into social work and enter child protective services. Others partici-
pate and coach Spartan Races. Still others, like Anton, counsel their
peers realizing that the sheepdogs themselves are the flock they
most want to help and protect. The good news is that, with Anton’s
help, many are able to find a way back into the world.
If you think about it, it’s too bad that we need military and
police for protection; but we sometimes do. And I wish I could say
that everyone with authority uses that authority wisely; they don’t.
And it’s not that every person who comes back from war or joins the
police force is a sheepdog, and they certainly aren’t all high sensa-
tion-seekers. However, high sensation-seekers who are able to be
hypervigilant and experience potentially anguishing experiences
without the same effects muchof the restofus would suffer through,
that’s a super power. Now, if they can also take that ability and help
protect society in an ethical, connected way, that’s even better.The Healers and the Helpers
Many high sensation-seekers have a deep desire to help others.
Andrew and Anton are both former military individuals who
became mental health professionals. I actually ran into this some-
what surprising transition far more often than I expected to while
on this path to understanding HSSs. I guess I originally thought
HSSs would be selfish. Maybe I believed this because high sensation-
seekers seemed hedonistic and pleasure loving; or possibly it was
my misguided perception that they were mostly driven by their
pursuit of the buzz. What I found was generally the opposite: The
vast majority of the people I talked to were somehow engaged in
helping others.
The ER doctors and nurses you met inChapter 6dedicate
their lives to saving people. While we learned that being a high
sensation-seeker was a part of the puzzle for them, it was indeed
only a piece of it. Timmy O’Neil, the philosopher of thrill you met in
Chapter 4, founded a company called Paradox Sports (which you will
learn more about in a moment) to help people with physical disabil-
ities engage in the same kinds of extreme sports he so enjoys. Jason,
the underwater Indiana Jones fromChapter 6, is virtually addicted to
making new discoveries to help further our understanding of the
natural world. Even Devin, the gentleman with a history of drug and
alcohol abuse from thelast chapter, ultimately turned his addictions
around and now counsels those with similar problems.168 / Buzz!Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Access paid by the UCSF Library, on 11 Nov 2019 at 14:18:43, subject to the Cambridge