Excessive alertness to potential danger, a sign of hypervigilance

Everyone should be more aware of the surrounding environment to anticipate potential dangers. Even so, being alert that is still in a reasonable level must be distinguished from paranoia (paranoid) or hypervigilance disorders. Both are characterized by feelings of excessive alertness or thoughts that make you always feel as if you are threatened, terrorized, and in grave danger even though there is no evidence of a real threat. So, what is the difference between hypervigilance and paranoia? Check out the details in the following review.

What is hypervigilance?

Hypervigilance is excessive alertness accompanied by a tendency to be alert to prevent danger.

A person's subconscious hypervigilance, called hypervigilant, is constantly anticipating potential dangers. Being overly alert makes hypervigilant people feel and act as if there is always a threat around them.

This causes them to be very, very sensitive to the environment and the people around them. As a result, their physical and mental conditions are always on high alert, in order to be ready to detect and respond to any dangerous situation.

When in fact, the threat of danger is only in his mind, aka not real. They think it's real because their brains are working overthinking aka thinking about something excessively, so that it overreacts to every sensory signal that enters their senses.

So it is not impossible that this overly vigilant attitude can cause a number of problems. Starting from emotional problems with yourself, it is difficult to interact with other people, so it becomes difficult to think clearly.

Source: Medical News Today

How is hypervigilance different from paranoia?

Looking at the definition at a glance, you might think of hypervigilance as the same as paranoia. A person experiencing hypervigilance may exhibit some behavior that appears paranoid. Both are also accompanied by symptoms of excessive anxiety. This is because paranoia and hypervigilance can both be caused by the underlying PTSD trauma. Then, what's the difference?

Hypervigilant people are constantly alert and alert to potential dangers in their environment, however they are aware of his sensitivity and attitude. A person who is hypervigilant is inseparable from reality and does not experience Flash back re-experiencing the traumatic incident that he had experienced before.

Hypervigilants are well aware and realize that there really is no objective reason for them to feel scared or tense, but that it is difficult to relax. They feel so excessive vigilance as a way of anticipating something bad happening in the future. That's why they are easily startled when startled by loud sounds or being poked by other people.

Meanwhile, someone who is paranoid has a false and mistaken belief (delusion) that something or people around him always intend to harm him. People who paranoids will not realize that they are experiencing paranoia and firmly believed that their fantasies were real.

To conclude, paranoid people may exhibit hypervigilant attitudes because they believe that something or someone out there intends to harm them all the time, especially right now. While a hypervigilant person shows a high alert attitude because who knows there will be danger . They are not delusional, just a higher alert in case something or someone will harm you in the future.

What causes it to become overly vigilant?

Hypervigilance can be considered a relatively common experience, as the brain's way of protecting the body from harm. Most of the cases stem from mental health problems caused by bad trauma in the past, such as anxiety disorders, social phobia, and PTSD. However, hypervigilance may also accompany mental illnesses such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

In addition to the various causes above, high alertness can also be triggered by:

• Have claustrophobia.
• The environment is too crowded.
• Startled by a loud voice.
• Remember past trauma.
• Experiencing severe stress.
• Feeling judged.
• Being hurt physically, etc.

On the other hand, paranoid delusions can be a symptom of many mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and depression. Paranoia can also be present in people with dementia, delirium, and drug withdrawal.

What are the signs and symptoms of hypervirgilance?

There are some physical symptoms of hypervigilance, but most of them are behavioral signs.

Physical symptoms:

Physical symptoms are not always indicated by people with hypervirgilance. However, a hypervigilant person can experience:

• Enlarged pupils.
• Heavy sweating.
• Shallow and rapid breathing; panting.
• Heart beat.

Behavioral symptoms

The excessive alertness shown by hypervigilant people can differ from one another. But generally, hypervigilance causes a person to always feel restless with signs:

• Checking their surroundings often makes it difficult to focus on the conversation.
• It's easy to get shocked and jump or scream at things they hear or see suddenly.
• Quickly react to things that are happening around them in a way that may appear excessive or unfriendly.
• It can be tiring to feel extremely crowded or noisy environment.
• Always pay close attention to the movements and characteristics of the people around you to see if they are holding weapons.
• Overthinking one trivial situation.
• Likes to exaggerate the possibility of bad things, when in fact it is not as bad as one might think.
• Very sensitive / sensitive / irritable to the tone of voice or expressions of others; always take it to heart; take it as a personal issue
• Difficulty sleeping well

A person who is hypervigilant is also prone to panic, is full of fear, and always feels anxious. In addition, sufferers' moods are also very easy to change and are engulfed by explosive emotions.

Gradually, this condition can make them feel very, very tired.

Then, what is the treatment?

In general, the tendency for hypervigilance can subside on its own over time. You can relieve anxiety by taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling until your body and mind relax. Doing light things that you like can also help manage stress so that it doesn't eat away at you more.

However, if your excessive vigilance is so severe that it hinders your activities, it's a good idea to consult a psychologist. A psychologist can recommend that you take cognitive and behavioral therapy (CBT therapy) to change your mindset about past trauma.

Doctors can also prescribe antidepressants; beta-blockers; anti-anxiety medications, such as buspirone; or antipsychotic medication for severe cases of hypervigilance.