Introvert Book Club discussion

About 1 in 5 people are HSPs (Highly Sensitive People), with 70% of HSPs being introverts.

What are your thoughts about the book?

Just reserved it from my library to check it out - I'm actually currently reading "Too loud, too bright..." by Sharon Heller on the same topic, and discovering I actually have more HSP tendencies than I'd realised!

Awesome!
Let me know how you like Too Loud, and if I should put it on my personal to-read list.

Haven't started the book yet?

No problem!

Here's a suggested breakdown, if you're hoping to read it by the end of the month:
September 14-20: Chapters 1-4
September 21-27: Chapters 4-8
September 28-30: Chapters 9, 10

I just started it today.

Hmmmmm... I"m interested in the topic, but I'm getting very twitchy at the way the author talks about introversion in the preface.

On page x she says that introversion is "a strategy that some but not all HSPs adopt", and then later she takes pains to differentiate HSP from "introversion, neuroticism and shyness"

It's not the differentiation I object to - I grant you that the traits are different. But to assume that introversion is simply "a strategy", and to equate it with neuroticism or shyness?

Not cool.

(Then again, it was written in 1997 - before most of the books I really like about introversion had been published, and most of the research around the biolgical bases for introversion had been done, so perhaps the author can be forgiven. I'm still getting twitchy though!)

Oh! I didn't see that passage. Are you reading the kindle version?

I think many people's mental picture of introversion and HSP are similar, so perhaps she thought there wasn't enough room in the innate-trait boat for the both of them.

I wasn't offended the first time I read the book, as it seemed to me that she just had a different take on introversion than me, but I'm thinking I should reread her passages on introversion now that I've read this article: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/a...

The intersection of introversion and HSP seems to be a very sensitive topic for her.

I'm reading the paperback :-)

Yes, definitely I'm totally getting the "personally sensitive topic" vibe from what I'm reading too.

Has anyone finished reading the Highly Sensitive Person?

Has it changed the way you think of introversion?

I have to admit, I got a few chapters in and stalled. I keep meaning to go back to it and finish it, but haven't done so yet.

What I've read so far hasn't changed my view on introversion, but it has changed my view a little of HSP. In particular, I'm more aware that while my introversion is fairly constant, my HSP tendencies can fluctuate wildly. I've also realised that I'm much more sensitive around sound and scent than I am around the other three modalities, and that I'll only usually get overwhelmed by intense sensory combinations if one of those two senses is involved, or if there's a crowd that kicks in my introverted energy drain at the same time.

Interesting discoveries, all!

Indeed. That's interesting about scent, it's not a sense I pay much attention to.

I tend to mainly get overwhelmed from crowds when I'm also expected to understand something verbal, or make a decision. I used to be fine with crowded concerts. But noisy restaurants? Nope.