The Highly Sensitive Person in Love: Understanding and Managing Relationships When the World Overwhelms You

average gender differences have declined with each generation. We all need to express our feelings

what’s called “feminine” is simply “normal human.”

You need to heal the effects of a difficult childhood or dysfunctional family (and also of traumas experienced at a later age).

HSPs’ strong reactions, especially to negative feedback about anything personal or about their performance, is why they are often said to “overreact” to criticism, especially by those close to them.

emotionally. The fact is, although both genders do it, it is mainly when women demand and men withdraw that relationships are highly troubled, polarized, and likely to end.

The point is that the differences are not nearly as great as each sex imagines, but let’s face it: the “strangeness” will be more intense for HSPs, with our tendency to process everything deeply, imagine vividly, and sense others’ feelings—in this case including the anger and suffering of the other gender. With all these reasons for tension, distru

You need information about your trait—a constant stream of it. It should be neutral to positive information, to offset negative views from those who do not understand it.

Research indicates that those who stick to traditional male-female roles on the average have the least happy marriages and are less responsive to marital therapy.

You need help being out in the world, while still maintaining your optimal level of arousal. HSPs should be out there, involved, and successful, and we can be; but it must be in a balanced way—neither too protective of nor too brutal with ourselves.