High Sensitivity: Real or Pseudo-Science?

We recently discussed in the Haven Café whether younger people seem more resistant to the idea of high sensitivity. Someone asked why this might be (if indeed it’s true), especially since many do resonate deeply with the experiences described. Is it seen as pseudo-science, pop-psychology, or simply somewhat irrelevant? And if so, why?

The implicit question, “Is it real?”, lurks just beneath the surface in many conversations, especially in academic or scientific circles, where the term “Highly Sensitive Person” can be met with confusion or even derision.

Sensory Processing Sensitivity is not listed in the DSM because it is not recognised as a disorder and therefore not subject to clinical diagnosis or treatment. While it is sometimes mistaken for a “condition” or abnormality, especially when it conflicts with the dominant cultural narrative (sensitivity is a problem to fix), it is a normal variation in biological temperament observed in 20-30% of individuals across many studied species.

In a world that only considers differences serious when they can be succinctly named, perfectly categorised, and ultimately monetised, SPS remains outside usual systems of recognition.

Is High Sensitivity A Real Thing?

I’m sometimes asked, “Is high sensitivity a real thing?” with a hint of scepticism and a raised eyebrow. In this post, I’ll explore that question, not defensively, but because I believe understanding, embracing, and amplifying sensitivity is crucial for our future on this planet.

What Is Sensory Processing Sensitivity?

When people talk about “high sensitivity,” they usually mean Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS), a biological trait first researched by psychologist Dr. Elaine Aron in the 1990s.

Core features include:

• Deep processing of information (internal and external)
• Greater susceptibility to overstimulation
• Strong emotional responsiveness and empathy
• Heightened awareness of subtleties in the environment

SPS isn’t exclusive to humans. It appears in over 100 species (e.g. birds, fish, dogs, monkeys) where about a quarter of individuals process stimuli more thoroughly and act with greater caution. Evolutionarily, this can offer survival advantages.

In other words, sensitivity isn’t a flaw or failure. It’s a strategy that has evolved with us, valuable in many contexts, though not always ideal in every situation.

Is There Any Scientific Basis for High Sensitivity?

Short answer: yes. There’s an expanding body of peer-reviewed research supporting SPS.

Highlights include:

• Brain imaging (fMRI) reveals increased activity in areas associated with empathy, awareness, and sensory processing — particularly the insula and mirror neuron systems — among individuals with high SPS scores.
• Genetic studies suggest that differences in the serotonin and dopamine systems are linked to sensitivity.
• Cognitive experiments reveal that highly sensitive people process information more deeply before reacting, especially to subtle cues.

Researchers like Bianca Acevedo and Arthur Aron (Elaine Aron’s husband and research partner) have expanded this field. This is not pop psychology, although popularisation sometimes blurs that line.

So, Why All the Scepticism Around High Sensitivity?

Despite the science, why is high sensitivity still dismissed?

Not a Disorder, So Lacking “Legitimacy”

As already discussed, Sensory Processing Sensitivity (not to be confused with Sensory Processing Disorder, which presents as a neurological difficulty in processing sensory information) is not included in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the gatekeeper of psychological legitimacy. But SPS isn’t a disorder — it’s a trait, not meant for diagnosis or treatment.

In a medicalised culture, traits that aren’t diagnosable may get overlooked, dismissed, and under-researched.

Popularisation Dilutes the Concept

The public image of the “Highly Sensitive Person” hasn’t always helped. Online quizzes, pastel graphics, and vague “magical empath” memes give the impression that it’s a trendy internet label, rather than a serious trait.

Overlaps With Other Traits

SPS overlaps with introversion, autism, ADHD, anxiety, and trauma responses. This richness can be confusing and lead to oversimplification. Sensitivity resists neat categories because it expresses itself differently through each of us.

Structural Limits of Psychology

The field of psychology developed within industrial capitalist systems designed to observe, classify, and regulate behaviour. Traits that are easily measurable and externally observable tend to be given preference. Inner, relational, context-sensitive traits like SPS are more challenging to study and easier to overlook, especially because they inherently question and critique some of the norms and assumptions we are encouraged to accept.

Gender Assumptions and Cultural Conditioning

Sensitivity is often thought to be more common in women, but this is likely a cultural, rather than a biological, phenomenon. Animal studies show roughly equal distribution across sexes.

Men often under-report sensitivity because of societal norms discouraging emotional awareness or admission.

Our research tools are shaped by these cultural biases, which devalue sensitivity and distort data.

So it’s not just that sensitivity is misunderstood. It’s that the structures we’ve built to define and legitimise human experience were never designed to hold it.

That’s why high sensitivity can feel both resonant and illegible. Deeply real in the body, yet absent from the dominant maps we’re given. It’s not flaky or false; it simply doesn’t align with the systems that determine what counts as real.

The Limits of Psychology Alone

The question “Is high sensitivity real?” often assumes that psychology is the best, or even the only lens through which to understand it. But Sensory Processing Sensitivity is present at the intersection of multiple disciplines:

• Biology and Evolutionary Science: SPS shows up in nervous system sensitivity, behavioural ecology, and evolutionary strategy. The trait persists across over 100 species, offering adaptive advantages such as greater environmental attunement and caution before acting.
• Sociology: Exploring how cultures and groups foster or restrict particular traits such as speed, gentleness, toughness, sensitivity, openness, and emotional restraint.
• Anthropology: Offers examples of societies that revere sensitivity, seeing it as a source of moral clarity, spiritual insight, or profound relational wisdom.
• Philosophy: Raises fundamental questions about consciousness, perception, and how we make meaning of our experiences, especially those that don’t fit standard models of logic or efficiency.

Relying on any single discipline, especially one shaped by industrial, capitalist, and masculinised ideas, to fully grasp sensitivity will always be inadequate.

The Drive to Categorise

So much of the tension around HSP seems to come from our urge to categorise:

• What box do I fit in?
• Does high sensitivity count as a real thing?

These questions aren’t bad, but they reflect a wider cultural drive to make people measurable, marketable, and manageable. Psychology, in this sense, can feel like a tool of capitalism: giving us just enough language to know what’s “wrong” with us so we can get back to work or be categorised accordingly.

But the value of understanding sensitivity isn’t in proving the existence of a Platonic ideal; a perfect blueprint for the “true HSP.” It’s about resonance, not essence.

It’s about recognising patterns in how we process the world, validating our needs, and finding language that supports awareness, not to box ourselves in, but to better design life on different terms.

What High Sensitivity Isn’t

Misunderstanding comes from what people think high sensitivity means:

• It’s not a mental illness or a diagnosis.
• It’s not PTSD or complex trauma (though trauma can affect how sensitivity is expressed).
• It’s not the same as social anxiety.
• It’s not an excuse for avoiding life, people, or challenges.
• It’s not about being better, deeper, or more fragile than others.

High sensitivity isn’t a club or community. It’s just one of many traits (albeit a big one) that make us who we are.

When it’s misunderstood, it might be treated like a burden or something supernatural. But when it’s understood, it can become a normal, valuable, and natural part of how we navigate the world as individuals and communities.

What If It’s Something Else? Sensitivity, Autism, and Trauma

Sometimes when I share ideas about high sensitivity, people respond by saying it sounds like autism or trauma. And they’re not wrong, there is overlap.

The reality is, many of the surface-level behaviours we associate with SPS in certain conditions (withdrawal, intense experience of emotions, sensitivity to sound, difficulty in busy environments) can also occur in:

• Autism spectrum conditions
• Developmental or attachment-related trauma
• ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence

This doesn’t mean SPS is invalid, or that it “just is” one of those other things. But it does remind us that the same behaviour can have different roots, and labels, while helpful, are never the whole story.

Some people’s sensitivity might be primarily temperamental. Others might be living with the impact of nervous system dysregulation from earlier experiences. Often, it’s both.

That’s why I think of high sensitivity not as a perfect category, but as a lens. One that helps some of us make sense of how we relate to the world, even if it’s not the whole picture.

The Real Question

So, is high sensitivity pseudo-science? No. The science exists. It’s just not always what or how we might expect it to be.

Perhaps the better question isn’t whether it’s “scientific enough”, but whether it’s resonant enough to shift how we relate to ourselves and the world.

If you often find yourself deeply affected by beauty, noise, cruelty, or crowded spaces more than those around you, you don’t need scientific validation to confirm your experience is real.

You already know.