How to Be Less Sensitive

Table of ContentsView AllTable of Contents6 Ways to Be Less SensitiveCharacteristicsCausesBenefits of Being Less SensitiveFrequently Asked Questions

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

6 Ways to Be Less Sensitive

Characteristics

Causes

Benefits of Being Less Sensitive

Frequently Asked Questions

Being sensitive means you sometimes overinterpret or overreact to perceived criticism or judgment.

Sensitivity is not necessarily a bad thing. Having this quality means that you are observant, conscientious, and thoughtful. However, it can sometimes lead to overwhelming emotions when faced with social conflict, criticism, or rejection.

If you tend to be a highly sensitive person, you are more likely to sense social threats. But with this high sensitivity comes increased reactivity, which might cause you to misread signals from others.

You might look for ways to avoid feeling hurt if you are overly sensitive. This can prevent you from engaging in social situations, pursuing career opportunities, enjoying close relationships, or being authentic in your interactions with others.

It is important to remember that many people are sensitive, so it isn’t something that has to define you as a person. Research suggests that around 20% of people tend to be highly sensitive.

Managing your sensitivity effectively can help you remainempatheticand attentive without taking things too personally. This article discusses how to be less sensitive and explores how being too sensitive might negatively affect your life. Some ways to be less sensitive include:

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While it is tempting toavoid situations that leave you feeling sensitiveor overemotional, this coping tactic comes at a high cost. Avoiding social situations can leave you lonely and lacking in support. Turning down opportunities for advancement can hurt you professionally and damage your confidence.

If you want to learn how to be less sensitive, the following steps are a good place to start:

Learn to Regulate Your Emotions

Emotional regulationis the ability tocontrol your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Having this ability allows you to manage feelings of distress and disruptive emotions. Strengthening this ability can help you feel less sensitive and put feelings in perspective before acting on them.

One strategy for regulating emotions effectively is to utilizecognitive reframingto change how you think and feel about different situations. This process involves intentionally reinterpreting a situation to control your emotional reaction to it.

If someone offers feedback on a project at work, you might initially think something like, “I’m terrible at this!” or “Nobody appreciates my efforts!” You might use cognitive reappraisal to see the situation from a different perspective. For example, you might think, “My co-worker wants to help me do my best” or “Making those changes will really improve the project.”

Practice Mindfulness

Research has also found that briefmindfulness meditationinterventions have a positive effect on emotion processing.

If you want to become less sensitive, mindfulness can boostself-awarenessand improve your ability to regulate your emotions. This process takes time and effort, so consider setting aside some time each day to practice.

The 7 Best Meditation Apps of 2024

Try Journaling

Journalingabout your emotional experiences can be a great way to gain more insight into how you feel and respond to the events in your life. By writing down your feelings, you can better make sense of what you are experiencing. Some ways that journaling can help you become less sensitive include:

Journaling can give you greater distance from your emotions. By stepping back and looking at what you are feeling more objectively, you’ll be better able to gauge whether your reaction is appropriate and realistic.

Research has also shown that simplyidentifying and naming your emotions, a process known as affect labeling, can reduce the intensity of those feelings.

Don’t Take Things Personally

Personalization is acognitive biasthat can often contribute to heightened sensitivity. This bias causes people to take everything personally, blaming themselves for things that are not their fault.

One way to combat this tendency is to actively challenge negative thoughts. When you find yourself taking something too personally, ask yourself:

Practice Self-Acceptance

Highly sensitive peopleare also sometimes highly self-critical. By learning to be moreself-accepting, people can combat the inner fear that always has them looking for signs of criticism, judgment, or rejection.

To be more self-accepting, look for ways to:

Learn to Tolerate Distress

Criticism hurts, even when it is constructive or comes from a trusted source.While you cannot eliminate all criticism, there are strategies you can use to improve your ability to tolerate the sting of it.

Distress tolerancerefers to your ability to make it through an emotionally challenging situation without engaging in behaviors that worsen it.

For example, you might be upset if you ask a friend for a favor and they turn you down. If your distress tolerance is poor, you might get upset and tell yourself that your friend doesn’t really care.

Good distress tolerance, on the other hand, would help you manage these feelings in the moment so that you can look at them with a greater perspective later on. Instead of getting upset, you might tell yourself that your friend is busy and that you’ll ask again some other time.

Tactics that can improve your distress tolerance when you are feeling overly sensitive include:

Characteristics of Sensitive People

Feel things deeply

Enjoy spending time alone

Think deeply about the world

Pick up on the emotions of others

Withdraw when they feel overwhelmed

Insensitive PeopleIndifferentLack affection for othersExclude othersCriticalOverly self-confidentDon’t respect boundariesLack empathy

Indifferent

Lack affection for others

Exclude others

Critical

Overly self-confident

Don’t respect boundaries

Lack empathy

Potential Causes of Being Sensitive

It is normal to be attuned to the emotions and behaviors of others. Being too sensitive, however, can hinder your ability to function normally in your daily life.

The exact causes of sensitivity are not fully understood, but genetics, biological factors, and experiences likely play a role.

Some research indicates that sensitivity serves an evolutionary purpose.Genetics also plays a part. Research has shown that sensitivity tends to run in families.

Some other potential causes of being sensitive include:

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While being sensitive has advantages, being too sensitive can create challenges in different areas of your life. Sensitivity means your feelings are easily hurt, often unintentionally. Finding ways to be less sensitive, at least in some ways, can benefit you in a variety of ways:

How can I become emotionally tougher?

Building your confidence and practicing mindfulness can help you feel emotionally stronger if you are a sensitive person. When you feel good about yourself and confident in your abilities, you’re less likely to take criticism personally.

Mindfulness can build self-awareness and help you recognize the thoughts contributing to excessive sensitivity. Once you recognize this happening, you can utilize different coping strategies to manage feelings of emotional distress.

Why am I so sensitive and cry so easily?

Emotionally empathetic people may cry more easily in response to emotional situations or stress. This tendency is sometimes stronger when you feel tired or stressed because your ability to regulate your emotions is often diminished.

Frequent crying can also be linked to personality traits such asneuroticismand emotional sensitivity or mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. High stress levels and past traumas can also play a role.

Is emotional sensitivity a disorder?

Being sensitive is not a disorder, but it can sometimes be a sign of difficulty or a mental health conditions. Events such as stress, trauma, bereavement, and major life changes can cause you to feel more sensitive. Anxiety disorders also often lead to increased emotional sensitivity.

A Word From Verywell

Being a sensitive person can have both benefits and drawbacks. If you feel you are being too sensitive, there are ways to improve your emotional regulation abilities. Once you recognize the thoughts and situations that tend to trigger these tendencies, you can utilize coping strategies to manage your emotions and improve your mental well-being.

8 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Acevedo BP, Aron EN, Aron A, Sangster MD, Collins N, Brown LL.The highly sensitive brain: an fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others' emotions.Brain Behav. 2014;4(4):580-594. doi:10.1002/brb3.242Moyal N, Henik A, Anholt GE.Cognitive strategies to regulate emotions-current evidence and future directions.Front Psychol. 2014;4:1019. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.01019Guendelman S, Medeiros S, Rampes H.Mindfulness and emotion regulation: Insights from neurobiological, psychological, and clinical studies.Front Psychol. 2017;8:220. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00220Wu R, Liu LL, Zhu H, et al.Brief mindfulness meditation improves emotion processing.Front Neurosci. 2019;13:1074. doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.01074Torre JB, Lieberman MD.Putting feelings into words: affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation.Emotion Review. 2018;10(2):116-124. doi:10.1177/1754073917742706Miedl SF, Blechert J, Klackl J, et al.Criticism hurts everybody, praise only some: Common and specific neural responses to approving and disapproving social-evaluative videos.Neuroimage. 2016;132:138-147. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.02.027Luberto CM, Crute S, Wang A, Yeh GY, Celano CM, Huffman JC, Park ER.Lower distress tolerance is associated with greater anxiety and depression symptoms among patients after acute coronary syndrome.Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 202;70:143-144. doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2021.01.01Chen C, Chen C, Moyzis R, et al.Contributions of dopamine-related genes and environmental factors to highly sensitive personality: a multi-step neuronal system-level approach.PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e21636. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021636

8 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Acevedo BP, Aron EN, Aron A, Sangster MD, Collins N, Brown LL.The highly sensitive brain: an fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others' emotions.Brain Behav. 2014;4(4):580-594. doi:10.1002/brb3.242Moyal N, Henik A, Anholt GE.Cognitive strategies to regulate emotions-current evidence and future directions.Front Psychol. 2014;4:1019. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.01019Guendelman S, Medeiros S, Rampes H.Mindfulness and emotion regulation: Insights from neurobiological, psychological, and clinical studies.Front Psychol. 2017;8:220. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00220Wu R, Liu LL, Zhu H, et al.Brief mindfulness meditation improves emotion processing.Front Neurosci. 2019;13:1074. doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.01074Torre JB, Lieberman MD.Putting feelings into words: affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation.Emotion Review. 2018;10(2):116-124. doi:10.1177/1754073917742706Miedl SF, Blechert J, Klackl J, et al.Criticism hurts everybody, praise only some: Common and specific neural responses to approving and disapproving social-evaluative videos.Neuroimage. 2016;132:138-147. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.02.027Luberto CM, Crute S, Wang A, Yeh GY, Celano CM, Huffman JC, Park ER.Lower distress tolerance is associated with greater anxiety and depression symptoms among patients after acute coronary syndrome.Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 202;70:143-144. doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2021.01.01Chen C, Chen C, Moyzis R, et al.Contributions of dopamine-related genes and environmental factors to highly sensitive personality: a multi-step neuronal system-level approach.PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e21636. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021636

Acevedo BP, Aron EN, Aron A, Sangster MD, Collins N, Brown LL.The highly sensitive brain: an fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others' emotions.Brain Behav. 2014;4(4):580-594. doi:10.1002/brb3.242Moyal N, Henik A, Anholt GE.Cognitive strategies to regulate emotions-current evidence and future directions.Front Psychol. 2014;4:1019. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.01019Guendelman S, Medeiros S, Rampes H.Mindfulness and emotion regulation: Insights from neurobiological, psychological, and clinical studies.Front Psychol. 2017;8:220. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00220Wu R, Liu LL, Zhu H, et al.Brief mindfulness meditation improves emotion processing.Front Neurosci. 2019;13:1074. doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.01074Torre JB, Lieberman MD.Putting feelings into words: affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation.Emotion Review. 2018;10(2):116-124. doi:10.1177/1754073917742706Miedl SF, Blechert J, Klackl J, et al.Criticism hurts everybody, praise only some: Common and specific neural responses to approving and disapproving social-evaluative videos.Neuroimage. 2016;132:138-147. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.02.027Luberto CM, Crute S, Wang A, Yeh GY, Celano CM, Huffman JC, Park ER.Lower distress tolerance is associated with greater anxiety and depression symptoms among patients after acute coronary syndrome.Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 202;70:143-144. doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2021.01.01Chen C, Chen C, Moyzis R, et al.Contributions of dopamine-related genes and environmental factors to highly sensitive personality: a multi-step neuronal system-level approach.PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e21636. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021636

Moyal N, Henik A, Anholt GE.Cognitive strategies to regulate emotions-current evidence and future directions.Front Psychol. 2014;4:1019. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.01019

Guendelman S, Medeiros S, Rampes H.Mindfulness and emotion regulation: Insights from neurobiological, psychological, and clinical studies.Front Psychol. 2017;8:220. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00220

Wu R, Liu LL, Zhu H, et al.Brief mindfulness meditation improves emotion processing.Front Neurosci. 2019;13:1074. doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.01074

Torre JB, Lieberman MD.Putting feelings into words: affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation.Emotion Review. 2018;10(2):116-124. doi:10.1177/1754073917742706

Miedl SF, Blechert J, Klackl J, et al.Criticism hurts everybody, praise only some: Common and specific neural responses to approving and disapproving social-evaluative videos.Neuroimage. 2016;132:138-147. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.02.027

Luberto CM, Crute S, Wang A, Yeh GY, Celano CM, Huffman JC, Park ER.Lower distress tolerance is associated with greater anxiety and depression symptoms among patients after acute coronary syndrome.Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 202;70:143-144. doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2021.01.01

Chen C, Chen C, Moyzis R, et al.Contributions of dopamine-related genes and environmental factors to highly sensitive personality: a multi-step neuronal system-level approach.PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e21636. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021636

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Get Help Now#

Learn to Regulate Your Emotions#

Practice Mindfulness#

Try Journaling#

Don’t Take Things Personally#

Practice Self-Acceptance#

Learn to Tolerate Distress#

Characteristics of Sensitive People#

Potential Causes of Being Sensitive#

How can I become emotionally tougher?#

Why am I so sensitive and cry so easily?#

Is emotional sensitivity a disorder?#

A Word From Verywell#