"The Man Without Skin" is not only a title for a section of an anatomy textbook or an article in a crime chronicle. In a figurative sense, often used by psychologists, "a person without skin" is an overly sensitive individual who does not know how to defend himself from the world.
Life without skin
The surrounding reality often presents surprises and disappointments. Only the most insensitive, "thick-skinned" people are able to perceive everything that happens around them with indifference and calmness. In contrast, "people without skin" tend to react to any hostile or negative manifestations of the world around them overly emotionally. Of course, many people are saddened by homeless kittens, deceiving a loved one or a delay in salary at work, but only people with increased susceptibility will worry about these reasons with all possible sincerity and unreasonably long.
There is an opinion that "people without skin" can only be extroverts, that is, those who are "directed" outward, and not inward. Indeed, the more a person depends on the world around him, on the opinions of loved ones, on relationships with other people, the more chances that the information coming to him will cause stress. However, the "lack of skin" may be inherent in the brightest introverts, since the problem is not at all which channel of perception of the world is priority.
Psychological protection
From the point of view of psychologists, the main reason for the existence of "people without skin" is the lack of developed mechanisms of psychological protection from stress. Most people consciously or subconsciously develop methods of protection from unpleasant situations and related experiences. There are many types of defense mechanisms, but they generally fall into two broad categories: primitive and superior. It is believed that primitive methods of psychological defense are formed at an early age. In addition, primitive mechanisms, as a rule, protect a person from the world around him, while the higher ones "regulate" the relations of various parts of his own psyche.
Of course, on the one hand, sensitivity and responsiveness are not negative qualities, so there is nothing wrong with being a “person without skin”. However, on the other hand, a person is not able to carry out effective activities, constantly being in a stressful state caused by a painful reaction to the world around him. Therefore, it is still advisable to study the known methods of psychological defense and try to "try" them on yourself: there is no need to use all the methods at once, sometimes one is enough.
The main thing is to learn how to use this or that defense mechanism at the reflex level, mechanically. Do not be afraid that you will change and become completely indifferent to the problems of others. People rarely change so dramatically, but the ability to control their emotions and experiences in unpleasant situations will definitely not be superfluous.
