ichael Hassard， a former engineer for NASA， hikes and camps， takes long motorcycle rides， mows his lawn， fixes leaky faucets， and loves football.

He also cries—quite often： Whenever the Battle Hymn of the Republic is played or if the checkout clerk at Wal-Mart says， “God Bless You”； when the country song about the guy who fixes a tire and refuses payment comes on； and once when he donated some winter coats his children had outgrown to a family he knew from church.

“I keep tissues handy at all times，” says the 44-yearold engineer for an oil and gas company， who lives in Houston.

Meet the Highly Sensitive Person， or HSP—someone who responds more intensely to experiences than the average individual. Experts say HSPs process both positive and negative information more thoroughly， and so they can easily become overwhelmed by 1）stimuli. They are acutely aware of sensations， whether of taste， touch， sound or smell. And they are particularly sensitive to emotions—their own and those of others.

Research studies show that about 20% of the population fits into this category， and the trait is found in the same numbers in men and women.

HSPs are currently having a moment： Last week， the First International Scientific Conference on High Sensitivity or Sensory Processing Sensitivity was held at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel， with panels on sensory processing sensitivity in children and what we can learn from successful people who are highly sensitive. There is a documentary in the works titled Sensitive. （The trailer features Alanis Morissette， a self-proclaimed HSP.）

Mr. Hassard first noticed he was highly sensitive in his early teens. Singing in his church choir， there were songs that he says he “had a hard time getting through” because they moved him so much. Sometimes friends noticed his tears and asked him what was wrong. His 2）rote response： “Nothing， I’m fine.” Eventually， he learned to 3）curb his emotions by playing the songs over and over again in his spare time.

Sometimes called Sensory Processing Sensitivity， high sensitivity isn’t a disorder or a condition but rather an innate， permanent trait. It was first identified in the 1990s by Elaine and Arthur Aron， research psychologists who developed a 27-item scale to assess it. People who are highly sensitive have a deeper depth of cognitive processing， are easily overwhelmed， have bigger emotional responses and notice subtleties more， says Dr. Elaine Aron， who has a 4）clinical practice in Mill Valley， Calif.

Today， several hundred research studies， from brain scans to genetic analyses， have been done on topics related to high sensitivity. They have found that high sensitivity may occur on a 5）spectrum， just like many other personality traits. It isn’t the same as introversion， although HSPs find the need to withdraw from social interactions or stimuli when their brains get overwhelmed.

Brain-scan studies of HSPs show differences in their neural activity， compared with non-HSPs： HSPs are more empathic， pay closer attention to their environment and are more attentive to social clues from their close friends and partners.

A study， led by researchers at the University of California， Santa Barbara， and published in April， 2014， in the journal Brain and Behavior， found that people with high sensitivity show more neural activity in specific regions of their brains when looking at the face of a loved one than do people with average sensitivity.

Experts say that high sensitivity can be found in at least 100 species， including fruit flies， sunfish， dogs， cats and monkeys. In modern times， HSPs make excellent counselors， teachers， artists， pastors and reporters （or relationship columnists）.

The trait has its downsides. HSPs get worn out by too much stimuli. They can become easily hurt or offended. And they have been known to overreact to a situation. “They’re processing information more thoroughly，” says Dr. Arthur Aron， research professor at Stony Brook University in New York and a visiting scholar at the University of California， Berkeley. “So they are more easily overwhelmed.”

Researchers now believe that high sensitivity has a genetic cause. While they haven’t yet identified all the genes involved， research suggests that the 6）serotonin transporter gene—which is involved in the recycling of serotonin， a 7）neurotransmitter in the brain that impacts emotional wellbeing—plays a role. They also believe that psychological factors—your temperament or personality—have an effect on your level of sensitivity， as does your physiology， specifically how you respond to stress.

HSPs can learn to cope with their feelings and reactions—sometimes even better than others. A study published online in March 2015， by the journal Personality and Individual Differences， looks at how 166 girls ages 11 and 12 respond to a school-based mental health program in England. It found that those who were highly sensitive benefited from a 12-week class on reframing their depressive thoughts much more than girls who had an average amount of sensitivity.

Only the highly sensitive girls’ depression symptoms also decreased over the subsequent 12 months. “The more sensitive ones were probably more likely to 8）internalize what they’ve learned and apply it，” says Michael Pluess， a senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and the lead researcher on the study.

Mr. Hassard admits that sometimes being overly sensitive can cause problems such as “when you can’t hide how much arguing with idiots upsets you.” And he’s sometimes noticed that women he’s dated have become uncomfortable when he is more emotional than they are. “Nobody loves a crybaby，” he says.

Over the years， he has taught himself how to modulate his feelings and reactions—and to “9）dehumanize” situations to remove emotion.

And he has learned to see advantages in being so sensitive. He feels he is a better father because he can empathize better with his children. And he says he recently saved a multimillion-dollar deal at work because he was the only one on his 12-member team who 10）picked up on the client’s apprehension， enabling the group to address it.

Mr. Hassard’s girlfriend， Julie Matte， a surgical nurse， says that although his 11）wear-it-on-his sleeve emotions have taken some time to get used to， she now loves how sensitive he is.“12）Stoic has its place，” she says. “But engaging， thoughtful conversation about things that matter with someone who feels and isn’t afraid to show it is a welcome and unexpected change from the norm.”

邁克爾·哈薩德是美國(guó)國(guó)家航空航天局的前任工程師，他平常愛(ài)遠(yuǎn)足、露營(yíng)、騎摩托車(chē)跑長(zhǎng)途、修剪草坪、修理漏水的水龍頭，還喜歡踢足球。

他還愛(ài)哭——經(jīng)常哭：聽(tīng)到《共和國(guó)戰(zhàn)歌》時(shí)，或聽(tīng)到沃爾瑪?shù)氖浙y員說(shuō)“上帝保佑你”時(shí)；當(dāng)一首鄉(xiāng)村歌曲（內(nèi)容是一個(gè)人修好了輪胎卻不收錢(qián)）響起時(shí)；還有那次他把孩子們不合穿的衣服捐贈(zèng)給他在教堂認(rèn)識(shí)的一家人時(shí)。

“我總是隨身帶著紙巾，”他說(shuō)，這位石油和天然氣公司的工程師今年44歲，住在休斯敦。

高度敏感者（簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)HSP）——這類(lèi)人對(duì)經(jīng)歷的事物比一般人有更為強(qiáng)烈的反應(yīng)。專(zhuān)家稱(chēng)這些人對(duì)正面和負(fù)面的信息都處理得更為透徹，因此他們很容易受到刺激。他們的感覺(jué)很敏銳，不管是味覺(jué)、觸覺(jué)、聽(tīng)覺(jué)還是嗅覺(jué)。他們對(duì)情感尤為敏感，包括自己和別人的情感。

調(diào)查研究表明大約有20%的人屬于高度敏感人群，男女人數(shù)相當(dāng)。

HSP最近有一項(xiàng)重要活動(dòng)：上周，第一屆高度敏感或感覺(jué)處理敏感性國(guó)際科學(xué)會(huì)議在布魯塞爾自由大學(xué)舉行。會(huì)議上的兩個(gè)專(zhuān)家組分別對(duì)兒童的感覺(jué)處理敏感性和我們能從成功的高度敏感人士中學(xué)到什么兩方面進(jìn)行討論。相關(guān)議題中有一部名為《敏感》的紀(jì)錄片。（預(yù)告片的主角是阿拉尼斯·莫里賽特，他自稱(chēng)是高度敏感者。）

哈薩德先生第一次發(fā)現(xiàn)自己極其敏感是在其青少年時(shí)期。那時(shí)他在教堂合唱團(tuán)唱歌，他說(shuō)有些歌唱起來(lái)特別困難，因?yàn)檫@些歌讓他特別感動(dòng)。朋友們有時(shí)候看到他的眼淚會(huì)問(wèn)他發(fā)生什么事了。他會(huì)機(jī)械性地回答：“沒(méi)事，我很好。”在空余時(shí)間一遍又一遍地唱這些歌讓他最終學(xué)會(huì)了如何抑制自己的情緒。

高度敏感有時(shí)候也被稱(chēng)為感覺(jué)處理敏感性，它不是一種疾病或病癥，而是一種天生的、永久性的特征。HSP最早在上世紀(jì)90年代由心理研究學(xué)家伊萊恩和阿瑟·阿倫定義，他們?yōu)榇嗽O(shè)計(jì)了一套有27道題的測(cè)試。伊萊恩·阿倫博士稱(chēng)高度敏感者有著更深刻的認(rèn)知加工，更容易感動(dòng)，情感反應(yīng)更強(qiáng)烈，更常關(guān)注細(xì)微事物，她在加州的米爾谷進(jìn)行了臨床實(shí)驗(yàn)。

如今，從腦部掃描到基因分析，已有數(shù)百個(gè)關(guān)于高度敏感方面的調(diào)查研究。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)高度敏感是隨機(jī)出現(xiàn)的，就像許多其他的個(gè)性特征一樣。它跟內(nèi)向不一樣，雖然高度敏感的人在受到觸動(dòng)時(shí)，也需要回避社交或刺激情緒的事物。

對(duì)高度敏感人群的大腦掃描顯示，與非高度敏感的人相比，他們的神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)活動(dòng)有所不同：高度敏感的人更有同情心，更在意周?chē)沫h(huán)境，對(duì)親密朋友和伴侶的社交暗示更敏感。

由加利福尼亞大學(xué)圣巴巴拉分校的研究人員進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)高度敏感者在看著愛(ài)人的臉時(shí)，大腦的某些特定區(qū)域的神經(jīng)活動(dòng)比一般人的更活躍，該研究被刊登在2014年4月的《腦與行為》雜志上。

專(zhuān)家稱(chēng)至少在100個(gè)物種中發(fā)現(xiàn)高度敏感的特性，包括果蠅、太陽(yáng)魚(yú)、狗、貓和猴子。在現(xiàn)代，高度敏感者能出色地勝任顧問(wèn)、教師、藝術(shù)家、牧師和記者（或人際關(guān)系專(zhuān)欄作家）的工作。

這種性格特征也有不好的一面。這些人會(huì)因過(guò)多的刺激而感到身心疲憊。他們更容易受傷害或受到冒犯。人們普遍認(rèn)為他們對(duì)事情反應(yīng)過(guò)大?！八麄兲幚硇畔⒏鼜氐?，”阿瑟·阿倫博士說(shuō)?！耙虼怂麄兏菀资艿接|動(dòng)?！?阿瑟·阿倫博士是紐約石溪大學(xué)的研究教授，也是加利福尼亞大學(xué)伯克利分校的訪問(wèn)學(xué)者。

目前，研究人員認(rèn)為高度敏感特性與基因有關(guān)。他們還沒(méi)有找出全部的相關(guān)基因，該研究顯示這與血清素運(yùn)輸基因——幫助循環(huán)利用血清素，是大腦中影響情緒的一種神經(jīng)遞質(zhì)——有一定關(guān)系。他們還認(rèn)為心理因素——性情和個(gè)性——會(huì)影響敏感的程度，生理狀況也是一個(gè)因素，尤其是對(duì)壓力的反應(yīng)。

高度敏感人群能通過(guò)學(xué)習(xí)學(xué)會(huì)處理自己的感覺(jué)和反應(yīng)——有時(shí)甚至比其他人處理得更好。2015年3月，一份由《個(gè)性與個(gè)體差異》雜志在網(wǎng)上發(fā)布的研究調(diào)查了166名11—12歲的女孩在一個(gè)英國(guó)學(xué)校心理健康項(xiàng)目的表現(xiàn)。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)高度敏感的女孩在接受一個(gè)為期12周的課程后，比其他敏感度一般的人在調(diào)整消極思想方面做得更好。

在之后的12個(gè)月里，只有那些高度敏感的女孩的壓抑癥狀得到減輕?！拜^敏感的人更可能把學(xué)到的東西內(nèi)化并加以運(yùn)用，”邁克爾·普魯斯說(shuō)，他是倫敦瑪麗皇后大學(xué)的高級(jí)講師，也是這項(xiàng)研究的領(lǐng)頭人。

哈薩德先生承認(rèn)有時(shí)候過(guò)于敏感會(huì)帶來(lái)一些問(wèn)題，如“跟愚蠢的人爭(zhēng)論時(shí)，你掩飾不了自己有多氣憤?！彼€注意到那些跟他約會(huì)的女性看到他比自己還要感性時(shí)會(huì)感到不自在?！皼](méi)有人會(huì)喜歡愛(ài)哭鬼，”他說(shuō)。

多年來(lái)，他教會(huì)了自己怎樣調(diào)節(jié)感受和反應(yīng)——還有“冷漠”對(duì)待發(fā)生的事件，把情感抽離出來(lái)。

他還學(xué)會(huì)了積極看待過(guò)度敏感。他覺(jué)得自己是個(gè)好父親，因?yàn)樗芨玫馗兄⒆觽兊那楦小Ｋf(shuō)他最近在工作中挽救了一份好幾百萬(wàn)美元的合同，在12個(gè)成員的團(tuán)隊(duì)中，只有他注意到了客戶(hù)的擔(dān)憂，最終他們團(tuán)隊(duì)為客戶(hù)解決了問(wèn)題。

哈薩德先生的女朋友，朱莉·馬特，是一位外科護(hù)士，她說(shuō)雖然花了不少時(shí)間來(lái)適應(yīng)他常常表露于外的情緒，但是她現(xiàn)在愛(ài)上了他的敏感?！翱酥齐[忍的人有其優(yōu)勢(shì)，”她說(shuō)?！暗粋€(gè)情感豐富而不在乎表露的人進(jìn)行熱烈而有深度的交流也是很好的，會(huì)有一些令人驚喜的意外變化。”