High Sensitive Mermaid?

[Kitty-Madison Snel]

Hi,

As a High Sensitive Person, also called 'HSP', for me big groups of people can be a problem. That's the reason why I never visit enormous events - I prefer the silence of the sea. When I have to visit a city like Amterdam I'll be tired after an hour.

The world above the waterline is hurried, always lookin' for more efficincy, money - save time, running for the next train. Underwater, I find my relaxation - even it is for 3 or 4 minutes each dive. It does not matter if I wear a mermaidtail or only my monofin.

Underwater I'm alone. A lonely mermaid (okay, there is a safetydiver at the edge of our pool). Sometimes I'm 'sleeping' at the bottom for several minutes - and when my body awakes me to return to the surface, I'm a bit dissapionted. Is this the mermaid in me? Is the underwater world my home?

Since my dream to dive like a mermaid came out many years ago, I realize that it has a positive effect on my high sensivity. After two or three hours of diving I can handle the world aboce the waterline better.

Are there more High Sensitive Mermaids?

[AniaR]

Hi, I am a diagnosed HSP, as in actually had tests that showed psychologically not only do I register on a higher level for empathy, but physically my nervous systems function higher too. I dont know if many people on mernetwork know about HSP's, and I think a lot of people see it as a self-diagnosed personality trait and dont realize the depth to it or the medical backgrounds and findings.

I actually enjoy being around happy people, but with my empathy I find it very difficult being around sad/angry/negative people for any amount of time- especially in groups. I physically get ill. So I am a extroverted HSP.

Have you ever read the book the HSP in Love? It's great! Even if you're not in a relationship, I find it really explains HSPs better compared to original HSP book.

A lot of children are HSP too :)

If anyone on the forum is interested in seeing if they are HSP there's a quiz designed by the people that coined the name http://www.hsperson.com/pages/test.htm it wont give you TOO much info... It's better to talk to your doctor, and read books about being highly sensitive. I find most people who are HSP and didnt know it find it very validating! I literally check every question there except the last one.

Being HSP is really amazing, learning about it validated a lot of my life for me, and I utilize my traits when working with kids and in my mermaid life.

[AniaR]

P.s. for people reading "Aroused" doesnt mean sexually. In the sense the author uses it I find it generally means over-aware

[Mizuko]

Oh wow, this is really interesting. I never knew about HSP- however I ticked most of those questions! Its actually... a relief (?) to know why I'm extremely empathetic and sensitive to loud noises/busy situations. I was even talking to my partner last night about how being under the water, sitting at the bottom of the pool or ocean, is so calming to me- there's no noise, no rush; just me and my heartbeat. Its like meditation.
Thank you so much for sharing this. <3

[Mermaid Narina]

wow! i did that test and found myself ticking nearly all the boxes :/
for a few years i wondered what was wrong with me. i thought maybe i was becoming to introverted, but the thing is, i just love silence.
i sounds weird but i do. im glad there are others :>

[AniaR]

with being an HSP we can easily be over stimulated. For me it comes from environmental stimulation, too much noise, too much air pressure change etc. SO I love being in the water because it sort of hits all my senses and nerves at once for a blanket feeling I find calming

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Interesting. I do find I have some of the traits, though I'm not sure I'd say I'm HSP. I definitely prefer smaller groups of people and I often retreat to my room when I just plain old need a break from it all.

[Artisankatie]

Hmmm, I ticked most of the boxes but I don't feel like a HSP. Although, I do get very rattled having to talk to people. I almost exclusively watch comedy shows and movies and will flat out refuse if someone wants to watch horror, thrillers, or gory violence. My partner and I avoid crowds like the plague, and even though I think I'm quite extroverted, I dread having to deal with face to face situations.

The funny thing is that all that disappears when I'm a mermaid, either in the water or out of it, even when I'm just on mermaid business. I'm cool as a cucumber face to face as a mermaid. I definitely feel the watery blanket/meditation thing underwater!

[AniaR]

the test is just a quick look, I recommend picking up the book from the library or researching a lot more. Also, it's not black or white. You may find yourself as someone with some sensitive traits. Also sensitive doesnt = being bothered by things in this context though that may be a part of it. it's about being more aware of your environment and yourself and others than other may be.

[spottedcatfish]

I have never heard of HSP until now. I looked it up further and it sounds like a symptom of aspergers, minus the social problems. Though I have never been formally diagnosed with aspergers or HSP. When I was growing up, and even today, I am extremely particular about certain sensations and sounds, or smells that I cannot handle. When I was little I would go swimming a lot and I hated the sensation of sunscreen, and the feeling of damp skin. Things just had to feel a certain way before I could continue. I even wore my socks on inside out because I couldn't handle the feeling of the sewn part on the toes. I have since grown out of most of these things, and become more tolerant of certain sensations around me. Except for one... I can't stand the feeling of dampness or that feeling after getting out of the pool or ocean... Unless it's 1million degrees outside, then it's ok.

[deepblue]

Interesting. I often have to describe myself as very sensitive, just to everything, so people will 'get it'- but it's been at least ten years since I saw a doctor about anything regarding it all and I've never heard the term HSP. I did however have a the head of psychiatry at a medical firm tell me that one reason people like me are intolerant to a lot of medications while simulataneously not liking crowds, cacophonous atmospheres, and often considered 'germphobes' of one kind or another, is because we actually are more sensitive in every way. I also have a problem being in places which are crowded in the sense of furnishings and displays, esp if the crowding is uneven and ramshackle. Yet, put me in a tiny submarine and I'm fine... it's not a claustrophobic thing. And I do not like to be touched unless you're my child or a romantic partner.

One can look at it negatively but I choose to see it positively. All my life I was told to change the way I was about things (Don't be shy, shake that hand, don't cover your nose that's rude), but I knew I was wired that way, so eventually I decided it's not my job to make other people feel better at my own expense... and I'm glad because my daughter is almost three and I am seeing all the same traits in her.

I love that this is being discussed here. I'm not surprised people who are very sensitive might identify with mermaids and undersea creatures in general.

[Mermaid Narina]

this is really interesting, im glad you posted it :) its surprising that everyone else has that calming feeling when being underwater... if only i could live in the sea - sigh :')

[Kitty-Madison Snel]

For some people being underwater is a scary moment. But for us we have a nice effect: the mammalian dive reflex. Thats the reason why we expire the calm feeling when being underwater. At wikipedia you can read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammalian_diving_reflex

If you dive more times a week, the reflex will growing.

It seems that the dive reflex helps us with our high sensivity. Yesterday I did a test: diving as a mermaid between several other (scuba)divers. I was no longer alone underwater, and I feel myself a bit uncomfortable. Normally it is no problem to stay for 3 or 4 minutes underwater, yesterday only 2. In contrast with that: when I'm diving during free swimming in our pool - lots of people and kids - I'm still alone underwater. There are no people who can enter in my world, however: only for a few seconds. Laying at my back at the bottom I look up to all other people above me: splashing, noisy. Their world - not mine.

I'm happy that I'm not alone as a high sensitive mermaid :-)

[LittleTreasure]

This is a really interesting topic...I hadn't heard of HSP until now. I took an online quiz last night and checked like 20 of the boxes (the limit number for HSP is 14...so...)
Maybe this is why I felt so much more comfortable after starting to swim more, especially with a monofin. It is so quiet and serene underwater, especially when you don't hear the annoying sound of legs kicking. You really feel like part of something otherworldly down there... And everyone is ALWAYs saying how oversensitive I am, although I know it has much more to it than emotional stimuli.
I'll have to look for some more information about this...

[Merman Ray]

I would say I am much closer to Aspergers syndrome than to this, witch is why I have trouble socializing and why I have to be extremely careful what I type on social forums like this. However I do find this topic interesting.

[deepblue]

For some people being underwater is a scary moment. But for us we have a nice effect: the mammalian dive reflex. Thats the reason why we expire the calm feeling when being underwater. At wikipedia you can read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammalian_diving_reflex

Wow. Thank you! I hadn't heard of this. I've had pretty bad asthma all my life, so my lung capacity sucks, but when I swim, I can hold hold my breath far longer than if I'm sitting on my bed or something. I wonder if that is why. Very cool.


I would say I am much closer to Aspergers syndrome than to this, witch is why I have trouble socializing and why I have to be extremely careful what I type on social forums like this. However I do find this topic interesting.

You're not alone in that- the being careful. I have the hardest time on forums, but not because of Asperger's or the like. I've had a dissociative disorder that used to be pretty intense. I've 'recovered' but having been in a fractured state of mind (what felt like minds) for many, many years means I don't always have the easiest time communicating in what I would call a straight line. I'm fine among my friends, I'm okay in limited talks with strangers or in public, etc., but on forums I really have to check myself. And even then I don't always do well.

One thing I love about this forum is how open and accepting all the mers seem to be of every kind of mind. It's very refreshing.

[Raivynn]

This topic also interests me as well...I am going to be researching more into it. I checked more boxes than 14, I know for sure...I also feel the freedom of being in my tail (or without) in the water. Just me ... under the water ...

[deepblue]

I finally took the test, clicked everything but two of them. But there are reasons... I used to be very sensitive to pain, but I took control over that through time, and changed it... I am still sensitive but instead of what it used to do to me, which was awful, now I get endorphin rushes. Makes tattoos downright pleasant. And I don't startle easy- but that doesn't mean I like to be startled. I grew up with a dad who jumped out at us to try and scare us kids, and was proud when we didn't react. So I don't 'get' startled, but when something startling happens, I feel it later.

So if it weren't for those things I'd have checked every single box.

I don't mind at all. Just supports that I'm wired this way and it's just fine.

ETA (7/2) I've been looking up articles on parenting magazines because my daughter's almost three and her behaviour is changing. I've been looking for solutions in the wrong places... I find this thread, look up HSP children, and the last two days have been absolutely amazing because I'm approaching everything as I've learned from HSP articles. Thank you, Kitty-Madison for starting this thread.