我敏感，我引以為傲？《Good News If You Are a Sensitive Person》聽後感

第一次聽到「高敏感」這詞是在討論小孩，我沒這煩惱，當時沒留意內容。

但某天從Podcast節目「Something You Should Know」 by Mike Carruthers

聽到採訪Jen Granaman的訪問〔Good News If You Are a Sensitive Person〕

我感受到被理解，原來是這樣！一種救贖感？

你太敏感了 你反應過度 你想太多了

(這幾個形容詞，不就是我？)

容易被感動到哭

容易開心得大笑 

也容易陷入難過 憂傷的情緒

(我...)

能感受體會別人的心情

別人喜歡跟你訴說心事

(YES!)

後來上網搜尋相關資訊，發現有測試量表，測完還真的是高敏感者。

如採訪中主持人多次提到的，多數人對於高敏感/敏感持負面的看法；高敏感/敏感的人 多半也不喜歡自己這樣的特質。

然而受訪者Jen Granaman卻對於高敏感抱持高度肯定，希望高敏感者擁抱這項優點，我覺得很感動。

Jen Granaman認為高敏感反而是優勢，高敏感的人感受到的更多、更細微，有更多同理心及創造力。

高敏感的人接收所有訊息，慢慢的分析處理，產出更多別具意義的內容，而不只是表面膚淺的論述。

她認為這些特質，更是現在這個變動快速的世界所需要。

我覺得受到鼓舞，即使我還難以用這麼正面的態度，看待自己常常滿溢的情緒。

高敏感者確實，在處理外界情緒跟資訊常會難以負荷，Jen Granaman建議多給自己一些喘息的時間與空間，MeTime, downtime很重要，建議敏感者慢慢調整 ，來擁有自己最舒服的生活方式。

後來搜尋一下"Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive Person in a Loud, Fast, Too Much World." 在Podcast裡介紹的這本書，目前台灣沒有中譯版，但有滿多類似的書籍可參考。

以下摘錄觸動我的兩段對話(我不是專業翻譯，僅供參考)

Mike Carruthers: Something I find pretty interesting is, there are certain things you don't say to people, you don't say, "Gosh, you're fat," or, "You're ugly." But people are very willing to say, "You're too sensitive" to someone in a derogatory way, in an insulting way, it's kind of insensitive. And you're saying it to a sensitive person.

我覺得挺弔詭的是，有些話你不會直接對人說，比如不會說：「天哪！你真胖」，或者「喔！你很醜」。

但人們卻會用一種貶低的方式，不以為意的對一個敏感的人說：「你太敏感了」，說這種話有點不夠敏感，而且還是對一個敏感的人說。

Jen Granaman: I think a lot of people say that thinking it will suddenly help the sensitive person. Like, "Oh my gosh, if I just tell this person they're overreacting or being too sensitive, it will snap them out of it or change them in some way." 

我覺得很多人會這樣說是希望能幫助敏感的人，「如果我告訴這個人，他們反應過度或者太敏感，可能會讓他們跳脫出來，或者以某種方式改變。」

But just like no one in the history of, no one who's ever been wound up, if they've been told to calm down, you know, that doesn't work. So telling someone they're sensitive isn't going to suddenly toughen them up. And, in fact, it will probably just make them feel bad.

但從以往至今，沒有人因為被告知要冷靜，就真的會冷靜下來，所以這方法不會奏效。告訴某人他們很敏感，不會讓他們突然堅強起來，實際上，這可能會讓他們感覺更糟。

Mike Carruthers: Sensitive people that they don't wear it as a badge of honor. They don't look at it as what a plus that I am this way. They tend to look at it as a negative, as something to cope with. And how do you reframe that to be not necessarily proud of it, but at least make peace with it?

敏感的人通常不覺得高敏感有什麼好的，他們不認為這是一種優勢，而更傾向這是負面的、一個需要應對的挑戰。

如何轉變這種想法，讓人們不見得以此為榮，但至少能與之和平共處呢？

Jen Granaman: I think it's something we can be proud of. I think you should see it as a good thing. I think there have been a lot of messages in our society and in our families and culture that have told us that we have to be embarrassed about our sensitivity. But I do honestly think it's something you can feel proud of. 

我認為是可以引以為榮的，應該把高敏感視為優點。

在我們的社會、家庭和文化中，很多資訊會傳遞，我們應該對自己的高敏感感到困擾，但相反的，我真心認為你應該引以為傲。

One thing I like to tell sensitive people to do to help them reframe their sensitivity as a good thing is just start making a list of all the times throughout your day, today, tomorrow, when your sensitivity was a gift and an advantage. 

為了有助於正面看待高敏感這項特質，我告訴敏感的人，去列舉去紀錄你今天、明天、所有時刻因高敏感而帶來的過人之處，這是一個天賦與禮物。

Maybe you noticed something at work that other people didn't notice, and you were able to help your teammates or your company. Or maybe you were able to be a listening ear for someone in your family or a friend who really needed your empathy and your support.

也許在工作中，你注意到其他人沒有留意到的細節，以此幫助你的團隊或公司。

也許你是一位傾聽者，在家人及朋友需要你的同理及支持時，分擔他們的憂愁。

Maybe your sensitivity gave you the self-awareness today to realize, "Hey, I need a break. I need to just go do something fun, have some self-care, some me me time, some downtime, or maybe your sensitivity allowed you to think about a problem longer and come up with a solution that other people couldn't.

也許你的敏感性讓你時常自我對話，能意識到：“好了，我需要休息。我需要放鬆找樂子，該擁有一些自我的休息時間、獨處的時刻來照顧我自己。

又或者你的敏感性，讓你能長時間深入思考一個問題，並提出其他人想不到的解決方案。

附上整集的收聽連結