Thomas's Reviews > The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You

Thankful that this book exists to support those who have always felt more sensitive to the world around them. Though I enjoy a party every now and then, I do prefer one-on-one conversations and time spent reading books and listening to Ariana Grande. With the popularity of books like Quiet by Susan Cain, society has started to warm up to those who desire time alone and those who get aroused faster by external stimuli. Still, Elaine Aron's The Highly Sensitive Person contributes to our understanding of sensitive people by shedding light on our relationships, our work lives, and how we can thrive in the world around us.

I appreciate how Aron frames sensitivity as a trait that carries both strengths and weaknesses, as any facet of an individual does. She provides helpful tools to highly sensitive people on how to maximize the assets of sensitivity as well as strategies to cope with its challenges. She discusses how friends and family can interact with sensitive people in understanding ways, such as by not overreacting if a sensitive person asks for time alone or declines an invitation to a large gathering. While I felt that her tone came across as a little condescending to sensitive people at times, for the most part Aron did an amazing job of accepting and celebrating a trait so often dismissed by society.

I most loved Aron's emphasis on how we should avoid both pathologizing sensitivity and erasing it with medication. Though the book felt outdated in some parts - such as by not including therapies like DBT - Aron makes relevant connections between various fields like psychology and gender studies. Overall, recommended to those who might identify as a highly sensitive person, or to those who want to understand us better. I think we all carry some sensitivity within us, and we can all work to cultivate it to our advantage.