Are You A Drama Queen Or Drama King? YOU NEED TO READ THIS!

I’ve been a drama queen for as long as I can remember. And while I did participate in the drama club in high school as an actress, that’s not what I’m talking about.

You know what I mean. The strong emotional reactions some people have to situations that other people think is no big deal.

My first clues came as a child, watching certain things on television. The witch in The Wizard of Oz (the original one with Judy Garland) scared the you-know-what out of me. I felt sorry for Charlie Brown when his little Christmas tree wilted under the weight of a single ornament.

And, speaking of Charlie Brown…

I cried – yes, I did; I cried – when Snoopy ran away from home.

I don’t specifically remember any of my family members commenting about that strange fact, but I’m sure more than one (there were five others) was thinking something along the lines of, “What is wrong with her?!”

But wait! There's more!

I was extremely shy as a child, always afraid other children would reject me. One spring morning when I was in seventh grade, I woke up to find that a stray tom cat had killed the newest litter of kittens, one of whom I’d become dearly attached to. Almost without thinking, I built a thick concrete fortress around my heart so that I would never be hurt like that again. My relationships with friends thereafter became shallow. I couldn’t let any of them into my heart, because one day, they would hurt me. I was sure of it, and I didn’t want to feel that level of pain again as I had when I lost my best feline friend.

I hated men for nine years after the man I’d fallen in love with betrayed me. My teaching job exhausted me, primarily because I had to be around a lot of people all day long, secondarily because I could hardly stand the pressure of trying to cover all the curriculum I was supposed to cover within the span of a single school year.

It didn’t help that I seemed to pick up on my students’ bad moods, and I took personally all their behaviors that didn’t conform to the rules. I definitely had favorites, and others that I wished would drop off the face of the earth.

Worst of all was when I made some kind of mistake, whether on the job or in my personal life. It was often like the end of the world, even if it was something as small as misplacing a favorite pen or being late to send in some kind of documentation.

Now, understand, I wasn’t like this all the time, or every day. And the worst of it occurred during a particular time of the month. But, all in all, I seemed to overreact much more than anyone else I knew to the usual frustrations and pressures of life.

Another addition to the annals of, "Why couldn't I have found this out earlier?"

I’m going to fast forward through a bunch of years and a whole lot more incidences when I either exploded, or felt like exploding, or got depressed over situations that were out of my control.

I’m going to fast forward to just a few years ago when I came across a book entitled, Empath: A Psychologist's Guide to Developing and Embracing your Gift. Of course I knew what it meant to have empathy, but, an empath? Was that even a thing?

My reaction upon seeing the title was, “Am I an empath?” Because as soon as I saw the title, something had stirred deep within me. I downloaded it.

Inside was a series of thirty questions. If you could answer “yes” to “most” of them, the psychologist author said, then you were probably an empath.

I answered “yes” to twenty-two of them.

The author went on to talk about Highly Sensitive People, another new term for me. Some experts believe that all HSPs are also empaths; this particular author set forth a distinction between the two. But, he also said that if you’re an empath, you’re definitely an HSP as well.

I devoured the book like it was a feast and I hadn’t eaten in a week. The more I read, the more puzzle pieces fell into place.

Why I’d been so shy as a child.

Why I suffered from so many digestive discomforts.

Why I could sense negative and positive “vibes” coming from people. Or filling a room.

Why I jumped two feet in the air at the slightest unexpected noise.

Why I had so much trouble forgiving my own imperfections.

Why events that other people seemed to be able to get over quickly continued to bother me for a long time.

Why I couldn’t stand loud music or construction site noise.

Why stage spotlights were painful to my eyes.

Why flickering fluorescent lights made me half insane.

Why I could smell and hear things other people couldn’t.

Why I feel sorry for, and get angry at, fictional characters in books.

Why I can physically feel a drastic change in the weather, low air pressure, and the gravitational pull of the moon.

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re likely also a Highly Sensitive Person, maybe even an Empath. The difference is that in addition to having a more sensitive nervous system than usual, Empaths, if they don’t have the protection in place to prevent it, absorb the energy of other people around them. Some empaths can even pick up on the emotional energy that comes from animals!

And no, that’s not “New Age.” Science has proven that every living being, even plants, have energy fields around them, and that lower levels of that energy lead to negative thoughts and emotions.

It's not a bad thing!

But my point here isn’t to distinguish between Empaths and HSPs, or to try to convince anyone of science versus religious bias. My point is, if you’ve either called yourself, or been called – probably both – a drama queen or a drama king, if you’ve been frustrated and confused about why you seem to overreact both emotionally and physically to various stimulations, my point is to encourage you.

There is nothing wrong with you. In fact, you are part of around thirty percent of the human population. A minority, to be sure, but not a tiny minority.

Your sensitivity is important. A necessity. HSPs are the ones to initiate causes of justice. We are some of the most creative people on the planet. We have the best listening ears, because we can empathize with hurting people without even trying. We are the counselors, therapists, and healers of the world.

You’re not crazy. And there’s nothing wrong with you. You simply need to learn, as I have, to withdraw when necessary, to avoid triggers, and most and best of all, to harness everything good about your sensitive nature.

If what I’m saying strikes a chord, and you’ve never heard of Highly Sensitive People before, check out this article.

Peace to you, and may blessings abound in every area of your life.