It's the right brain's fault
Mentally hyperactive people, such as the patient in the quoted excerpt from the book, are overloaded with information, remember minute details, analyze all possible scenarios for one specific event (“what would happen if…”), and have an extremely developed intuition. As a result, the most common phrases you hear are, “you are hypersensitive, it is not what you think it is”. According to research by specialists, it is estimated that about 20-30 percent of people suffer from this ailment. Who or what is to blame? Scientists blame the incorrect structure of the neurological and hyperactive systems and the right hemisphere. This makes a lot of sense, since the right hemisphere is responsible for instinct, sensory integration, emotions, and everything we feel and can't see with the naked eye. This is the opposite in the left hemisphere. It is linear, methodical and verbal. The right hemisphere feels and the left determines and describes it. Unfortunately, mentally hypersensitive patients often face misdiagnoses that can lead to mental illness and disorders.
More, harder, faster
Receiving more information or stimuli than the average person has a scientific term, hyperesthesia. This means that you have extremely sharp senses, a constant state of alertness and presence of mind. In a sudden stressful situation, such characteristics are very useful to us. In everyday life, on the other hand, these are not so useful. Such people can easily be disturbed by certain smells, tastes, sounds or textures.
- In most cases of mental superiority, hyperesthesia is combined with synesthesia, that is, with hybrid activation of the senses in the brain. For example, people suffering from synesthesia see colorful words or convex numbers, explains Christel Petitcollin.
Hyperesthesia is also evidenced by a poor ability to select and separate sensory information. Most people's minds automatically exclude unnecessary information, leaving behind only the vital information that is relevant in a given situation. This process is disturbed in people with hyperesthesia and the selection of information has to be done "manually" in them. That is, using our own conclusions or analyses. This is why these people can have problems with concentration and have to process and filter constant information overload within a specific framework of their professional or social life.
Diagnosis and what now?
Living with a mental overactivity doesn't mean giving up plans or your own dreams. Such people have a number of positive qualities, which stem precisely from their "uniqueness". They like to interact with others, they can talk about any topic and do several things at the same time, they have a wide knowledge in various fields and are characterized by above-average creativity. What can you do not to go crazy?
The book's author recommends mapping or anchoring (associating external stimuli with the internal state) your thoughts, schedules, and plans. It's also important to work on your self-confidence, manage feelings of loneliness, and appreciate the smallest achievements. But the main thing is understanding - accepting that our brains work differently and getting used to it.
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