i'm the exact same way. i've pulled my friends out of places right before bad @!$%# went down so many times i probably couldn't count. i will say there's something very satisfying about seeing the looks on people's faces who were pissed you made them leave as you drive away and see several cops heading to where you just came from.

WTFness

My natural wariness of others has kept me out of trouble so far. I tend to spot shady characters well in advance of any of my friends.

I totally agree, and I finally feel relieved that someone has chosen to recognize US. I, also, can "see" things coming a mile away. I often warn people of danger, even sickness, before it is apparent. I never "feel" comfortable in most social situations, and avoid relationships, but as one stated, it is incorrect to assume that people like me are "anti-social," actually I am a very caring person, it is that I just avoid situations that I think are unnecessary or not really helpful to anyone or anything. I call it "dancing to a different drummer" or socially independent.

Now that this article points it out, I guess I DO react to things quicker. Like I remember my friend and I were crossing the road and I heard her phone drop so I picked it up and gave it back. Aparently nobody else (other people were around but I wouldn't call them "friends") heard it. Also I have A LOT of de ja vu moments. It's not much but I can see a place or person YEARS before it happens!

I agree with this theory. I am extremely sensitive and self-conscious. Little things, smells, noise, etc. that most don't even notice, can bother me. I am not "anti-social", I love people, sometimes too much. Seeing how people treat each other so poorly can make me depressed for hours, and being in large crowds is nearly impossible. I don't have many friends, but I have one or two very close ones. I hate parties, I prefer one on one conversations.

That said, when in stressful or dangerous situations, I always keep my cool and my mind leaps to ways to help out. I have smelled smoke from a fire first, I've delivered a friend's kitten who was "stuck" (thanks, Animal Planet for showing me how), and leaped to help someone in a wheelchair who had fallen over in the street...before the people who were standing right next to them even noticed!

Kudos to you, dysphoria, for what you've done to help others! In terms of sensitivity and temperament, you and I sound very much alike. And I like timmeh's point that we are not ANTI-social; we're A-social.

Interesting. I attribute it more to a development of self-reliance in the asocial. Basically they don't have as many people to do things for them so they learn more on their own. The socially adept are specialists in having others provide for them so it makes sense than when **** hits the fan the asocial person is generally going to be better adapted to handling the problem.

I have always been very socially awkward, most of the time. I blush very easily, have extremely sensitive skin, hearing, taste and touch. I also do not like large crowds and tend to like being alone. I only have a couple friends that are somewhat close. I can detect subtle nuances in behavior and facial expressions and body language. I also have had quite a few 6th sense experiences of being able to anticipate something bad before it happens. I can "see" it in my mind. I have had, strangely enough, two experiences of which I have not known what to think about or even call, until recently when I ran across it on the internet. It's called Astral Projection. I have done it two times, I don't know why and I don't know how, or what even triggered it. I will go into detail if anyone who doesn't think I'm a complete looney toon wants to hear it. Otherwise I don't like to tell people very often. I usually get totally dismissed or a sarcastic remark before they change the subject and pretend like I didn't just say that.

I sure as hell wouldn't climb over a railing at Yellowstone, and I would be grabbing ahold of any friend of mine who would.

If he or she was truly your friend, then he or she would listen to your advice that the rocks are slick, and a quick way to a messy death. But would you give your friend the Heimlich if he or she was choking on a piece of hot dog? Would you be the first to notice?

I appreciate the asocial versus antisocial distinction so very much! It uncannily describes my eldest son. He's brilliant, strikingly handsome, 6'4, witty, etc., yet can not bear crowded rooms, much less any activity that will draw the slightest attention his way. He has always been unbelievably sensitive. And as others have also beautifully described here, sensitive does not been weak or effeminate. It literally means more attuned. More attuned to facial expression and other body language. Which, in a world full of selfish, at best, and cruel at worst, people is a very painful condition to be in. He too has only one or two friends. Whom he never contacts. They have to contact him first. And if an invitation includes being around a group of people, he will decline.

I am amazed that others have also described heightened ability in other senses, not just increased social perceptions. This is so true! My son describes the metallic taste of green peas (they do have a high iron content) and since he was a baby showed me that he had the ability to sense perfect pitch. He would complain if I sung a note of a lullaby slightly flat or sharp, even though he lacked the words to describe them.

Recently we stayed with my mother to help her recover from major surgery. I bathroom heater malfunctioned and the bathroom caught fire. My kids and I were all sitting in the living room, but my "asocial" son jumped up. He had perceived smoke just before the alarm sounded - certainly before anyone else in the house did. He ran to the bathroom, ran back and issued loud, assertive and even frantic orders to vacate the building and evacuate all of the neighbors in the apartment complex (in case the fire smoldered through the roof.) Afterwards we only half-jokingly commented on our surprise that this self-described "geek" immediately assisted my mother out of the building, and only after everyone was safe did he go back to save the computer. His transformation, when it really counted, was total.

He still feels that he is pretty much unique in the world, though. It breaks my heart that this caring, interesting, funny, beautiful human being literally isolates himself from almost all relationships. He has made me a better person, though. I have learned not to "judge a book by its cover." I now recognize the same tendencies in others, and am far less likely to misinterpret anxiety for arrogance. Even simple steps, like not standing between an asocial person and the door of a room, can go a long way.

I was pretty socially awkward as a teen, and I would also describe myself as somewhat hypervigilant. That enables me to observe things other people don't notice. There is a price to it, as I sometimes notice things I don't WANT to notice or I can become overly distracted by things that are not relevant to me. Another side to it is that I have a lot of intuition into the feelings and thoughts of others-I don't think it's any kind of hocus pocus, it could be something as simple as being able to read very small body language cues. I'm certainly not saying that everyone who is very intuitive comes from an abusive background, but those of us who did come from an abusive background had to be VERY good at "taking the temperature of the room" and reacting accordingly. I'm not constantly anxious and frightened like I used to be-in fact, I'm pretty chill now because I know why I used to be so afraid and I know I don't need to be afraid anymore-but the hypervigilance and the intuition are still there and do enable me to see danger before others do.

ManFromNantucket:

I'm going to have to be the grammar police here and bust this sentence. I wish I could mark this with read ink.

Are you all out of blew? ;^>

Blew? BLEW?!? GTFO! The grammar Nazi says GTFO!

"Read ink"? Perhaps you meant red ink? Just a question.

I've never been in a car accident either. I never attributed it to these traits, but maybe so. I am ultra aware of what other drivers are doing.

Same here. Despite an early-in-life tendency to drive a little on the fast side, I've driven 250,000 miles in the ten years I've had my license (including 5 times across the country), and I've never been in any sort of an accident. I get the heebie-jeebies when other people get their vehicle too close to mine, so I tend to get away from them by any means possible... and as such I tend to witness the thousands of acts of stupidity that many other drivers are completely blithe to, since so many seem to think that everyone else is actually paying attention to the road..

Actually, the "unable to look people in the eye" description did not make sense to me... I ALWAYS look people in the eye...it tells you a lot about them. In fact, I am uncomfortable when someone won't look me in the eye. I know I am someone who is in many ways like those described in this article...very sensitive and pick up on people's feelings, etc. easily, and I am very compassionate to others and their pain and sadness, and that can bring sadness that is more deeply felt than maybe most other people may feel. I don't know, because I have nothing to compare it to really...since as long as I can remember, I have always been pretty sensitive to others. I could tell numerous stories about life events I have experienced that would be considered unique or unusal...like knowing where a family member can find something they lost without having any "usual" way of knowing...I dreamed it. One time I went into a store and smelled gas very strongly, so I told the owner at the counter we should be getting out of the store because of the strong gas smell. He said he could not smell anything, nor could anyone else in the store, and he did not take it seriously. I urged him to call the gas company just to be sure, but he wouldn't. I went home, but I couldn't get it out of my mind...I was very worried about it, so I called the gas company myself and reported that I thought there was a leak at the store. The next time I was at the neighborhood store a couple weeks later, the owner thanked me profusely...he said there WAS IN FACT a gas leak and the gas company worker who responded said he was very lucky they caught it and were able to repair it before a tragedy. One time a friend and I were walking in a resort and I insisted we go out of our way in returning to our room, upon which we soon came by a door where a very young child was sitting. I asked him if he was lost and he started crying and said yes, and so we helped him to find his parents on another floor of the resort. My friend looked at me astonished and asked me how I even noticed him there or knew there was anything wrong? I always thought everyone would notice something like that, but as I have gotten older, I realize not so. I have sensed things before they happen, even very far away from where I live and I have no idea why. I have called my kids home because of an uncomfortable feeling that something was not right, only to have some major incident later happen with the friends they were with. (my kids actually do not always appreciate this "sensitivity" of mine...but they all have it to some degree, as well). But it can be a painful situation in a lot of ways for very sensitive people, I think...harder to trust and thus harder to make relationships, few good friends, like quiet time and to be alone, avoid crowds and large groups, shy or self conscious unless you know you can feel comfortable around someone, etc., and many do not like to talk about or have people notice they are "different", either. However, maybe some of those traits are actually due to childhood and other life experiences that were difficult, and that is what plays a part in the person becoming more of a quiet, sensitive hyper-vigilant person . Anyways, I am still very comfortable with myself...just very aware that many people consider people like this "odd" or distant, or something. Oh, well.

I'm the exact opposite. I can't look people in the eye. I've never known why but except for the people I trust and know the most I can't look in their eyes.

In a crisis situation, I seem to be able to stay calmer than a lot of other people. Also, my attention & thought processes become a lot sharper, more focused, & my shyness tends to recede.

You'd rather die than have an "awkward pal" save your life? RIP.

because you don't want to die or be hurt. That seems like a good reason.

Ummm, so you won't die?

@Virgil

you'd rather die than have a "awkward pal" save your life?

yeah that makes sense (sarcasm)

I agree with what almost everyone has said here, including you. It reminds me of Elaine Aron's work on sensitivity, referring to sensitivity to external stimuli, whether physical, mental or emotional.

I also tend to notice things that others don't and I can detect changes in the moods of others easily. I have been able to tell when a fight was about to break out and convince friends to leave before things got really out of hand.

Thank you. For your action, and for sharing it here.

I am a full believer that BOTH nature and nurture affects our behavior. I have also always felt like an outsider. This makes a person, not antisocial, but an observer. And an especially keen observer at that. And while it is painful to note the tiny, yet clearly disapproving, facial expressions that others are blissfully unaware of, it can also be beneficial when that sensitivity leads to a warning.

You showed that in the most extreme way possible. You saved a life! I certainly hope that you DO receive enough positive reinforcement, not to change your very nature, but to at least allow you to enjoy loving relationships with high quality people. You deserve it.

Do you have to reinforce the negative cliches about firemen?

Is there some sort of special secret firemans rules about this?

You mean he did a good job of totally misunderstanding the study and then made absurd inferences?

Where did anyone suggest that a slight heightened sense of awareness in casual setting could have any effect on ones ability to do procedures under stress?