Sensitivity is good because you are observant, conscientious, and thoughtful. However, sometimes it can lead to overwhelming emotions when faced with social conflict, criticism, or rejection.
You are more likely to feel social threats if you are highly sensitive. This can make you react quickly, which might mean you miss important signals from others.
You might try to avoid feeling hurt in social situations if you’re very sensitive. This can prevent you from participating in activities, pursuing a career, or enjoying close relationships.
Effectively managing your sensitivity can help you remain empathetic and attentive without taking things personally. This article discusses how to be less sensitive and how being overly sensitive can harm your life. Some ways to be less sensitive are as follows:
- Developing your emotional regulation abilities
- Meditation practice
- Writing in a journal about your emotions
- Avoid taking things personally
- Accepting yourself for who you are will improve your ability to tolerate distress
6 Ways to Reduce Sensitivity
While it may be tempting to avoid situations that make you feel sensitive or overly emotional, this coping strategy has a high cost. Avoiding social situations can leave you lonely and isolated. Turning down opportunities for advancement can harm your career and undermine your confidence.
The following steps are a good place to start if you want to learn how to be less sensitive:
Learn to control your emotions.
Emotional regulation is controlling your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. This ability can help you feel less distressed and more in control. It can also help you put feelings in perspective before you act on them.
One way to control your emotions is to use cognitive reframing. This means reinterpreting a situation to change how you feel about it.
When someone offers you feedback on your work, you might feel like you’re not doing well. But, you might be able to see the situation from their perspective and think that they are trying to help you improve.
Exercise mindfulness.
Mindfulness is a practice that entails learning how to fully concentrate on the present moment without worrying about the past or the future. Evidence suggests that mindfulness can be beneficial in conditions characterized by emotional dysregulation.
Mindfulness can help you become less sensitive by increasing self-awareness and improving your ability to regulate emotions. This process requires time and effort, so set aside some time each day to practice.
Try keeping a journal.
Journaling about your emotional experiences can help you better understand how you feel and react to events in your life. You can better understand what you are going through if you write down your feelings. Journaling can help you become less sensitive in the following ways:
Journaling can help you get away from your emotions. By taking a step back and looking at what you’re feeling is objective, you’ll be able to determine whether your reaction is appropriate and realistic.
Don’t take things personally.
Personalization is a cognitive bias that can cause people to see things in a more negative light. This bias makes people believe that everything is their fault, even things that are not their fault.
Challenging negative thoughts can help you feel better. When you notice yourself thinking something negative, try asking yourself questions to see if you have a reason to be upset.
Sometimes other people’s words or actions might not be entirely intentional, making you upset. But sometimes, it’s important to consider other factors before jumping to conclusions. Sometimes it’s helpful to consider other possible explanations for what happened. And sometimes, it’s best to try to have a more open mind and understand the person’s intentions.
Exercise self-acceptance.
Highly sensitive people can be extremely critical of themselves. People can overcome their inner fear of criticism, judgment, or rejection by learning to be more accepting of themselves.
Look for ways to be more self-accepting:
- Accept yourself for who you are, including your positive and negative characteristics.
- Recognize and appreciate your strengths, but avoid comparing yourself to others.
- Set limits for what you are and are not willing to accept.
- Maintain a positive attitude and use positive self-talk and affirmations to lift yourself.
- Forgive yourself for any mistakes you’ve made in the past; acknowledge the error and move on.
Be able to cope with distress.
When someone criticizes you, it can feel hurtful. But sometimes criticism can be helpful, coming from someone you trust.
Some people may criticize you, but you can learn to handle it better using some strategies.
When you ask a friend for a favor, and they say no, that can make you upset. If your tolerance for feeling upset is low, you might think your friend doesn’t care about you.
There are two types of distress tolerance. Good distress tolerance helps you manage your feelings at the moment so you can look at them more positively. Bad distress tolerance makes you easily upset, leading to problems.
Some ways to improve your tolerance for feeling sensitive are to try different tactics. These tactics include trying different things, being patient, and relaxing your body.
When you’re feeling upset, it’s helpful to do something to take your mind off of your feelings. You can do this by focusing on something else, like participating in an activity you enjoy, or by actively trying to feel opposite emotions, like laughing or reading an exciting book.
