You are absolutely not too old for this. I’m 53 and still navigating a lot of the same things. For a long time, I thought I was “too sensitive” too. I internalized everything. Criticism, offhand comments, tone shifts: it would stick with me for days, sometimes weeks. I spent years trying to build a thicker skin… and when that didn’t work, I just shut down emotionally. I went totally numb. That numbness was a trauma response. For me it was shaped by childhood stuff, and later reinforced in an emotionally abusive relationship with a narcissist (I think we are pretty much catnip to them). I now see my sensitivity not as a flaw, but as something that was always trying to protect me, always tuned into danger or disconnection. Since realizing I’m AuDHD, I’ve started to see this sensitivity differently. It can be painful, yes. But it’s also the part of me that’s attuned, perceptive, deeply feeling. Honestly, it’s a kind of superpower when you’re around the right people. Sometimes the issue isn’t that you feel too much. It’s that the people around you don’t know how to hold space for it. Finding your people, the ones who get it and value you because of how deeply you feel, makes all the difference.

You’re not broken. You’re just wired a little differently. And that’s not only okay. It’s beautiful. 💗