I’ve recently suffered a bad cold which after it finally started resolving, ended up with me also developing viral bronchitis. As I write to you right now I’m in bed doped up on meds to deal with the pain in my lungs and all the coughing. Having to deal with all of this for the last two weeks I’ve come to realize that I always get hit by the worst colds or flu viruses every year. Worse then everybody else around me. My roommate infected me and she was only ill for a couple of days and then it all cleared up for her. For me I’m now closing in on three weeks.

When I think back about it, it has always been like this for most of my life. I often get multiple virus infections each year, always hitting my respiratory systems the most. As a kid I suffered from asthma which made me unable to do sports sometimes and deemed me unfit for military service as a teenager. I also had a lot of food allergies when I was younger and I have a chronic skin inflammatory disease called rosacea. What I’ve started to conclude drawing from all my previous experience is that not only am I an highly sensitive person emotionally, but my body is also highly sensitive. I started to do some research online about it and turns out that it is very common for HSPs to suffer from chronic illnesses and catch diseases easier then non HSPs.

It all makes a lot of sense because I have always been a firm believer that the mind and body is deeply connected to each other. This is a viewpoint that western medicine doesn’t share but you can find it in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda which are based on it. HSPs have a highly sensitive nervous system and this also affects the rest of our body. When one system is not in balance the others become more susceptible to stress and damage. Since many INFJs are also HSPs, I think it’s vital that we remember to take care of ourselves and our bodies in order to be happy both emotionally and physically. As we all know we INFJs need this in order to cope and function properly in today’s society with our unusual gifts.

Here are some great links I dug up for you to indulge in further: