Being Easily Over-aroused

• Another way to think of overarousal is simply having too much to process at once.
  
  
• Being easily over-aroused is the most distressing part of being highly sensitive, and being distressed about it only increases their overarousal. Sensitive people need to feel positively about their sensitivity if they are going to take the steps they need to take, rather than deny its reality.

• Stimulation becomes over-arousing when fatigue sets in. Fatigue arises because the processing of stimulation requires nervous system arousal and attention. Further, the highly sensitive are usually being additionally fatigued due to inhibition of their behavioral response, which they do to a greater degree than others in order to process stimuli more thoroughly. That requires self-control, which is specifically known to be physical work with physical limits, even though it is psychological in nature.
  
  
•  Social stimulation - being observed, praised, criticized, loved, or hassled, for example, are some of the most intense forms of arousal.
   
  
• Even though everyone with high sensitivity will have to deal with overstimulation in certain situations, some will be protecting themselves too much. The reasons for this will differ. They may have already experienced failures and want to avoid more.
  
  
•  They do not need to avoid overstimulation, but being on the low side can also cause discomfort, such as boredom, lack of self-expansion, a sense that their life has no meaning or purpose, and the lack of any opportunities to have positive experiences.
  
  
• Sensitive persons come into the world with thinner personal boundaries. They sense all too well the feelings of others, including the other’s needs, desires, and disappointments. They also fear being criticized for failing to do what is needed or expected.

Some Strategies to Help

Some ways that people can use are methods of affect regulation, such as distraction, seeking comfort from others, and withdrawal for time alone, to gratitude for one’s blessings, helping others, and seeking a positive meaning in negative events.

Meditation

Some people who are sensitive will say they have tried to meditate and could not. Their mind was too restless. The problem is the form of meditation or how it was taught. Again, it should be effortless and practiced for its results, not for achieving some special state, so that neither the person meditating nor the particular meditation session is ever a failure. It will feel different each day, just as the body and brain differ in small ways every day. If you are under stress, it will reflect that. The mind will wander more or stay focused on some external problem or idea. But this is just as when you take a bath—the water is dirtier the more you needed to bathe. The dirt reflects success, not failure.

Focus on the Familiar 

One quality of stimulation that can be reduced is novelty. The more exposure ahead of time, the less stimulation there will be.

 Learn to “Pace Yourself” 

Another aspect of stimulation that can be controlled is the length that it continues. Almost anything can be handled if one takes breaks before one has reached overarousal.

Take Nature Breaks 

It seems that the highly sensitive are especially responsive to nature. If you are, this is something that can help you a great deal
 

Planning for Rest and Recovery Time 

After returning from a trip, the sensitive person needs a day to recover, or even longer if jet lag is involved. When a project ends, there should be some easy work for a while and extra rest at home.