High Sensitivity Test — Am I Highly Sensitive?

High Sensitivity Self-Test for Adults

High sensitivity has long been misunderstood as a weakness — as being "too sensitive" or "too emotional." In reality, the term describes a natural neurological trait that affects approximately 20% of the population: a nervous system that processes stimuli more deeply than average.

This high sensitivity self-test offers you an initial orientation. It does not replace a professional diagnosis, but it can help you better understand your own patterns — from a perspective that does not view your experience as a deficit, but as part of natural neurological diversity. The test takes approximately 4–6 minutes, and your data is treated with complete confidentiality.

Am I Highly Sensitive? — What Is Behind the Question

The question of whether we are too sensitive often arises because our sensitivity causes us pain: we seem to suffer more, to be more strongly affected, and to be more easily overwhelmed. Quickly, this question becomes: "Am I too much?" or "Am I too sensitive?"

This kind of self-devaluation happens because we have socially learned that the person showing symptoms is always the one at fault. Yet science shows that more sensitive people do not simply suffer more from negative stimuli — they are also much better at benefiting from positive ones.

This insight is central, because it reveals that high sensitivity is essentially like a digestive system that works particularly well: healthy food leads to more energy, while unhealthy food leads to stronger stomach aches and less clear skin.

That is why it is very important to know whether you are highly sensitive or not. Only through consistent self-management can life be structured in a way that truly fits your nervous system.

High Sensitivity Symptoms and Characteristics

High sensitivity — referred to in research as Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) — manifests on multiple levels. The American psychologist Elaine Aron, who coined the term in the 1990s, describes four central characteristics summarized under the acronym DOES:

Depth of Processing: Highly sensitive people process information more thoroughly. They think longer before acting and tend to consider situations from multiple angles. This can manifest as rumination, but also as exceptional thoughtfulness and reflectiveness.

Overstimulation: Because the nervous system takes in more and processes it more deeply, highly sensitive people reach the limits of their capacity more quickly. Noise, crowds, bright light, or emotional impressions can lead to sensory overload, which manifests as exhaustion, a need to withdraw, or irritability.

Emotional Reactivity & Empathy: Emotions are experienced more intensely — both one's own and those of others. Highly sensitive people often sense the moods of others before a single word is spoken. This empathy is a strength, but it can also lead to feeling overwhelmed by others' emotions.

Sensing the Subtle: Subtle changes in the environment — a new scent, a slight shift in mood, a sound in the background — are registered where others notice nothing. This makes highly sensitive people attentive observers, but it can also make everyday life more demanding.

These characteristics are not a disorder. They describe a nervous system that works in a particular way — with strengths and challenges that manifest differently depending on the environment.

Highly Sensitive or ADHD — What Is the Difference?

The overlaps between high sensitivity and ADHD are considerable — and this is precisely what causes confusion for many people. Both traits can manifest through sensory overload, exhaustion, and emotional intensity. But the underlying mechanisms differ.

With ADHD, attention regulation is at the forefront: the nervous system seeks stimulation, jumps between stimuli, and struggles to filter out what is unimportant. With high sensitivity, it is the opposite: the nervous system takes in too much and processes everything too thoroughly. The result — exhaustion and overwhelm — can look identical, even though the path there is different.

Moreover, these two traits are not mutually exclusive. Research suggests that a significant proportion of people with ADHD are also highly sensitive. A test that measures only one dimension misses this combination.

Science remains unclear about the exact relationship between ADHD and high sensitivity. From a diagnostic perspective, ADHD is diagnosable while high sensitivity is not — which does not necessarily mean anything. Our institute has over 12 years of experience with both.

We are convinced that high sensitivity is the most common foundation for ADHD. That means: the ADHD nervous system is usually a highly sensitive nervous system — one that is overaroused and, in its attempt to self-regulate, produces the ADHD symptoms.

We therefore often refer to ADHD as "tuning out" — a kind of looking away in the face of great overwhelm. This frequently explains concentration difficulties, forgetfulness, and other symptoms such as inner restlessness.

High Sensitivity and Autism

High sensitivity and autism are often viewed as separate phenomena. In practice, however, significant overlaps emerge. Many autistic people report an intense sensory processing experience that closely resembles descriptions of high sensitivity — and conversely, highly sensitive people often show patterns that resemble the autistic experience.

Sensory sensitivity — whether to sounds, light, textures, or social stimuli — is an area where both traits converge. The need for retreat, deep processing of impressions, and emotional intensity are also found in both.

The key difference often lies in the social dimension: autism encompasses particularities in social communication and interaction that go beyond pure sensory processing. But even here, the boundaries are fluid. Some people who understand themselves as highly sensitive later discover autistic traits — and vice versa.

This is precisely why our test measures both dimensions simultaneously. A pure high sensitivity test would overlook these important overlaps.

Highly Sensitive — What to Do?

If you recognize yourself in these descriptions, a natural question arises: what can you do? The answer begins with understanding. Many highly sensitive adults have spent years learning to work against their nervous system — to pull themselves together, to push through, to suppress their own sensitivity. This fight against one's own nature is often more exhausting than the sensitivity itself.

The first step is therefore to get to know your own nervous system. A differentiated neuroprofile helps you to classify your own patterns: Where are your strengths? Which stimuli are particularly taxing? Where are there overlaps with other dimensions of neurodiversity?

Beyond that, research shows that highly sensitive people benefit especially strongly from a supportive environment. What makes a small difference for others can make a huge difference for highly sensitive people — in both directions. This means: the right environment, the right strategies, and an understanding of your own nature can fundamentally change your well-being.

Why a Neurodiversity Test Instead of a Pure HSP Test?

High sensitivity is often a fundamental dimension for many areas of neurodivergence. This can encompass autism, ADHD, but also RSD and alexithymia. It is always advisable to take a comprehensive test that covers other dimensions alongside high sensitivity, in order to get the most holistic picture possible.

Furthermore, it remains unclear whether high sensitivity is a single dimension — or multiple. Whether, for example, empathic sensitivity is actually something different from the tendency to be more quickly overwhelmed by stimuli like noise or light. In our view, it is.

Not because it is "nicer" to take a holistic view. But because every nervous system is different — and being different is not wrong, sick, or bad. This is the lived core idea of neurodiversity — and as an institute, we are proud to embody it.