Tracy M. Cooper - Thrill! the High Sensation Seeking Highly Sensitive Person

Thrill: The High Sensation SeekingHighly Sensitive Person

Tracy M. Cooper, Ph.D.

Invictus Publishing, llc

Thrill: The High Sensation SeekingHighly Sensitive Person

All rights reserved.

Copyright 2016 by Tracy Cooper

Invictus Publishing, llc

2303 South 16th Street

Ozark, MO 65721

Authors website: www.drtracycooper.com

This book is protected under the copyright lawsof the United States of America. Any reproduction or otherunauthorized use of the authors material herein is prohibitedwithout the express written permission of the author.

Published by Invictus Publishing,llc

First printing: September 2016

Smashwords Edition

Discover other books by Tracy Cooper,Ph.D.:

Thrive: The Highly Sensitive Personand Career

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

This book would not have been possiblewithout the dedicated work of numerous researchers over the pastnearly six decades. Specifically, I would like to acknowledge andexpress my appreciation for the work of Marvin Zuckerman and ElaineAron. Zuckerman conceptualized the trait of sensation seeking andstudiously followed its development through many phases includingthe development of reliable instruments to measure sensationseeking in the populace. Personally, I am extremely grateful forZuckermans work because it has helped inform my journey as asensation seeker and explain some of the behaviors of others in mylife. Clarity is invaluable!

The work of Elaine Aron has beenpersonally validating, healing, and inspiring as I sought answersto my own highly sensitive temperament. In time, I realized thatmuch work remains to be carried out to help others in theirjourneys. This work is part of that careful process and would nothave been possible without the steadfast and dedicated research ofDr. Aron and her team of researchers. The work she did has laid asolid, scientific foundation on which broad-based researchers (likemyself) are now able to build resources that are accessible toeveryone. It is my hope that this work continues to lay thefoundation on which future work may be carried out in the interestof providing sound guidance to the many sensitive sensation seekersin the world.

Dedication

Writing a book that is the first of itskind is always a challenge and would not have been possible withoutthe belief and support of many people in my life. From my wife,Lisa, who always believed a book such as this was necessary in theworld and encouraged me to just keep going to my colleague andfriend, Misha Mercer, who set such a stellar example ofconscientiousness as to motivate me to, in fact, just keep goingI now offer this book as proof that what seem like enormous goalsare attainable. Eventually, even the highest goals becomeachievable if we trust in the process of creation and hardwork.

The same felt instinct that a book suchas this needs to be brought into being ultimately giving voice tothe many sensitive sensation seekers of the world, and I dedicatethis book to my fellow lovers of the new and novel, the subtle andsoft, and the profound and compassionate. Our paths will never beeasy or clear, but having our collective voices embodied in thisbook is healing and validating to so many and will serve as aguidepost for others as they make their way in life.

I also dedicate and acknowledge thelove and support of my mother, Georgia (Lucy) and my late father,Claude (Shoat) Cooper, who never lived long enough to see what hisstudious, artistic, comic-book-reading, KISS fan son would achievein life. And to my oldest brother, Claude (Junior), I dedicate thiswork as a healing instrument for our family as we work to bridgethe many years and miles.

Lastly, I dedicate this work to mybeautiful children: Peter, Allyson, Indianna, Ben, and mystep-children: Christopher, Micheal, and Caitlin. Dream big, workhard, and just keep going! Youll get there!

The origins of this book date backseveral years ago when I was working on the book Thrive: The HighlySensitive Person and Career. During the interviews I conducted forthat book I noticed some of the people (all of whom were highlysensitive people) seemed to be describing the characteristics ofhigh sensation seekers. I identify as a high sensation seekinghighly sensitive person myself so was quite intrigued and wished topursue more study in that area, but stayed the course and completedthe study for Thrive and later the book itself. I made a promise tomyself however that my next book would delve deeply into the highsensation seeking highly sensitive person. This book is the resultof that pledge.

To begin with, I read all of theavailable research literature on sensation seeking, a personalitytrait that has been continually studied since the 1960s; then Idesigned a qualitative research study to learn the livedexperiences across a wide range from people who identify as highsensation seeking and highly sensitive. My intent was for the studyto touch on the most important aspects of life: childhood, career,relationships, self-care, and the social context within which thesefactors are situated since this was the first book of its kind.Over the course of many months, I interviewed 35 people (thesaturation point I eventually reached) after first asking them totake a shortened version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale andthe Sensation Seeking Self-Test. The mean score (or average) was 38on the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, out of a possible 42 at theextreme end of the scale. The mode (number listed most frequently)was 7 (with possible answers ranging from one to seven). Thisresult seemed to place the participants in the upper 25% of thescale.

The average score for the SensationSeeking Self-Test was 15 (out of a possible 20 true for me or nottrue for me responses). The mode (the number repeated most often)was 17. This scale differentiates male from female cutoffs forbeing considered high sensation seeking. Eleven represents thecutoff for women and 13 for males. The average score was the samefor males and females (the results might be different with a largersample).

The results of the interviews werethen analyzed with particular themes emerging. Based on thosethemes I carefully constructed this book to reflect as accuratelyas possible the actual words of each person. Each chapter covers abroad swath of life with rich quotes from the people in the study.This richness is further enhanced by the inclusion of additionalresearch references you are free to read if some point should catchyour interest. I have taken care to write the book in such a way asto be as educational as inspirational. While this book is notintended to be a self-help book, it is very likely you will benefitfrom the time you spend with it. Think of it as a gathering ofvoices each with their story to tell that will awaken you to thereality of life as experienced by highly sensitive high sensationseekers.

There is a temptation that is verystrong in humans to bond tightly together in groups quickly castinganyone who is different as the other. While I present thisresearch with the intent of illuminating the challenges,opportunities, and very real stories of highly sensitive highsensation seekers I refrain from homogenizing us as a group. Toassume that we are all alike and should fit a mold is to castourselves into the same sort of mold that society is already sovery good at and is so dreadful for us. Rather, my intent is topresent the broad cross-section of lived experiences as lived andtold by real people, all very different from each other.

Likewise, I avoid casting highlysensitive high sensation seekers as being so very different fromhighly sensitive people. We are highly sensitive people with alittle different twist, but still experience the gift/pain ofempathy, become overstimulated at times and need to withdraw andrecharge in quiet, notice subtleties in many areas of life, andexperience deep, rich inner lives propelled by strongemotions.