflective nature
A strong orientation toward meaning and values
In supportive environments, these traits foster creativity, insight, and connection. In overstimulating or misaligned environments, they can contribute to overwhelm and self-doubt.
Why Highly Sensitive People Are More Prone to Burnout
Burnout is prolonged nervous system activation without adequate recovery. For highly sensitive people, daily life often requires more internal processing, which means the stress load accumulates faster.
Burnout for HSPs may look like:
Chronic exhaustion that rest doesn’t fully resolve
Emotional numbness or withdrawal
Irritability or feeling “fried”
Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
Loss of pleasure in things that once felt meaningful
Because many HSPs are conscientious and deeply attuned to expectations, they often push past their limits without complaint until burnout takes over.
Sensitivity, Anxiety, and People-Pleasing
High sensitivity is closely linked to anxiety because of their highly responsive nervous systems. Constant stimulation, relational tension, or uncertainty can keep the body in a state of heightened alert.
Anxiety for HSPs may show up as:
Overthinking social interactions or decisions
Difficulty relaxing, even when things are logically “fine”
Physical tension or restlessness
Constant scanning for potential stressors
People-pleasing often develops as a coping strategy. Because HSPs feel others’ emotions so strongly. Additionally, conflict or disappointment can feel physically distressing. Over time, this can lead to prioritizing others’ comfort over one’s own needs at the cost of their own energy and authenticity.
Feeling Like You Don’t Belong
Many highly sensitive people grow up with the sense that they’re “too much” or “too different.” Cultural norms that reward speed, toughness, and emotional detachment can leave sensitive people feeling out of place.
Dorcas Cheng-Tozun (2023) notes that sensitive individuals often experience tension between their values (i.e. care, justice, depth) and systems that prioritize efficiency or dominance. For sensitive people who also navigate marginalization, this sense of not belonging can be even more pronounced.
Therapy can help untangle internalized messages about being “too sensitive” and replace them with self-trust and clarity.
Sensitivity as Strength
Sensitivity is often framed as something to overcome. In reality, it’s closely tied to many of the qualities that enrich relationships, creativity, and communities.
Research and lived experience suggest that highly sensitive people often excel in:
Creative work, due to deep processing and emotional richness
Empathy and emotional intelligence, through attunement to others
Helping professions, where presence and nuance matter
Ethical awareness, because impact is deeply felt
It’s no coincidence that many artists, writers, therapists, teachers, healers, and advocates identify as highly sensitive. Sensitivity supports intuition, insight, and meaningful connection (Aron, 1996; Granneman & Solo, 2023).
The challenge isn’t sensitivity itself but rather living in environments that don’t support it. Without boundaries and nervous system care, sensitivity can tip into exhaustion. Therapy helps sensitive people protect and pace their energy so their strengths remain sustainable.
Rather than asking, “How do I become less sensitive?”
A more supportive question is:
“How do I build a life that honors my sensitivity?”
Are You a Highly Sensitive Person?
You might be a highly sensitive person if many of these resonate:
☐ You’re deeply affected by others’ moods or energy
☐ You feel overwhelmed by noise, crowds, or busy environments
☐ You need downtime to recover from social interaction
☐ You notice subtleties others overlook
☐ You feel emotions strongly and reflect deeply
☐ You’re sensitive to criticism, even when constructive
☐ You value meaning, authenticity, and depth
☐ You’ve been told you’re “too sensitive”
A Reframed Checklist: Sensitivity as an Asset
You may also recognize yourself here:
☐ You’re a thoughtful listener who makes others feel seen
☐ You notice emotional undercurrents and relational dynamics
☐ You’re moved by art, nature, or beauty
☐ You care deeply about fairness and impact
☐ You bring intention and care into your work
☐ You have a strong intuitive sense about people or situations
☐ You value connection over performance
How Therapy Can Support Highly Sensitive People
Therapy can be especially helpful for HSPs because it offers a space where depth, emotion, and slowness are welcomed. Rather than trying to fix you, therapy focuses on helping you understand and work with your nervous system.
In therapy, highly sensitive people often explore:
Regulating overwhelm and anxiety
Setting and holding boundaries
Untangling people-pleasing patterns
Rebuilding confidence and self-trust
Reframing sensitivity as meaningful information
Ready to Start Now?
I work with thoughtful, sensitive people to help them build nervous system awareness, stronger boundaries, and lives that feel more sustainable and aligned.
If you’re curious about working together, I invite you to reach out to schedule a consultation call.
References
Aron, E. N. (1996). The highly sensitive person: How to thrive when the world overwhelms you. Broadway Books.
Cheng-Tozun, D. (2023). Social justice for the sensitive soul: How to change the world in quiet ways. Broadleaf Books.
Granneman, J., & Solo, A. (2023). Sensitive: The hidden power of the highly sensitive person in a loud, fast, too-much world. Harmony Books.