Do you find it hard to move on from negative experiences or comments, taking things personally and replaying them in your mind? Are you often interpreting people’s words or actions as personal attacks or criticisms? All this can make you wonder how to stop being sensitive.
In this article, you will find some potential reasons for hypersensitivity, learn how to develop emotional regulation skills, improve emotional resilience, and build good distress tolerance.
What Is Emotional Sensitivity?
Emotional sensitivity is the ability to feel and respond to emotions more intensely or deeply than others. Typically, it can show up in different ways, such as:
- Strong Emotional Responses: A highly sensitive person can feel emotions like joy, sadness, or anger more intensely, according to research about the highly sensitive brain [1].
- Attention to Small Details: Due to their sensory processing sensitivity, they may notice small emotional signals from others, such as body language or tone of voice, that others might miss.
- Deep Empathy: People with emotional sensitivity can easily sense others’ feelings and may feel their sadness or pain as if it were their own.
- Vulnerability to Stress: Typically, they may find it hard to deal with stressful situations due to the intensity of their feelings.
Common Causes of High Emotional Sensitivity
A number of biological, psychological, environmental, and other factors can contribute to high emotional sensitivity, such as:
- Negative experiences in childhood or unresolved emotional pain in adulthood.
- Certain personality types, like those with high neuroticism.
- Hormonal shifts during puberty, pregnancy, or menopause.
- Chronic stress makes a person more susceptible to strong emotions.
- Societal norms and cultural expectations influence how people perceive and express their emotions.
Kaitlyn Bruneau, LCSW, explained the common causes for high emotional sensitivity.
There are many different reasons that a person may find themselves feeling more emotionally sensitive, just as emotional sensitivity can present in many different ways. In my experience, there is not one definitive cause but a combination of factors that may lead to this experience. For example, someone’s early childhood experiences may combine with a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder and Social Anxiety, leading a person to be more on edge around others, read into various situations, and overthink interactions in the aftermath. It is also possible that high emotional sensitivity can be linked to someone being a Highly Sensitive Person, which can often have a genetic component. Whether someone’s emotional sensitivity is linked to a specific psychiatric diagnosis, their personality, or their genetics, it can present similarly and still be a challenging experience to cope with.
8 Practical Tips On How to Stop Being Highly Sensitive
Here are some practical ways to manage emotional experiences and learn how to feel your feelings:
1. Understand Emotional Triggers
First of all, identify situations or behaviors that spark intense emotions:
- Are there common patterns in the situations where you feel upset, worried, or hurt?
- Do you feel more upset than you imagine others would be when you perceive that you are being criticized, ignored, or underappreciated?
Then, think about situations in which you’ve felt a social threat and ask yourself:
- What happened right before I felt this way?
- Was there a particular comment, situation, or person that could be a trigger?
If you understand your triggers, you can develop strategies on how to not take things personally. For instance, if you know that certain types of criticism make you feel hurt, you can prepare yourself before receiving feedback.
Thus, you can turn the situation into a positive learning experience and see it as an opportunity to grow. Want to better understand your emotional triggers and how to manage them? Take the emotional intelligence test and gain valuable insights into your emotional strengths.
2. Set Boundaries
Researchers studying the highly sensitive brain found that highly sensitive people may sometimes feel drained by others’ emotions [1]. This might mean reducing time spent with people or in situations that cause stress or taking time to rest after emotionally intense moments.
For example, if you’re very empathetic and your friend often shares their problems, it’s okay to tell them that you need a break or that you’re not in the right headspace to listen. You can offer support at a time when you’re more emotionally prepared.
3. Practice Self-Acceptance
When you’re self-accepting, you’re less likely to be easily triggered by external circumstances, such as the opinions or actions of others. For this, you can try encouraging self-talk and positive affirmations for women. This positive self-talk may include the following statements:
- “I am worthy of respect and peace in all my relationships.”
- “I let go of things I cannot control.”
- “I am learning to set healthy emotional boundaries.”
- “I accept my emotions without letting them overpower me.”
- “Every day, I grow stronger in managing my feelings.”
4. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness helps you become more aware of your emotions, according to a review of several empirical studies [2]. When you practice mindfulness, you can observe your feelings without judgment, which creates space between you and your emotions.
Sit comfortably, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and pay attention to the feeling of air entering and leaving your body in the present moment.
Additionally to that, while eating, walking, or doing chores, focus on being present at the moment, and noticing the sights, sounds, and sensations around you. Over time, it can help you to calm the mind and body in social situations, reducing sensitivity.
5. Journal Your Thoughts
Try journaling your concerns. You can write whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about structure or judge your thoughts; just let them flow.
You could start with something like, “Today I feel…” or “I’m thinking about…” to release emotions and feel less sensitive. Then, once you’ve written about your feelings, reflect on possible solutions. For example, “I could start with small steps to feel more motivated” or “Maybe I need a break.”
With Breeze app journaling, you can do periodic checkups on your mental state to gain tips when you need them. You can set your own tempo by working on the self-grow courses to meet your personal needs and goals.
6. Change Negative Thought Patterns
Emotionally sensitive people often have negative thought patterns which can cause stress and cloud the judgment, research on emotional dysregulation shows [3]. Ruminating on the past, catastrophizing, overgeneralizing, and personalizing are typical examples.
In this case, cognitive reframing can help you feel more balanced and break out of cycles of emotional overreaction. For instance, if you feel hurt by a friend’s comment, reframe your thought to recognize what else may be contributing to the situation: “They might have been having a bad day, and it had nothing to do with me.”
7. Practice Self-Care and Relaxation Techniques
To create a sense of peace and calm and better regulate your emotions, you could schedule some alone time for physical activity, yoga, meditation, or hobbies you enjoy. In addition, create a bedtime routine: wind down at least 30 minutes before bed and avoid screens to restore your emotional balance, relax, and recharge.
8. Ask for Support from Close Ones
Talking with friends, family members, or the right therapist may give you a different perspective, comfort, and relief. As a result, expressing how you feel in a safe space can reduce the intensity of your emotions.
How to Handle Emotional Sensitivity in Close Relationships
Here’s how to be emotionally available to your partner and, at the same time, avoid feeling hurt in relationships:
1. Be Open and Honest
Try to express it openly and calmly when you feel vulnerable or emotionally triggered. It can help prevent conflicts and allows your partner to see things from your perspective.
Active listening may also be helpful. Focus on your partner’s words and needs without interrupting or rushing to respond. Resist the urge to immediately offer advice or fix the situation when your partner shares their feelings. This can be especially helpful when emotions are running high.
2. Take Responsibility for Your Emotions
If you’re feeling upset or insecure after a conversation, the reason may be your own inner fear of rejection, triggering the sensitivity. Thus, try to reflect on the roots of your reaction and communicate that with your partner.
Remember that your emotional responses are your responsibility, not your partner’s. While they may trigger your feelings, how you respond to them is within your control. Instead of blaming your partner for how you feel, focus on how you can manage your emotions.
Build a habit of tracking your feelings throughout the day using the Breeze app to uncover all the patterns and triggers driving your emotional state.
3. Take a Break To Reflect or Recharge
A highly sensitive person can feel overloaded by their partner’s emotions and even experience emotional loneliness because they tend to internalize feelings. This is shown by research published in Scientific Reports in 2025 [4].
That’s why you may remind yourself that while you want to support your partner, you are not responsible for managing their emotions. For instance, if your partner is upset or angry, you can say, “I want to be here for you, but I need some space to process my own emotions.”
Moreover, you may ask for a break, especially during heated discussions. Taking space doesn’t mean you’re avoiding the conversation; it just gives both partners time to cool down and reflect.
During a tense moment, you can say, “I think we both need a little time to cool off and think this through. Let’s talk about this later.” When taking a break, it is critical to also schedule time to come back together and revisit the conversation if needed.
4. Share Your Expectations
Sensitivity can lead to unrealistic expectations about how others should behave or respond. Recognizing that both you and your partner have flaws and limitations can help lower your emotional reactivity.
When you feel let down or hurt by your partner’s actions, remind yourself that no one is perfect. Have a conversation about your expectations and ask your partner about theirs. This helps create realistic and fair expectations in the relationship, which can reduce overly emotional reactions.
The Benefits of Emotional Sensitivity
If you manage it well, emotional sensitivity offers benefits that you can use to become the best version of yourself:
You Build Deep Relationships Through Empathy
A highly sensitive person has a strong ability to sense others’ feelings or situations without being told. For example, they might feel that a friend is upset, even though the friend is smiling and saying everything is fine.
As emotionally sensitive people are often highly empathetic, it lets them understand and connect with others’ feelings deeply. This, in turn, may lead to more compassionate relationships. Usually, they know how to be a better friend and can support others in meaningful ways.
We asked Kaitlyn Bruneau, LCSW, about the benefits of emotional sensitivity.
While emotional sensitivity can be exhausting and very intense for people who experience it, it is possible that many of the insights and experiences associated with that sensitivity can be harnessed for some benefits. For example, an emotionally sensitive person may be very aware of their loved one’s emotions and needs, which can lead to those same loved ones feeling heard and the relationship being deepened. An emotionally sensitive person may be more aware of their surroundings or more in touch with their emotions than someone else, allowing them to have more empathy and awareness in a variety of situations. However, it is important that these benefits do not come at the cost of your own emotional well-being and energy. You can take steps to recognize the benefits that your emotional sensitivity lends you, appreciating your own unique qualities and strengths while also setting boundaries and engaging in healthy coping skills to prevent yourself from becoming too overwhelmed.
Sources
- Bianca P Acevedo, Elaine N Aron, Arthur Aron, Matthew-Donald Sangster, Nancy Collins, Lucy L Brown. The highly sensitive brain: an fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others’ emotions. 2014.
- Shian-Ling Keng, Moria J Smoski, Clive J Robins. Effects of Mindfulness on Psychological Health: A Review of Empirical Studies. 2013.
- Kiana Wall, Allison Kalpakci, K. Karyn Hall, Nicholas Crist & Carla Sharp. An evaluation of the construct of emotional sensitivity from the perspective of emotionally sensitive people. 2018.
- Filip Meckovsky, Lukas Novak, Zdenek Meier, Peter Tavel & Klara Malinakova. Scientific Reports. 2025.
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