Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Hypervigilance?SymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is Hypervigilance?
Symptoms
Causes
Diagnosis
Treatment
Hypervigilance is a state of being constantly tense, on guard, and exceptionally aware of one’s environment. Many causes of hypervigilance exist, including psychological conditions such as anxiety and medical illnesses such asthyroid disease. Recreational and therapeutic drugs can also produce this effect.
The diagnosis of hypervigilance is based on your medical history and clinical examination. Some diagnostic tests, such as blood tests and imaging tests, may help identify the cause. The treatment is based on reducing hypervigilance symptoms and managing the underlying cause.
This article will explore what hypervigilance feels like and its medical and mental health causes. It also covers diagnosis, treatment, and coping mechanisms.
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Hypervigilance is an unpleasant feeling. Not only do you notice sensations more readily, but you’re also likely to be unable to divert your attention from them.
Most people have experienced brief moments of hypervigilance. For example, most people walking down a dark street alone at night would pay extraordinary attention to their surroundings.
What Does Hypervigilance Feel Like?
Hypervigilance usually goes beyond simple annoyance, and you can find yourself constantly scanning your environment for threats.
You may feel so anxious every time you get on an airplane that you can’t sit still, eat, or read a magazine. If you are hypervigilant in almost every environment, this can interfere with your life.
People living with hypervigilance can experience any of the following symptoms:
If you have chronic symptoms of hypervigilance, it is vital that you speak with a healthcare professional, because this condition can make it difficult for you to maintain your health, relationships, and work life.
Causes of Hypervigilance
There are a number of risk factors that make you more prone to hypervigilance.Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),fibromyalgia, hyperthyroidism,adrenal disease, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and schizophrenia are a few of the medical disorders that increase the likelihood of hypervigilance.
Medical Conditions
Medical illnesses can make you more sensitive to your surroundings (you feel things more intensely), more alert (you anticipate negative sensations, experiences, or events), or both.
For example, sleep deprivation can make you jumpy, anxious, and prone to pain. Endocrine tumors, likepheochromocytoma, can produce an impending sense of doom. Drug intoxication or withdrawal often temporarily induces extreme paranoia.
Fibromyalgia is associated withsensory overload,allodynia(a sensation of pain in response to non-painful touch), andsensitivity to noise and light.
Threat Perception
Usually, the human brain perceives a lot of information about the surrounding environment, including everything that is seen, smelled, touched, heard, and even tasted. It is impossible to be consciously aware of and focused on all these messages.
To effectively manage information input, the brain has a filtering process. Sensory messages that are considered unimportant are quieted.
However, any message that your brain considers dangerous gets extra attention. Loud noises, dangerous animals or bugs, threatening people, and painful physical sensations can all cause harm, so you react to them.
Hypervigilance is watching out for a threat. And while your mind knows that it isn’t necessary to be constantly on the lookout for dangerous animals, like wolves or lions, in an urban apartment building, you may listen anxiously for any sign of an elevator malfunction—while others chat away or check their phones without any concern about the elevator.
Hypervigilance is a highly personalized response, depending on what your brain has learned is a danger.
Life Experiences
Life events and experiences can play a significant role in hypervigilance.
Children who witnessed parental fighting in the home may be jumpy around loud voices. Adults who were bullied may become nervous around people who have characteristics similar to those of their former bullies.
And when you suffer from hypervigilance, these triggers don’t just trigger you when they occur—you subconsciously search for them, sensing an aggressive fight even when people are joking around.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)can involve hypervigilance. Other risk factors for hypervigilance include adrenal disease, anxiety, fibromyalgia, hyperthyroidism, schizophrenia, and sleep deprivation.
Diagnosis of Hypervigilance
Hypervigilance can affect your peace of mind and be distressing for those close to you. The first step in getting relief from your symptoms lies in accepting that you can be diagnosed and that treatment can be effective.
Talk to your healthcare provider about your symptoms. Bring a trusted friend or family member if they can help you explain your problem to your practitioner. Your healthcare provider will ask you questions about your symptoms and health and perform a physical examination.
In the context of hypervigilance, one of the most critical aspects of your physical examination is the measurement of yourvital signs—temperature, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure. Many illnesses that are associated with hypervigilance can alter your vital signs.
Depending on your symptoms and physical examination findings, your healthcare provider may suggest further evaluation.
Additional evaluations can include:
Hypervigilance is considered an aspect of illness and not an illness itself. If you suspect that hypervigilance could be a problem, talk to your healthcare provider about it to help guide the direction of your treatment.
Is Hypervigilance Treatable?
Medications aren’t generally considered the first therapeutic choice for hypervigilance. Typically, counseling and coping techniques are effective, and treatment of the underlying condition is vital.
Counseling and Coping
It is best to find a therapist with an approach you feel comfortable with. You may need to talk through specific experiences and events that could have led to your current fears. Over time, you can learn to develop a more balanced perspective about your worries.
Coping techniques that can reduce hypervigilance include:
Learn How to Do Deep Breathing
Medical Mangement
If an illness has caused your hypervigilance, managing the illness can reduce your hypervigilance and also help your overall health.
For example, if you are diagnosed with an endocrine condition, then medication or surgery may be necessary. There are effective medical treatments that can alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia. Sleep deprivation can have numerous causes, and the management can include lifestyle management, medication, or treatment forsleep apnea.
If you are using a recreational drug or a medication that is producing hypervigilance as a side effect, then stopping it is advisable.
Keep in mind that you should work with your healthcare provider to plan a tapering schedule for any medication or recreational drug to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Summary
Hypervigilance is an uncomfortable and sometimes disabling condition with several potential causes. Speaking with a healthcare provider is essential to making the correct diagnosis to optimize your treatment plan.
5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Kimble M, Boxwala M, Bean W, et al.The impact of hypervigilance: evidence for a forward feedback loop.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(2):241–245. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.12.006Kleshchova O, Rieder JK, Grinband J, Weierich MR.Resting amygdala connectivity and basal sympathetic tone as markers of chronic hypervigilance.Psychoneuroendocrinology.2019;102:68-78. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.036Sluka KA, Clauw DJ.Neurobiology of fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain.Neuroscience. 2016;338:114–129. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.06.006BMJ Best Practice.Post-traumatic stress disorder.National Institute of Mental Health.Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
5 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Kimble M, Boxwala M, Bean W, et al.The impact of hypervigilance: evidence for a forward feedback loop.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(2):241–245. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.12.006Kleshchova O, Rieder JK, Grinband J, Weierich MR.Resting amygdala connectivity and basal sympathetic tone as markers of chronic hypervigilance.Psychoneuroendocrinology.2019;102:68-78. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.036Sluka KA, Clauw DJ.Neurobiology of fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain.Neuroscience. 2016;338:114–129. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.06.006BMJ Best Practice.Post-traumatic stress disorder.National Institute of Mental Health.Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Kimble M, Boxwala M, Bean W, et al.The impact of hypervigilance: evidence for a forward feedback loop.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(2):241–245. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.12.006Kleshchova O, Rieder JK, Grinband J, Weierich MR.Resting amygdala connectivity and basal sympathetic tone as markers of chronic hypervigilance.Psychoneuroendocrinology.2019;102:68-78. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.036Sluka KA, Clauw DJ.Neurobiology of fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain.Neuroscience. 2016;338:114–129. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.06.006BMJ Best Practice.Post-traumatic stress disorder.National Institute of Mental Health.Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Kimble M, Boxwala M, Bean W, et al.The impact of hypervigilance: evidence for a forward feedback loop.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(2):241–245. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.12.006
Kleshchova O, Rieder JK, Grinband J, Weierich MR.Resting amygdala connectivity and basal sympathetic tone as markers of chronic hypervigilance.Psychoneuroendocrinology.2019;102:68-78. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.036
Sluka KA, Clauw DJ.Neurobiology of fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain.Neuroscience. 2016;338:114–129. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.06.006
BMJ Best Practice.Post-traumatic stress disorder.
National Institute of Mental Health.Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
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