The answer to this question might be: being a highly sensitive person (an HSP)
This term (also known as sensory processing sensitivity – SPS) is not new per se but it was new to me when I’ve stumbled upon it in a Spanish psychology magazine while waiting for my train from Madrid to Sevilla. A real “aha!” moment when apparently disconnected things suddenly got connected
Apparently one fifth of population is HSP. These are people (well, not only people as this trait is also present in the animal world) who are more sensitive to sensory experiences such as smells, tastes, hunger, pain, noise, light, sleep hours, etc. and are by nature very attentive to details and empathetic (that’s why watching horror movies is not a good idea)
It might be not obvious that there are so many HSP because their observing nature and aforementioned attention to details help them adapt and integrate
Being an HSP can be also a source of stress and feeling of being overwhelmed, because an HSP is processing more information, that a non-HSP might just filter out as not relevant. Both have advantages and disadvantages but it is not a conscious choice. Lifestyle, on the other hand, can be chosen or adapted
One might be or not an HSP (an indicative test is here: http://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/) but for sure some of the people we know are HSP. If they are our family members, a partner or friends, understanding this trait might help supporting the closes ones and dealing with certain conflict situations where perspectives and needs diverge (been there!)
There is a separate test for parents to see if their child might be an HSP. The role of parents is apparently very important here as they can “make or break” kid’s personality : they can help to get most out of this trait which comes with a useful skillset or let it become an overwhelming condition
And the other way round, it has probably happened to everyone but maybe more to HSP, when wondering or getting frustrated why some people ignore or miss some “obvious” things – they might be just obvious to HSP and not at all on the radar of other people…
As this has been an exciting discovery for me, I wanted to share this here asap. I still want to learn more about it and figure out what practically I can do with this information. I will start by watching YouTube videos from Elaine Aron, a scientist who did a lot of research in this area (https://youtu.be/FQLBnUBKggY)
Fairy Travels 
I am one!! Love the article
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Maan, it’s quite an eye-opening post! Although I had heard this term before, never paid much attention to it, which could be a mistake. As you point out, it might be relevant to people close to me, one fifth (!) is a lot, after all. Great links provided, the test helped me to get my head around how does it feel.
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