Understanding These 6 Cognitive Highly Sensitive Traits is Important

There are many traits that distinguish a highly sensitive person (HSP), and this applies to children too. Traits can be physical, social, spiritual and cognitive. This post is about the latter. Understanding which cognitive traits are likely to be associated with highly sensitives, and in particular, highly sensitive children (HSCs) will help you to support your HSC and provide them with the tools they need to thrive in different environments and situations. Note that HSC can easily be replaced by HSP in this post – all traits apply to adults as much as children. Here are 6 cognitive traits to consider.

1. Vivid Dreams

Let’s start with one of the most straight forward cognitive traits of a highly sensitive, that being vivid dreams. This simply means that you remember your dream when you wake up.

During REM sleep we dream, and sometimes we wake up and recollect the details of our dreams, particularly if dreaming has occurred during the last cycle of REM sleep, which tends to be longer than the rest. So this is what a vivid dream is. Sometimes we don’t remember any details of our dreams, or are not even aware we have been dreaming. There times we can recall every detail, and it feels like the dream was real, leaving us with emotional remnants.

Sometimes vivid dreams are positive and we wake feeling wonderful, with a feeling that something great has just happened. Other times our dreams leave us feeling uncomfortable or disturbed, or in the case of nightmares, scared.

If your HSC continually experiences bad dreams, it’s a good idea to talk about them during the day to determine if there are particular triggers. It may be that your child is seeing visual triggers on a phone at school, has heard friends talking about a particular movie, overheard discussions about a distressing incident or seen something on the news. Remember that HSCs absorb much more of their environment than their non-HSC peers.

Stress and anxiety, as well as bad bedtime habits, can also trigger bad dreams, so a quiet bedtime routine can help, as well as talking about fears. Seek professional help if the nightmares worsen or seriously impacts your child’s sleep.

2. Rich Imagination

One of the traits of being highly sensitive is having a rich inner life (or you could say complex inner life!). Having a rich imagination is a part of this.

Definition of imagination: Your imagination is the ability that you have to form pictures or ideas in your mind of things that are new and exciting, or things that you have not experienced. (Collins Dictionary)

Your HSC may have imaginary friends, or tell you stories about things that have never actually happened, adamant that it did happen. When a vivid imagination most turns against a child is at night when the house is dark and quiet and they should be going to sleep. This is when fears are spurred on by a rich imagination. Every noise is a lurking danger, every fear triggered by their own imagination. When a child’s fear interferes with their sleep, or causes anxiety, you need to intervene and help your child understand how their mind works. Help your child understand what imagination is, and that there is a difference between perceived and real situations or threats. In other words, help your child to understand that they themselves are creating these images and thoughts. And that they have control over these thoughts and images.

Again, if there are extreme issues, learning to take control of their own mind and understanding reality v imagination may need you to seek professional guidance.

3. Associative Thinking

Highly sensitives are often associative thinkers. This, in a nutshell, is the ability to connect seemingly unconnected ideas or concepts together. It is a natural process, and a subconscious one. It’s at the core of creativity and open-minded thinking. And it’s important for problem solving and innovation.

This translates to your child maybe seeing patterns in things that others do not. It may result in your child asking you question after question on topics that may seem unrelated, giving the impression your child isn’t really listening to you or their teacher, for example. It may feel like a child is going off-topic in school.

But primarily this gives your child a fabulous sought-after problem solving tool that will serve them well throughout life. This trait will help them creatively solve personal problems, as well as come up with unique ideas whilst working on school projects. Embrace and encourage this cognitive highly sensitive trait!

4. Concentration Issues

Highly sensitive children may experience concentration issues for a number of reasons:

• Overstimulation: A HSC’s heightened sensitivity means they can easily become overwhelmed by sensory input. Think along the lines of noise, lights, or even social interactions. This sensory overwhelm can distract them and make it hard to focus on tasks.
• Emotional Intensity: HSC’s often feel emotions more intensely, which can lead to distraction as they process their feelings. Worry or anxiety can also serve to divert their attention away from the task at hand.
• Deep Processing: HSPs tend to think deeply about things, leading them to get caught up in thoughts. It can seem like they are daydreaming, or not listening.
• Need for Quiet Spaces: Highly sensitive children often thrive in calm environments. In noisy or chaotic settings, such as your average school classroom, they may struggle to concentrate as they try to filter out distractions. You can try a number of tools, such as noise reducing headphones (my children used Alpine Muffy) or ear plugs, study buddies around their desk or finding an alternative space for the child to work in.
• Social Sensitivity: They may be attuned to the emotions and reactions of others, making it difficult to focus on their own work if they sense tension or discomfort in their surroundings.
• Perfectionism: Many highly sensitive children strive for perfection, which can lead to excessive self-criticism and anxiety. It may mean that a child is unwilling to even start the task before them and they will actually look for distractions.

Understanding these particular factors can help caregivers and educators provide the support HSCs need to improve their concentration.

5. Deep Thinking

Highly sensitive people are deep thinkers. This arises from the heightened awareness that HSPs experience. Therefore, HSCs notice subtleties that their peers might overlook, such as changes in mood, atmosphere, or details in their environment. Translate all of this to a classroom environment, and it is already clear why this is so important to understand.

HSCs (as well as adults) also tend to experience emotions more intensely. This emotional richness encourages HSCs to explore their feelings and ideas more profoundly, leading to complex thoughts and insights. They engage in a lot of self-reflection, ponder experiences and question how those experiences have made them feel.

And then there’s the empathetic nature of HSPs, which allow them to consider multiple perspectives, enhancing their ability to think critically about issues and relationships.

Lastly, but absolutely not least, many HSPs are creative, using their sensitivity as a source of inspiration. This creativity often involves exploring complex ideas and themes.

6. Indecisiveness

Deep thinking leads us nicely on to the next cognitive highly sensitive trait in the list, namely a HSC’s decision making process. A HSC can find decision-making challenging for several reasons.

Firstly, a HSC takes in the details, and therefore generally needs more processing time than their peers. This in turn can lead to thorough and nuanced thinking rather than making snap judgments. It’s why when you ask your HSC to make a decision about anything, even though it may seem to you that it is about a small thing, they can be hesitant and indecisive. HSCs have a tendency to overthink, to analyse situations deeply, considering various outcomes and possibilities. They have to weigh up all the different factors, all potential outcomes, before committing. Consequently, HSCs can become overwhelmed by the details – rendering them indecisive.

A HSC may also fear the consequences of the decision they make. Who will it impact? This concern can create anxiety about making the “wrong” choice. The fear of disappointing others or facing negative emotional consequences can add pressure to their decision making process.
It is also notable that HSCs tend to typically value relationships and may therefore struggle to commit to a decision that could disrupt that harmony. HSCs are often attuned to others’ reactions, making them more susceptible to outside opinions. This can lead to indecision, especially in group settings. Worse still, it can lead to a making a decision that doesn’t sit comfortably in order to be a people pleaser. This creates a whole host of other issues for a HSC.

These factors combine to make decision-making a more complex and sometimes stressful process for highly sensitives. This is worth remembering when asking a HSC to make a decision – give them time and space!

Over to You: Understanding Cognitive Highly Sensitive Traits

Understanding cognitive highly sensitive traits will help you to parent your HSC and provide them with the tools they need to thrive. Which of these cognitive highly sensitive traits do you recognise in your HSC (or yourself)? How do you help your child master the negative side of these traits?

*For your convenience, this post includes affiliate links to products useful for the HSK community. They cost you nothing more to buy, but I may get a small commission, which goes towards costs to keep the HSK site running.