Are You Too Sensitive?

by | Sep 28, 2014

Women & depression … it’s such a complex issue. And there can be hidden triggers lurking underneath the surface, causing the depression.

It’s complicated, in part, because …

  • there are several different types of depression;
  • it can mimic other conditions;
  • depression can happen as a result of a one-time-only experience, never to return.

Sometimes it can develop because of a mostly invisible, underlying issue. If that happens, it’s easy to overlook the mostly invisible issue.

One possible hidden depression trigger is being a highly sensitivity person (HSP).

Are You Too Sensitive?

If you’re a wonderfully sensitive person, noises, lights, fabrics, and/or other people’s energy (among almost any other sensory thing) can just be too much for your system.

That could be pretty painful, no? Sweeping vista with mesas in the background and a gorgeous cloud-filled sky. If you're an HSP, highly sensitive person, you may be struggling with anxiety, depression, CPTSD, and low self-esteem. The Santa Fe Therapist can help. Santa Fe, NM and New Mexico. 87544, 87540, 87501, 87048, 87506

Plus … 

 … well, I think that’d be a set-up for feeling depressed (or anxious; or both), don’t you?

And then, there are the possible reactions to and neurochemical results of how your body/mind/psyche processes all that incoming, too-much sensory stimulation.

Depression may be one of those results.

You’re Not Doomed to Depression

In an interview with renowned Canadian psychiatrist, Dr. Gabor Mate, regarding Robin Wiliams’s suicide, Dr. Mate explains:

Genes are activated or turned off by the environment, including in cases of suicide, as brilliant Canadian studies have shown. Nobody is born doomed to depression and nobody is born with low self-esteem. … . 

[Robin Williams’s] warmth and vulnerability and his stupendous creative genius as a comic all rested on his extraordinary sensitivity. A sensitive person, by definition, feels more than others. A mildly noxious stimulus that may cause slight discomfort to a more stolid personality can inflict agonizing pain to one with a hypersensitive temperament. Temperament is significantly conditioned by genes. How it unfolds depends upon formative life events.

 … .

His found his father “frightening” and, like many children who feel intimidated at home, he was bullied in school. He was emotionally alone.

What’s Your Truth?

Exquisite sensitivity isn’t a character flaw, or a disability. And it isn’t something to be ashamed of. But, we’re taught exactly these things.

Sensitive children are often bullied, both at home and at school. Sensitive adults can struggle their entire lives, wondering what’s wrong with them.

When, in fact, the right question to ask is, “How do I live from my truth?”

If you think you might be an HSP, you’re not alone. It’s estimated that 20% of people fit the criteria for being an HSP. 

Here’s one way to explore whether or not you might be an HSP. It’s a free online quiz from the psychologist, Dr. Elaine Aron, who (literally) wrote the book on being highly sensitive.

Isn’t It Time to Start Living From Your Truth?

Emotional health and wellbeing encompass the worlds of both what you can literally see and touch, and the intuitive information and wisdom available in the more subtle and mystical ways of knowing.

My compassionate, creative approach as a Santa Fe therapist weaves together my ability to hear below the surface of the words, advanced degrees, years of specialized training, professional experience, and healing my own sacred wounds.

I also use all the latest neuroscience findings, and combine Western systems, Eastern wisdom, Earth-based practices, as well as creative, innovative ideas to get you where you want to go.

My clients usually work with me once a week for 8 to 12 months. As we work together, you’ll be getting tools for long-term success and learning and using strategies and techniques to serve you for many years.

You’ll work hard for sure. But won’t all be horrible and terrible! I love sharing ideas about good books and films and laughing together once in a while. Woman with a gentle smile is wearing a hand-dyed scarfEmotional and spiritual healing offers tranquility, peace, and grace. The Santa Fe Therapist offers online therapy for trauma, depression, anxiety, angst, despair, and stress. Santa Fe NM. 87506, 87048, 87501, 87043

Please know that I welcome ongoing conversations about making therapy the best experience it can be for you.

My hope for you is that you’ll feel safe every step of the way.

The Santa Fe Therapist Approach

I’m Melanie, the Santa Fe Therapist. I think of emotional health and wellbeing as “loving yourself into wholeness.” Some people feel that it’s also spiritual healing.

In my experience, learning to love yourself can be a lifelong journey. Emotional and spiritual healing and wellbeing happen when you deepen into your true self, uncovering, processing, and releasing layer after layer of learned self-doubt, even self-hatred.

Then, you can begin replacing those unhealthy layers with what’s good and true and authentic for you.

It’s really about understanding how to feel emotionally safe in a dangerous world. You’ll experience freedom when you know how to recognize being connected with something grander (and more important) than your tiny, ego-based monkey-mind thinking. That connection can be as simple and beautiful as loving and caring for your doggo.

The Santa Fe Therapist Offers Online Counseling in Santa Fe, NM

Online therapy helps stressed and struggling women find the time away from day-to-day pressures to settle into their Wise Woman selves, access their inner knowing and intuition, cope with challenges, and learn new techniques to help them heal and move forward with confidence and joy.

I strongly believe in the power of online counseling. Along with the research that proves its effectiveness, I see the positive benefits for my clients every week. If you’ve got questions about online therapy, please click here.

Online counseling from anywhere in New Mexico, including Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos, Los Alamos, Pecos, Las Vegas, Tesuque and El Dorado.

How Much Longer Are You Willing to Wait?

You don’t have to suffer alone anymore. Please, send me an email, and let’s schedule a free, 15-minute phone consultation: melanie@melanieharth.com.

Other Services From The Santa Fe Therapist

The Santa Fe Therapist specializes in several areas of health, wellbeing, healing and recovery. We know that one size never fits all. Our services are individualized to each client, and are based on your values, your needs and desires, and your goals.

We offer individual adult counseling and guidance in Santa Fe NM for: