I recently finished reading this book after hearing it recommended countless times. Its good to get the refreshing perspective of someone who believes that being highly sensitive is not always a flaw, but actually a quality we can feel proud of.

Its is like a breath of fresh air to, for once, not be told to get rid of it, or that I should learn to overcome this terrible hinderence etc. That's not to say the author doesn't encourage you to go out into the world, but neither does she advocate that you should deny your trait, rather, she encourages you to learn to work with it and use it to your advantage.

Acceptance and the ability to see what I once only thought of as a major flaw in my personality more as a gift I must learn to use and one which, for that matter, the world actually does value and need (despite what I am repeatedly told) ... is what I got out of this book.

Also, I learnt to recognise that high sensitivity is not the weak trait our culture and even many western psycologists make make it out to be. For example... the book explains how in China, sensitive children are seen as more intelligent and are more popular and well liked by their peers. Whereas here, in the Western world, is is the opposite senario - sensitive children tend to be less popular and seen as not as capable as their peers and less intelligent. That alone, was huge revelation to me and the book is full of little gems like that. It will make you question the way both yourself and others view this trait.

I do agree with Nick about labelling yourself as one thing though - there is a certain danger in that. But the refreshing perspective of this book probably far outweighs that.

For people who already know they are HSPs, there is also a highly sensitive person support group you can join:

HSP Support Group