Scientists pinpoint the personality type which is most likely to have mental health problems - 16 August 2025

[Maat]

New meta analysis from QMUL et al reported by QMUL in Medical Express 16 August 2025.

People with sensitive personalities more likely to experience mental health problems, analysis indicates

New research, led by Queen Mary University and published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, has revealed that highly sensitive people (HSP) are more likely to experience mental health problems compared to individuals who are less sensitive. Findings suggest that these individuals...

medicalxpress.com

Also reported in the Daily Mail with a photo of Amanda Heart

Scientists pinpoint personality type most likely to be mentally unwell

Experts warned that further research was now vital to explore how the personality type influences the effectiveness of mental health treatments.

www.dailymail.co.uk

From the Medical Express article:

New research, led by Queen Mary University and published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, has revealed that highly sensitive people (HSP) are more likely to experience mental health problems compared to individuals who are less sensitive. Findings suggest that these individuals could benefit more from interventions such as mindfulness and techniques to strengthen emotional regulation skills.

The meta-analysis of 33 studies, the first of its kind, looked at the relationship between sensitivity and common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Researchers found there was a significant, positive relationship between the two, concluding that highly sensitive people are more likely to experience depression and anxiety compared to those who are less sensitive.

In the study, sensitivity was defined as a personality trait that reflects people's capacity to perceive and process environmental stimuli such as bright lights, subtle changes in the environment and other peoples' moods. Often overlooked in mental health studies and clinical practice, which tend to focus on neuroticism and its association with mental health conditions, this research shows that understanding a person's sensitivity level is important and can have therapeutic implications.

For example, people with more sensitive personality traits may be more likely to benefit from treatment plans which involve techniques such as applied relaxation and mindfulness, which can also prevent relapse.

Tom Falkenstein, a psychotherapist and a Ph.D. student at Queen Mary University of London, said, "This is the most extensive systematic review on sensitivity and mental health in adolescents and adults to date, and is the first ever meta-analysis on the topic to estimate the impact of this relationship.

"We found positive and moderate correlations between sensitivity and various mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia and avoidant personality disorder. Our findings suggest that sensitivity should be considered more in clinical practice which could be used to improve diagnosis of conditions."

"In addition, our findings could help improve treatment for these individuals. Around 31% of the general population are considered highly sensitive, and, as our findings show, are more likely to respond better to some psychological interventions than less sensitive individuals. Therefore, sensitivity should be considered when thinking about treatment plans for mental health conditions.

More information: The Relationship Between Environmental Sensitivity and Common Mental-Health Problems in Adolescents and Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Clinical Psychological Science (2025). DOI: 10.1177/21677026251348428

Journal information: Clinical Psychological Science

There's a test at the bottom of the article which you can take to find out if you are a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) This is the page the link lands on to avoid clickbait.

 

[bobbler]

Of course it’s all about how those in power in society decide to define what is a mental health problem vs other things not getting defined as them that would be.

I remember I think it was a van Tuklien making a point (in response perhaps to one of those questions about eg should people who smoked or didn’t exercise etc be less deserving of treatment) that there are people who might rock those boxes but are bullies and might make by their problem behaviour ten other people ill in the same year through doing things to them that almost directly harm their health and happiness - let’s stop pretending managing someone out or bullying them by putting them in a horrid work environment with huge workloads so they have nothing outside work and they’d be crushed by it is ‘indirect’ as if it’s mediated by how that person experiences it as it’s intended to create that experience so isn’t ‘indirect’

But diagnostic services aren’t focusing on picking up people with bad tempers for anger management or who are being anti social because they are allowed to get away with it generally as no one wants to mess with them

Instead it’s those harmed by said behaviour. So I think whilst there might be some clinical situations where indeed someone might have what they call a great life but just eg are still incredibly sad or anxious or struggle with other clinical symptoms

There are lots who are actually the consequences of other people’s pathology/personality + bystanders or managers or other services that should protect deciding not to step in and someone who was normal suffering the consequences of that ongoing often for a very extended time. And it isn’t their own personality - unless you believe the victim is to blame for the behaviour of a perpetrator (which btw is what I think the bps really always has been about trying to rewrite things to if you look at everything they do) but wrong place wrong time and the link is the perpetrator personality and behaviour - just the impact and consequences get worn by someone else. Who might just be wrong place wrong time or ‘face doesn’t fit’. Ie bigotry by those types.

This ‘over sensitive’ is just narcissists charter nonsense. And no one is more hypocritically over sensitive when a tenth of what they give out happens to them than that same narcissist. They just are too busy being the trampler to end up as the destroyed on who these days gets lumped with a label as if they are mentally ill instead of injured.

Goodness knows what highly sensitive actually is. But could it be that ‘considerate of others’ is actually lumped under that and it’s just those who aren’t at all are not ending up being the hurt ones? But skew the data of what normal sensitive is.

Could it not be the case those people are ‘normal’ and instead there’s the other end who ‘are highly lacking in sensitivity’ who are linked to other behaviours we should/could define as mental illness? Or ‘problem behaviours’

This personality research has always been dangerous both for its quality meaning real scientists don’t touch it with a barge pole as it isn’t a real area or thing to study and because those attracted into it don’t generally have good intentions, whether they realise that in themselves or not.

So it’s propaganda trying to change the norms , very literally, of what society is and therefore who is acceptable and who isn’t by virtue of redefining harmed as the problem instead of harmer.

 

[Yann04]

(Assuming this thing was good enough methodologically to be taken seriously, it isn’t)

So people who are more sensitive. (Maybe read: Empathetic? In touch with emotions? Non emotionally stunted?) are those who have the worst mental health.

Well perhaps that tells us more about the society we live in, than those people…

 

[alex3619]

This is not about empathy from the first post. This is about brain sensitivity to stimuli. So it may select those on the autism or ME spectrum, and probably other disorders affecting the brain. Its too soon, based on the first post, to tell if its a genuine finding or just more psychobabble.

[Sarcasm] Maybe we need a study to determine if anyone who ignores or exacerbates the pain and suffering of sick people lies somewhere on the sociopath-psychopath spectrum?

 

[Yann04]

This is not about empathy from the first post. This is about brain sensitivity to stimuli. So it may select those on the autism or ME spectrum, and probably other disorders affecting the brain. Its too soon, based on the first post, to tell if its a genuine finding or just more psychobabble.

[Sarcasm] Maybe we need a study to determine if anyone who ignores or exacerbates the pain and suffering of sick people lies somewhere on the sociopath-psychopath spectrum?

You’re definitely right that that seems the main part.
But it seemed also sensitivity to others emotions. Ie.

subtle changes in […] other peoples' moods