James Donaldson on Mental Health - What Is Self-Hatred?

What is a highly sensitive child?

Highly sensitive children are more reactive emotionally than most children, explains Dr.

“They have more intense reactions to seemingly smaller prompts.

And then, once the reaction happens, it takes them longer to reach their emotional baseline.” This reactivity makes them particularly sensitive to criticism.

And as children, they don’t have the ability to put criticism in context, so a minor complaint can feel defining.

How do you know if your child is highly sensitive?

A child’s emotional reactivity often shows up very early, Dr.

“Parents often tell me that their children were sensitive straight out of the womb.” Parents may recognize that a child is more reactive than their siblings, or other children they are around — something that one child takes in stride can feel crushing to another.

Aguirre, who has four children, uses his own family as an example.

When he took his two young sons to judo practice, he recalls, he would yell encouragement from the sidelines.