Are you anxious, introverted or just a ‘highly sensitive person’?

Do you find yourself noticing faint sensations that no one else can perceive?

Are you startled easily?

And is your mood easily swayed by the feelings of the people around you?

If so, you may be a highly sensitive person (HSP), a personality profile that is of increasing interest to both scientists and armchair psychologists.

High sensitivity is often presented as a key contributor to depression and burnout. “A lot of people still think of it in terms of risk and vulnerability,” says Prof Corina Greven of the Radboud University medical centre in the Netherlands.

The truth, however, is more complicated. Both high and low sensitivity can have advantages and disadvantages – it all depends on the context. And with a bit of self-knowledge about our place on the spectrum, we can all learn to find the right coping mechanisms to make the most of our personality profile.