Why do people with Sensitive nervous systems become fatigued more quickly, and what does this mean for your workplace?

I want to answer two questions which go to the heart of why having a Responsive nervous system/temperament leads to particular needs, and why it matters to everyone – not just those with this temperament – that those needs are met.

​These concepts are important to understand, and it’s evident that they’re not well understood yet, because workplaces, schools, and public areas continue to be over-stimulating and emotionally-fatiguing for people with this temperament (and for others who have environmental sensitivities for various reasons).

1. Why do people with a Responsive (Highly Sensitive) temperament become overwhelmed or emotionally and mentally fatigued so quickly – in highly-stimulating or energy-draining environments? (And why are those environments so energy draining for them, and not for others – i.e. why are they not even recognised as being problematic by many people?)
2. Why does this matter for everyone, not just these people? Why should anyone else care, or adapt those environments, or help people with a Responsive temperament to thrive? Is it just a drain on the ability of others to go about their work and lives as they wish, or on resources better used elsewhere? Is desiring it selfishness on the part of/on behalf of Highly Responsive people? Or is there something vital here which matters for everyone – something that these people do which must be done? Something without which communities, organisations, and nations are poorer and more vulnerable?

In the context of this blog post, we could insert "nervous system doing this much work", or "expending this much energy" in the boxes.

In her book, Self-Care for Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents (2021), psychologist Lindsay Gibson explains why those with more sensitive nervous systems become fatigued (seen in various forms) more quickly than others.

“[Your nervous system] is responsible not just for doing but also for not doing. There are two kinds of processes the nervous system performs: initiating action and inhibiting action. Whenever you restrain yourself from the urge to act, you are doing as much work – often more – as if you had actually said or done something.”

The Responsive temperament is characterised, in part, by a strong ‘pause-to-check’ system. This is the ‘inhibiting action’ process that Lindsay Gibson describes.

People who leap into action look like they are expending lots of energy. But people who pause, think, and problem solve… are expending even more energy. This means that people who are empath[et]ic, …reflective, and concerned about helping others are constantly draining their neurological batteries with their internal efforts….

Your energy expenditure is not obvious because you are not showing any outward physical action. But on the inside, you are wrestling emtions, controlling reactions, considering future outcomes, and trying to find not just any solution but the best solution. This actually uses more energy than being reactive and impulsive.

…. The restrained approach gets you a better outcome in the long run, but in order to do it, you have also paid the price of activating some pretty energy-expensive real estate in multiple locations of your brain.

Thank goodness for people who exert their brains to calm others and find constructive outcomes, whether it is dealing with a child or with global politics. This high level of mature behaviour is a strenuous physical workout of the nerves and neurons, working brains double-time to find the optimal blend of both inhibition and action.

If you ever find yourself saying, ‘Why am I so tired? I haven’t been doing anything,’ stop and reconsider. Yes, you have been doing something. It was all those things you didn’t say, all those destructive urges you didn’t follow. That was a full day’s work from your brain’s point of view. From all the rest of us who benefited from your efforts and never knew it, thank you for all the work you did that we never even saw.

pp. 30-31 (both excerpts)

The great thing is that probably everyone can do this – although not everyone does. The other great thing is that a Highly Sensitive/Responsive temperament naturally works like this – and does other important things.

Do you think we need people to do this? To restrain themselves from impulses and think more before they act? To consider, empathetically, before speaking? To find, in all situations, “the optimal blend of both inhibition and action”?
If the answer you get is the obvious one – yes, yes, absolutely! – then that’s your reason for doing something about it. For learning what Highly Sensitive people need to thrive, and implementing those elements within your workplace or school.

Because, as you can see, it’s not an extra, nice little thing to do for people, or a virtue-signalling initiative; it’s not a difficult expenditure of resources better used for other things. It’s supporting people who do more of what is desperately needed in organisations and public spaces. To think, reflect, notice ‘all the things’ and place them in context, restrain oneself and potentially others by example, act on what matters after considering all the options, and care deeply about the consequences.

​There are so many things that Highly Sensitive/Responsive people do which are greatly needed in our world. That’s why we’re here. Make use of it – harness these unique strengths, and reap the rewards.

Not sure how to do that? See here and here for more. Contact me to talk about what would work best for your workplace/school: a presentation, workshop, or consultation.