Living in a World Unraveling

HSP’s Navigating a World in Crisis

There is enough to contend with being an HSP in a healthy and functioning world, but what do you do when the world feels like it’s unraveling? When it feels like every few minutes there is a news update about a cataclysmic natural disaster, ongoing conflict in war torn countries, reversals in civil rights policy, and increasing division in the world, what pressure do we put on ourselves? Do we expect ourselves to be unimpacted, to separate emotionally, to not react or respond. Being a highly sensitive person means we are highly attuned and keyed into the world around us — so naturally, an HSP would pick up on the intense emotional experience happening in the world right now and have a correlating reaction to it. 

So as an HSP, how do we tend to our soul when we are picking up on so much external emotional input?

1. Scale back input: In our world, instant gratification via social media has become the norm — this, unfortunately for HSPs, means that we are often barraged by an onslaught of sensory and emotional input. One way we can take care of ourselves is to check in with our level of stimulation, and scale back input where able or needed. This might mean taking a break from scrolling through reels, limiting the number of times a week we absorb the news, hiding or blocking certain topics for a limited time, doing a social media break, or setting boundaries with our loved ones about how much social-emotional energy we have to discuss more highly charged topics. 

2. Set realistic expectations: For HSPs, feeling helpless when looking at the big picture can generate a deeper sense of hopelessness, especially when we feel pressure to be the change we want to see in the world. But we have to remember the state of the world is not a singular person’s job to fix, and there is no one magical thing that will set everything right. If you feel called to action, stop and mindfully reflect first. Consider how much energy, time and space you can actually give without running yourself into the ground. And then set realistic expectations on how you would like to get involved, if your reflection supports you doing so. 

3. Balance perspective: For HSPs caught up in the collective emotional urgency of others, it is easy to shift into black and white thinking. Black & White thinking is a thinking trap that is easy to fall into when we feel stressed or overwhelmed in which we assume in the extreme. Taking a breath and making an effort to balance perspective, to see the grey in-between can help reduce anxiety and boost hopefulness. For example if we take the black and white thought of, “nobody cares about what’s happening,” and use the T.O.M. method (negative thought, opposite positive thought, middle/grounded thought), the extreme opposite thought is that “everybody cares a great deal,” (we try to use an extreme positive to counterbalance just how negative the original thought truly is, even though our anxiety can’t see it yet). If we then look for a thought between those two points, that is in the grey (which is often more calm, more balanced, and more likely true) we might arrive at — something along the lines of “some people care, and some people don’t,” or even “some people care but don’t know how to help.” Again, there is not a specific right answer in the grey, we are just working to find a thought that is calmer and more grounded. 

So if you are an HSP feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated by everything that is occurring in the world. Take a second and tend to yourself, because if we take the time we can show up more fully if and when we need to. 

With warm regards,

Megan Bell, LMFT # 114303

she/her

Thrive Therapy & Counseling