HSPs, Sociability and Feeling Overstimulated

HSPs, Sociability and Feeling Overstimulated (link) is the latest entry in Denmarkguy's post.

He makes note that it's common for HSP to feel overwhelmed and drained in large groups because of all the energy.

What I found is that the getting overwhelmed or drained doesn't come directly from all that energy, but rather how we respond to it. If there is something inside of us that dreads facing it, that fights feeling it, that fights ourselves in the process, we've put up a wall or shield and all that energy is just putting pressure on it, pushing it and exhausting us as we hold it up. The solution is to allow yourself to take it all in and feel it, then let it all flow back out as not ours. We can also simply synch up with the energy of the crowd if it is in a positive space and actually get energized or high. This is what I and a few friends of mine have found.

That's interesting melodicolor. It may sound funny but I use to escape to the mens room frequently at college and sometimes in university. I think one of the hardest things is to be aware of how you feel and go with it during those types of situations with groups of people. Sometimes you freeze up and go ridged. My shyness has been mis-conceived as arrogance before.

It's interesting because I have come across that before; HSP men posting about men's restrooms and their discomfort there.

Unfortunately, HSP can be misconstrued as arrogent for many reasons, mostly because we seemed self contained, withdrawn at times, need down time and for other reasons. But that's another thread topic altogether.

The rest room cubicle wasn't the tulip field I would have liked to escape to.
However on a crowded college campus I was least likely to run into anyone there.

Ah, it was your destimulation space.

Say there's two energy channels in you. The shit channel, and the goods-channel. The more you've got in your shit channel, the more you relate to and notice shit around you. So if you're in a huge crowd as a HSP, and you've also got alot of bad internalized experiences that you haven't resolved, that glues itself to the negative energy of others around you. The shit channel therefore feels heavier. Similarly, you can find good energy and add it to your goods-channel, and that makes you feel energized and vitalized around others. It's all about which channel in you is the strongest at the time when you enter the crowd. If you've had a bad dream, are processing something, etc, it's harder and more draining to be around others. Being around others is not in itself draining. Humans are all built to thrive around each others. We activate, strengthen, and empower each others naturally, no matter our differences.

It's a good way of envisioning it too. We tend to notice that which we are struggling with, and not the rest when internal issues rule.