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.
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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.
What Is Hypervigilance?
Hypervigilance is an unpleasant feeling.
Most people have experienced brief moments of hypervigilance.
Others are hypervigilant about very specific things, such as high-pitched sounds or physical discomfort.
What Does Hypervigilance Feel Like?
If you are hypervigilant in almost every environment, this can interfere with your life.
For example, sleep deprivation can make you jumpy, anxious, and prone to pain.
Endocrine tumors, like pheochromocytoma, can produce an impending sense of doom.
Drug intoxication or withdrawal often temporarily induces extreme paranoia.
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.
Hypervigilance is watching out for a threat.
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.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)can involve hypervigilance.
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.
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.
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 might learn to develop a more balanced perspective about your worries.
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.
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.
Counseling is often a key component of treatment.
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