For some people, though, this feeling isn’t tied to the beginning of warm weather, or falling in love, or any discrete event. There are some people, called “sensation seekers,” that are always looking to increase their levels of stimulation, and feel bored and constricted on a regular basis.

How to Tell if You’re a Sensation Seeker

If you are a sensation seeker, or your partner is one, you will notice that there are many differences between sensation seekers and most other people.

Sensation seekers are always looking for something to make them feel excited and stimulated. They are the people who always try new things, who love to travel spontaneously, and who get bored with any routine.

In bed, they want to experiment with novel positions and ways of acting. Romantically, they are super invested in a new love interest, but over time, they can start acting bored and unhappy. Often, they find monogamy difficult.

Many individuals withADHDcan be sensation seekers, but this isn’t unique to people with this disorder. It is a temperament, and like all temperaments, it is heritable.

That means that most people who are sensation seekers can locate theorigin of their temperament in one or both of their parents. They were always sensation seekers, from earliest childhood when they would climb high on the monkey bars or spin in circles endlessly till they fell down. Sensation seekers often have a history of broken bones, from risks that they took despite their parents urging them to be careful.

Sensation Seeking and Relationships

When two sensation seekers are in a relationship, it can be very intense and volatile. They can feel the highest highs and the lowest lows. These relationships are highly combustible, because neither person provides a stable ballast for the other.

To retaliate, the sensation seeker mayaccuse their partner of being rigid, dry, or boring. However, over time, sensation seekers and partners may learn how to balance one another out, and to see the best in each other’s style of being.

Finding Help for Sensation Seeking Behaviors

There are many ways that sensation seekers can fulfill their need for stimulation that are harmful to themselves and destructive to their relationships, behaviors like infidelity, substance use, and frequent job changing.

If this resonates with you (or describes your partner), then working with a therapist or coach may be very helpful. On the positive side, after introspection or therapy, or after having enough impulsive decisions turn out badly for them, most sensation seekers can eventually learn to fulfill their need for excitement in healthy ways. Many people who get involved in extreme sports or competitions are sensation seekers. So are entrepreneurs and people are love to travel.

Sensation seekers are very interesting and exciting people. Like any temperament type, there can be pros and cons to being, or being with one. But, no matter what, you know that life with a sensation seeker will never be boring.

Our goal at Talkspace is to provide the most up-to-date, valuable, and objective information on mental health-related topics in order to help readers make informed decisions.

Articles contain trusted third-party sources that are either directly linked to in the text or listed at the bottom to take readers directly to the source.

Share0Tweet0Pin it1

Share0

Tweet0

Pin it1