Both in the field of science and outside of it, there has always been an attempt to classify the personality of individuals. One of these attempts corresponds to the idea of PAS, initials for Highly Sensitive Person. This term defines those who present greater emotional sensitivity and deep information processing, according to the PAS Institute of High Sensitivity Professionals.
“It is a type of personality, a way of being that includes, above all, more intense thinking, which also leads to more intense emotions. Therefore, it can positively affect the person, if it is managed well, or difficulties such as ruminative thoughts or misunderstanding, by presenting emotions that are a bit out of the ordinary”, explains Manuela Pérez Chacón, president of the PAS society. Spain.
This trait was proposed in the 90s by psychologists Arthur and Elaine Aron. Both investigated sensitivity in sensory processing, coming to design a scale to measure the proposed construct. It is estimated that 20% of the population is PAS and is defined as hereditary due to an overstimulated nervous system. It would not be a trait, neither good nor bad, but a way of being.
Although the mantra "I am PAS" is heard more and more in informal conversations, the term does not currently have the approval of the scientific community, although various professionals, such as Pérez Chacón, work for it.
One of the main criticisms is that most people can identify with this trait, as measured by questions such as "do other people's moods affect you?", "do loud noises bother you?", "does it affect much to have to do a lot of things in a short time?” or “Does being very hungry create a strong reaction in you, disrupting your concentration or mood?”
“There are psychological labels such as being PAS that, when you read the tests, there is a Forer effect, which is what happens with the horoscope. They are such general and ambiguous descriptions that you can relate to them”, says Denisa Praje, a health psychologist.
The personality classification with the most scientific evidence at present is that of the Big Five or Big Five. This includes five main factors: openness to new experiences, responsibility, extroversion, kindness and neuroticism or emotional instability.
Some research, such as an article published in the Journal of Research in Personality in 2021, reveals that the Aron questionnaire measures these factors, especially neuroticism, rather than the proposed new trait. Praje's opinion is that it is not appropriate to come up with a definition of personality that only includes one trait. “Finding a label for each trait means that you are taking several behaviors and putting them within the same one. Every scientist could make a new label,” she exaggerates.
This article also considers that the great popularity of the term may be due to the positive reinterpretation of certain personality traits, which are often seen as socially undesirable, something that the psychologist also mentions. Thus a person would go from being defined as neurotic to highly sensitive.
Elaine Aron herself published the book "The Gift of Sensitivity" in reference to the trait. And there are even messages that celebrate being PAS, as occurs in the Aron questionnaire adapted to the Spanish sociocultural context by the research group to which Pérez Chacón belongs and accessible for free on the PAS Spain website. If the score determines that one is PAS, the email with the notification of the same includes a congratulations to the person. Otherwise, no.
The social acceptance of the term has led some professionals to come into contact with this reality through their patients. This is the case of Marc Ferrer, a psychiatrist at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. The doctor works primarily with people with borderline personality disorder, which he explains could be considered the pathological end of this continuum of sensitivity and emotionality. When he referred this most disruptive clinic, some of his patients identified with being PAS and it was from there that Ferrer read about the subject.
“Fortunately, the disorder responds well to treatment and the most disabling symptoms are attenuated, but these people do not leave that emotional experience. In the definition of PAS they find the answer to their ills. It is not the reason for which they consult, but that residue that remains of operation very based on emotions ”, explains Ferrer.
In addition to the positive reinterpretation of certain issues, the search for uncertainty reduction and self-understanding often comes with the label, something that all the people interviewed for this article agree with. Fitting in as a PAS can help you understand certain thoughts and reactions and not feel like a "weirdo", but part of that 20% of the population.
“What I find most in therapy is with people who would prefer not to be PAS or who come because it has been a difficulty for them or has led to some type of anxiety or depression disorder. But yes, when they identify him, most say that a weight is lifted off their shoulders because they begin to make sense of their way of acting”, says Pérez Chacón.
Marisa Martínez Cervantes, 34, came to the consultation putting the label on the table. “The first time I went to the psychologist I made it super clear that I thought I was PAS. It is seen that it is like a classic now and when you tell them that they are quarantined because it could be suspicion of something else, ”she says.
She explains that everyone considers her a sensitive person and that crying has always been her way of managing things, to which is added her annoyance at noises and crowds in spaces such as shopping centers. One day she came across a book by Elaine Aron about highly sensitive people and she felt very identified with the subject. It makes a lot of sense with who I am, she thought.
The confinement took a lot of psychological toll on her, although she was happy with the fact of isolating herself, and that was when she went to the professional. On this occasion, she had once again carried out a search for information to understand what was happening to her and she came across autism. “With the PAS I felt identified, but autism nailed it,” she says. That was the diagnosis that she received from the psychologist and about which this illustrator discloses on her social networks.
As a result of his experience, Martínez Cervantes pays attention to the fact that, by defining someone as a PAS person, the presence of a disorder or a problem is not indicated, considering the possibility of meeting criteria for both labels.
Manuela Pérez Chacón explains that there can be confusion both with the term and with the autism spectrum clinic, although she narrates the opposite experience. The psychologist has come across several cases of patients around the age of 20 who "are PAS labeled as Asperger [a milder type of autism] since they were little because they were children who, perhaps, have not found their group at school ”. According to the psychologist, it would be necessary to help these children to adapt, “teach them social skills, to manage their emotions, so that they are not labeled as autism. […] There may be other things, ”she points out. Hence the importance of the expert that society know the PAS personality trait.
Marc Ferrer agrees with her that this favors variety and respect for the differences between people who deviate from the average in emotionality. However, the psychiatrist pays attention to the fact that living in society should also lead us to seek adaptation with others, labeling carrying the risk of settling into complacency.
For her part, Praje is wary of explaining behaviors based on labels since for her she errs on circularity. Reality is what it is and the name that is given to it does not change it, nor does it explain it, nor does it understand it better, it only describes it. In fact, that name can change over time or split into several names.
“I understand that there are people who serve. The problem is whether you can find this usefulness in other things that are even more useful and that do not run the risk of falling into circular explanations or leading to behaving according to that label as a self-fulfilling prophecy”, he reflects.
In addition to asking yourself questions about how you feel, similar experiences or consequences of behavior, the psychologist values talking with friends or having groups, spaces where you can express yourself without feeling judged.
