Coping with Emotional Sensitivity: Is it Bad to be Sensitive?

People with ADHD are "sensitive" because we are triggered by anything that might resemble criticism because we have been receiving criticism everyday our whole life, constantly reminded of our shortcomings ("so and so can do that so you should be able to to. Its not that hard" and other nonsense). 😥 Its normal. It sucks. Be gentle and forgiving with yourself. Even when a family member is being super polite in reminding me to do something, I get super triggered because all I hear is criticism and that they don't think I can do things without being told even though I'm a grown a** adult at 31. Take care love! You got this! You are strong! 🙌💕 Don't let others make you feel bad about yourself. God bless.

this can actually be called hyperempathy!! its a common neurodivergent trait, along with hypoempathy (which i have). Its nothing that needs to be fixed or changed, and to cope with it, i would like to simply say to be kind to yourself, your symptoms dont make you a bad person and its ok to be sensitive!

I'm glad I'm not the only one lol, and it's ironic because i've been through some pretty tough situations, but we all deal with trauma in different ways. It may make some people tougher, but I am still extremely sensitive. You find ways to cope with it by looking at the bigger picture- for example, if something upsets you way too much, think about how little it matters in the grand scheme of things. If you're sensitive to noise, invest in some good noise cancelling headphones :) and remember, you are not alone <3

i honestly am probably the most sensitive out of my friend group and my family, but being sensitive is just who i am. i’ve also been told being sensitive is just showing you have a big heart and care about a lot of things. don’t worry, i feel you. i don’t think you can ever be “too sensitive”.

Weirdly, no offense, I’m sensitive about people that are sensitive.

My girlfriend is incredibly sensitive, I don't judge her or ask her to be less so bc that's one of the many reasons I love her, all I do is make sure that I just am less sarcastic and more... Open about my positive feelings towards her.

Omg, I've been struggling with this EXACT same issue all of my life. My overly sensitive nature has been the bane of my existence. Even minor things hurt me deeply and attack my self-esteem/self-worth. I've been told all of my life that I'm "too sensitive" and should learn to take things less personally, but I don't know how.. I have a strong emotional reaction to something before I have time to even think about/process what just happened to me and the intense emotional reactions produce intense physical sensations/symptoms that make it even harder to not let my emotions consume me/dictate everything. I've never met someone as sensitive as me, so I've spent my whole life thinking/feeling like there's definitely something wrong with me, but I feel helpless to change it.

Some people use the term sensitive to deflect that what they said could have been rude or offensive. They also use it when people take a "joke" seriously. What I'm trying to say is that I have realized that I'm not sensitive, I just didn't find the joke funny. For some people teasing is funny, but for those of us that are lacking in self confidence or struggle with interpreting social cues, teasing makes us feel uncomfortable or self conscious.

Yes, it’s perfectly fine to be sensitive. It just means that you care a lot. Honestly, personal growth has helped me the most, and that comes with time. Hang in there!