For many of us, our skin bruises easily. A snide remark might send us reeling. A negative email might ruin our week. A critical evaluation at work might make us rethink our entire career path.
For many of us it’s as though we’re walking around with a first-degree burn, and every comment and potentially negative situation just adds fuel to the fire.
When you have thin skin, life’s inevitable blows don’t just trip you up; they can feel like a bulldozer.
According to Ryan Howes, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and professor in Pasadena, Calif., “If you’ve had skin ripped away — [because of] trauma — or never developed thicker skin [because you were] sheltered from adversity – you’ll experience every bump and sharp point with excruciating precision.”
Howes described thick skin as “the ability to adapt and roll with changes and challenges common to life, as well as the ability to bounce back from particularly difficult times.”
Fortunately, even if your skin is paper-thin, you can do several things to make it thicker. Howes shared the following valuable suggestions.
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That article sounds very much like me. It does not take much to bring my mood down. Is this the same as being highly sensitive? Does this have anything to do with being introverted?
So far in my faily long life as of now, there are hardly any major crisis in my life. The biggest tragedy that has happened in my life were when my parents passed away. It was more that way with my father than my mother, because I felt closer to my dad. But they were very old and looked forward to Heaven.
You could say that I’ve been very lucky if that’s all that I’ve had. I’d say that you are right. But the bad side of this is that what would happen for me if my brothers, sister, or friends pass away? Then how would I react?
I think about that a lot. I know that I shouldn’t. My two brothers and sister are all older than me. And so are my friends.
Nice article! Spot-on! Thank you!