Extreme cases of sensitivities can result in manias or phobias in which case more intensive care is required in order to help the person. Some of these problems may have originated in simple sensitivities and then developed into much more over the course of time.

Macbeth's need to keep washing his hands of the blood is not something that he was born with. He never had any problem dealing with blood. He developed a sensitivity which then grew to a mania because of the circumstances portrayed in Shakespeare's play. However, the story that we read in the play is no longer a sensitivity. We have skipped several steps and we see the end result of a sensitivity that has grown very much out of hand.