Highly Sensitive Personality (HSP)

I have used all my senses in perception my whole life, I experience and perceive the world differently than others. People also see me as totally different from anyone else they meet. The men I have dated, for example, always said that they had never met a woman like me. I do feel total different from anyone around me. There are not many people who are truly able to see and understand me for what I really am. This is an experience every HSP will recognize. This is all I have ever known, I have never experienced anything else. For so many people like me, being so different and misunderstood, it is a lonely existence. But I perceive this experience differently, I prefer to be by myself. So many people are afraid of these feelings and start to adapt to others, just to not be “alone”.

I never feel alone because I am constantly in touch with my higher self. Not just that, but also with the collective consciousness and I can enter the Akasha records. There is never a dull moment, to be honest. Furthermore, I use my senses in my work as a holistic medical empath. I can scan clients at a cellular level, feel their bodies/organs working and make a diagnosis. I literally feel every pain, imbalance in hormones, neurotransmitters or any other issue that is a body is experiencing. I can sense brain damage and injuries from accidents and so on. I have had this talent from birth, I simply don’t know any other world than this.

Because I am an HSP, I am also an empath in several other ways. When I work with inner children or any of my client’s emotions, I let myself be guided through the process by their higher selves, they give me all the information I need to be able to give my client the transformation they need.

I can sense bodies working

Once the Epigenetic Health Intake is complete, I can make a health plan for you to regain your health, because I have been studying alternative medicine for 35 years, specializing in Epigenetics. Why am I telling you all of this? Not to make myself seen, that is for sure! I honestly prefer to be in the background of everything. I am actually a little shy, although you might never feel like that was the case. Through this combination of talents, I have worked with many Highly Sensitive Personalities in my practice over the years, and so my specialization in treating them came through this extensive experience.

In addition, all physical problems and illnesses that frequently go hand in hand with HSP fall under this specialization. This includes physical issues, and diseases such as ADHD, ADD, CFS, MCS, bipolar personality, depression, anxiety, autism, fibromyalgia and autoimmune issues, etc. Let’s be clear, HSP is a gift and not a disease, but being highly sensitive also often comes with a highly sensitive body, which truly needs special care.

Physical or emotional problem

Even though I was an HSP, I did not experience any physical or emotional problem as a result. As mentioned earlier, due to the development of all my senses I am officially also an HSP, but unlike others I experienced no disadvantage in my life at all as a result, until one event in my life. That of course triggered me enormously, why the thousands of people I had treated and still treat in my practice had so many physical and emotional things going on, and I always felt extremely in balance.

I could measure this all against my own experience as an HSP. I noticed that the biggest difference was between me and all those thousands of patients, that I live my life in an extremely healthy way. I don’t eat gluten, dairy, sugars, soy or a myriad of other unhealthy things either. Furthermore, I also eat 100% organic and unprocessed foods only, and I take a large portion of vitamins and minerals every day. I exercise a lot and avoid drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.

Not only that, but I suspected because of my knowledge of an optimal lifestyle, nutrition and epigenetics, that this was a key reason for me being in balance and others truly not. I started researching what exactly nutrition does to an HSP. It had also become clear to me that every HSP, since I can see energy and auras too, were all more or less ungrounded. In addition, in HSPs, the plexus solaris (a chakra placed in the abdominal area) has a lot of trouble converting spiritual energy to earthly energy. In treating people,  So first, let’s look at the symptoms of an adult with an HSP.

Symptoms of an adult

What are the symptoms of an adult with an HSP?

• Too aware of subtle cues in the environment;
• Influenced by the moods of others;
• Often sensitive to pain;
• During busy days, a need to retreat to a place where you can be alone, undisturbed;
• Sensitive to the effects of caffeine;
• Easily overwhelmed by things like bright lights, strong smells, coarse fabrics, or loud sirens;
• Have a rich and complex inner world of experience;
• Easily disturbed by loud noises;
• Deeply moved by art or music.
• Being conscientious.
• As a child, HSPs are seen to be sensitive, shy, or thoughtful by parents or teachers.
• HSPs can be startled easily.
• Feel rushed when they have a lot to do in a short period of time.
• They notice quickly when people are uncomfortable.
• Getting irritated when people try to make them do too many things at once.
• Trying very hard to avoid making mistakes or forgetting things.
• Violent or emotional images can have strong effects.
• Being hungry can strongly impact their ability to concentrate or mood.
• Changes in life make them very confused.
• Having a nose for delicate smells.
• Taste can be profound.
• Sounds can be overly loud.
• Artwork and music can speak to an HSP, and they enjoy them.
• Avoidance of situations that upset or overburden is a high priority.
• Suffering from fear of failure.
• Feeling uncomfortable when there is a lot going on in their environment.

Symptoms of children

What are the symptoms of children with an HSP?

• Many (day)dreams and fantasizing.
• Caring and very (self-)aware.
• Processing things on a deeper level.
• Having highly developed empathy.
• Having a very strong sense of justice.
• Thinking a lot and able to look at things from all sides.
• Noticing many more details and nuances (and foreseeing consequences).
• Loving silence and quiet (even if they sometimes don’t give that impression).
• Getting overexcited and agitated easily.
• Often building tents to hide themselves in, to shield their sensitivity.
• Wanting to work at their own pace (and with their own order and sequence).
• Being cautious in the face of new and potentially dangerous situations.
• Regularly having hidden talents (which they themselves underestimate).
• Feeling “different”, inferior, and easily accused regularly.
• Can strongly sense (and often adopt) the moods and emotions of others.
• Overwhelmingly perfectionist and fearful of failure (which can lead to underachievement).
• Seek authentic contact, deep connection and affirmation in their environment.

“Being highly sensitive is not a burden and causes no problems if you are grounded and in good health. When your body gets out of balance, only then the symptoms develop that typify a highly sensitive personality.”

Improper nutrition

Can a highly sensitive personality (HSP) only arise from improper nutrition? NO! Highly sensitive people are born with a very deep development of their soul and consciousness throughout their past lives. The question is how can we have fewer issues with it, and can nutrition play a role? The answer to this is YES! I strongly believe that when a soul is born highly sensitive, is correctly grounded after birth and has no life/incarnation fears, is completely healthy and chooses the right nutrition, no negative HSP-related problems will arise. But there are quite a few conditions to make that all work.

Often the advice on how to better manage HSP is downright amazing. No one makes the connection between nutrition and the development of symptoms in HSP, yet it is an absolute fact that, when you are an HSP, for you the wrong food causes a number of issues. Also, there must be certain physical conditions present such as a “Leaky gut”, or an improperly functioning gut microbiome, but more on that later.

Brain nutrients

For proper function, your brain needs a variety of nutrients, including vitamins, minerals and amino acids. When your body is lacking in these nutrients, all kinds of problems arise, but especially in your brain. Imbalances in neurotransmitters, for example, have a staggering impact on the expression of our personality. Neurotransmitters are signal substances that transmit nerve impulses in synapses between nerve cells (neurons) in the nervous system. Or they transfer impulses from motor nerve cells to muscle cells or from nerve receptors to sensory nerve cells. A synapse is the point where two different neurons communicate with each other. Synapses generally transfer signals from the axon of one neuron to the dendrite of another neuron. All stimuli from our environment that we experience must be processed and transmitted by neurotransmitters.

An imbalance in neurotransmitters is caused by an inadequately developed gut microbiome. This microbiome is responsible for the production of 90 percent of all neurotransmitters, the consequences of an inadequate gut microbiome for your brain is profound.

In addition, foods rich in exorphins also interfere with the proper functioning of neurons and neurotransmitters, as they block the communication between the neurons. This is also a major cause in the development of symptoms in an HSP. There are many exorphins in gluten, wheat, soy, dairy, spinach, sugar, drugs, and alcohol.

Physical and emotional problems

A highly sensitive personality (HSP), from exorphin-laden foods and foods that provoke an immune response, can suffer all kinds of physical and emotional problems. Our immunity reacts against foods that enter the bloodstream too early from the intestines (due to a leaky gut), thus meaning we are intolerant to these foods. It also reacts to overly processed foods with additives and pesticides, because your immune system sees these as intruders. If we eat these foods continuously throughout the day, there is a constant immune response. This situation is called low grade inflammation. Because the immune reactions will take precedence over the action of other parts of our body (even our brain), the immune system is allocated large portions of the body’s energy. This has the effect of reducing brain energy and creating intense exhaustion in the brain. Read my e-book on ADHD!

Exhaustion in our brain

We all know the feeling of hazy intense exhaustion in our brains. Faulty foods (intolerant food, processed, lots of additives, pesticides, gluten, sugar, dairy, soy, spinach, etc.) can provoke immune reactions. Drugs, booze, smoking, and burdensome medications also provoke these responses, ultimately causing neurotoxins and neurotransmitter/hormonal imbalances. Exorphins are morphine-like proteins (peptides) of animal (casein), plant (gluten, soy, and spinach), and microbial in origin. These substances bind on the same receptors as endorphins, so there is competition here. Exorphins completely block the endorphin system.

An endorphin is an opioid peptide with analgesic properties, which acts as a neurotransmitter between synapses as a signaling substance. These signal substances are produced by the pituitary/hypothalamus in moments of physical exertion, arousal, pain, eating spicy food, love and orgasm.

In healthy conditions, exorphins are broken down from your diet by enzymes (DPP-IV enzyme). They are then broken down into usable amino acids. (Our body is actually a superhero!!) If this enzyme is present enough, the endorphin receptors remain usable for endorphins and these receptors will not be blocked by exorphins. In that wonderful case your endorphins can continue to do their job optimally.

Foods causing HSP

The activity of the DPP-IV enzyme is inhibited under the influence of stress. Constant stress increases the hormone cortisol in our blood, and this inhibits the activity of this enzyme. Chemicals such as drugs, flavor enhancers like MSG or yeast extract (we eat those much more than we realize), pesticides, mercury, fluorides, organophosphates, phosphoric acid in soft drinks, certain proteins in bacteria, cytokines and vaccines with thimerosal are DPP-IV enzyme inhibiting factors. The more this enzyme is inhibited, the more you will start to lack this very important enzyme.

For this reason, connections have been made to vaccination and the development of autism, which may be a consequence of a failed DPP-IV enzyme. This then has to go hand in hand with an excessive intake of exorphin laden foods. You often see exorphin overload in people with ADHD, ADD, CFS, MCS, bipolar personality, autism, fibromyalgia and immune disorders. People with an HSP often eat too many foods containing exorphins, which is why the connection between HSP and their diet is quickly made. Often it is also the case that people with the above physical and emotional symptoms and problems are also highly developed souls, so born with HSP, which makes the circle complete.

Similar to morphine

An exorphin is similar to morphine, but is many times stronger. As mentioned, it is the morphine-like particles in gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, spinach, sugar, drugs and alcohol. Endorphins act as a synapse in the transmission of impulses between neurotransmitters. Since exorphins occupy the same receptors as endorphins, an imbalance in this stimulus transfer occurs. Someone with a high exorphin load can develop all sorts of symptoms as a result. In the first phase, a person feels tired quickly, especially in the brain. Attention and motivation slacken, then the stress resistance decreases. The sugar craving increases and muscle tension develops in the body, this can manifest itself in neck or back pain, for example.

We also often see immune problems such as asthma and allergies develop. The endorphin system is thrown out of balance by behaviors that have a desire, reward or reproductive factor attached to them. This is dopamine related. In my ADHD/ADD e-book with a treatment plan which you will find in the shop, the dopamine function is explained in detail and how it is blocked in its functioning.

Filters for stress

The endorphin system acts as a “filter” between the outside world and you as a person. It filters out stress, sensory and social stimuli. The filter is created by supplying the brain with the right neurotransmitters and hormones, which increases stress resistance. People with a failing endorphin system lack this filter and thus receive these stimuli totally unfiltered. Sounds come in louder, smells become unbearable, and a comment feels like a sledgehammer blow. For anyone with a diagnosis on the autistic spectrum, but also within HSP, MCS, ADD and ADHD, processing stimuli/emotions and releasing experiences is more difficult. But in HSP, the loss of this filter is also the biggest cause of the emergence of all physical and emotional problems. At this moment I am working on a treatment plan for HSP, so that will be also in the shop soon as well.

Less well-known is that through congenital brain injury, but also non-congenital brain injury, the same dysregulation and problems can occur. Even simple whiplash, concussion from an accident, or brain surgery can be a cause of dysregulation of the pituitary gland. This can also throw the endorphin system totally out of balance.

Brain filters

For the reasons already described above, the filters in your brain can’t function properly and thus are unable to protect you from all kinds of external stimuli. The imbalance of the endorphin system always seems to play the main role in this.

When you can no longer protect yourself against all kinds of stimuli, you are an HSP with all kinds of physical and emotional issues. It is of utmost importance that you restore the endorphin/exorphin balance in your brain. Also, you need to stop eating foods you are intolerant of. If you want to find out which foods you are intolerant of, have an IGG food intolerance test done at an accredited laboratory. Once you have the results, eliminate these foods along with exorphin-rich foods. Build up your gut health with a good probiotic and l-glutamin. Do a neurotransmitter test and get supplementation from an expert in this. After doing all this, you will be so much more grounded and with this you can protect yourself better in your energy.