For a long time everything has bothered you more, physical pain hurts more, sadness is more acute, crying more frequently and your fears are more intense. You are hypersensitive this is one of the most common consequences of anxiety, but it is rarely taken into account. People think that you exaggerate, that your back can’t hurt as much as you say, that you can’t sleep as little as you think, or that a refusal couldn’t have left you sunk.
People are right that you are distorting reality, but by no means are you exaggerating. The physical and emotional hypersensitivity is as real as it is intense, the 200% heightened sensitivity that many people attribute to your need for attention. And it is that this hypersensitivity is one of the aspects of anxiety that generates the most misunderstanding.
Physical hypersensitivity
Just because what you’re feeling is unusually intense doesn’t mean you don’t really feel it. Anxiety can cause, for example, an excruciating headache for which doctors have no explanation. Headache, but also muscle pain, a flu that doesn’t finish curing, eye ailments, oral problems… the list of consequences of this physical hypersensitivity is immense.
Physical hypersensitivity not only manifests itself in the form of pain, ailments or diseases that can become chronic as a result of anxiety. It is also very frequent that people with hypersensitivity cannot bear noises such as TV, radio or a hectic conversation. Light, natural or artificial, or even temperature changes can also be unbearable.
It is very common among people who are suffering from an anxiety disorder to feel very cold. A cold that is also related to the feeling of loneliness, but that in any case accompanies many emotional imbalances. That cold is inexplicable to the rest of the people, but you can barely stand it and you get more and more nervous.
Emotional hypersensitivity
Emotional hypersensitivity is the number one source of confusion for those trying to help a person with anxiety. The truth is that it is very difficult to try to support someone who reacts to any phrase with a crying fit. Whether it is a phrase of encouragement and hope or a call for attention, the hypersensitivity of the person with anxiety can cause the reaction to be one of anguish.
Without having an anxiety problem, surely you have noticed how the more nervous you are, the more the behavior or comments of others affect you. A bad gesture from your sister that at another time you would not have given importance to, a mistake from your husband, or a mistake from your co-worker. If your state of mind depends on others, look for an anxiety treatment as soon as possible.
But don’t let people’s misunderstanding make you feel exaggerated, dramatic, whiny, or weak. Hypersensitivity is a consequence of anxiety against which there is little you can do until you advance in your anxiety treatment. Once you manage to handle anxiety, you will see how nothing was as terrible as you felt.
