What is hypervigilance?

Have you ever heard of hypervigilance? It is a state of activation sustained over time that some people present (especially in the context of a mental disorder, related to anxiety and obsession). Other characteristics of this abnormal state of activation are an increased level of consciousness and increased sensitivity to threatening stimuli.

What effects does hypervigilance have on our attention? Can this state interfere with our state of health? As we will see, hypervigilance can intensify previous pain and constitutes a typical symptom of some disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), hypochondria or paranoid schizophrenia, among others.

What is hypervigilance?

Hypervigilance is defined as a state of increased sensory sensitivity, accompanied by an exaggeration in the intensity of behaviors whose primary objective is to detect threats. The energy expenditure involved usually negatively affects the person’s mood.

Antonio Cano, director of the research group “Cognition, emotion and health” at the Complutense University of Madrid, defines hypervigilance as “a characteristic of anxiety that involves an emotional reaction that makes us alert “before the possibility of something happening that we do not want.”

That is, the person who manifests this symptom is in a state of alert “in case something bad happens” (in a defensive state). As a result of this, respond to any stimulus that may pose a threat to your physical or mental health or integrity. This implies that you are in an almost constant state of alarm and hyperarousal.

Effects of hypervigilance

When a person is in a state of hypervigilance, they focus all their attentional resources on threats, and as a result, they prioritize the stimulus or information they fear over any other. That is to say, almost that “he is waiting for the threat” in the sense that he fears it so much that he focuses all his efforts on being able to detect it if it appears.

Doctor in Psychology, Marta Redondo, states that if hypervigilance is added to a catastrophic interpretation of the symptoms detected and avoidance of activities, all of this can be fatal for the body. In this way, the body can intensify previous pain.

Hypervigilance in psychological disorders

Hypervigilance can appear in isolation or be part of psychological disorders such as hypochondria (illness anxiety disorder) or post-traumatic stress disorder. That is, it is a characteristic symptom of them.

Hypervigilance in hypochondria

The person with hypochondria (illness anxiety disorder in the DSM-5) expresses excessive concern about suffering from or contracting a serious illness. This is manifested even if there are no somatic symptoms, or they exist but in a mild way.

These are people who tend to manifest hypervigilance, in the sense that they focus practically all their attention on the “possible symptoms” of their “supposed” illness (or the illness they fear so much). This causes them to continually engage in excessive behaviors related to their health (for example: repeatedly checking their body for signs of the disease).

Hypervigilance in post-traumatic stress disorder

In post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hypervigilance is also a typical symptom. Specifically, it is a symptom that It is part of the alterations in alertness and reactivity associated with the traumatic event characteristics of PTSD.

Hypervigilance here usually appears along with other alterations such as: irritable behavior, angry outbursts, exaggerated startle response and concentration problems.

Hypervigilance in other disorders

Hypervigilance also appears in other disorders, such as chronic delusional disorder, schizophrenia (specifically, paranoid schizophrenia) or obsessive-type disorders. On the other hand, People who have suffered a trauma (such as PTSD) also have an easier time developing this symptom.

Because? Because, unconsciously, and to “protect” themselves from suffering a similar situation again (violence, aggression…), the person activates this mechanism in order to detect possible threats to their life. It is, in a certain way, a maladaptive strategy of protection against danger.

Finally, Hypervigilance is also a symptom of intoxication by some substances; specifically those of an excitatory or psychoanaleptic nature (such as cocaine) or psychodysleptic (such as hallucinogens or the sativa variant of cannabis).

Final reflection

As we see, hypervigilance is a state that many people can manifest, although the fact of suffering from certain mental disorders makes its appearance more likely.

Its effects on attention and information processing are evident; In addition, being hypervigilant can increase our anxiety and our basic discomfort, because in the end we are “preparing” our body to react to practically any stimulus, although especially those that are threatening or that we fear the most.

As always, to treat it, we recommend that you go to a specialized professional who can offer you strategies to combat it, with which it will also be essential to treat the underlying mental disorder, if it exists.

In this sense, cognitive therapy is frequently used to treat hypervigilance. Specifically, cognitive restructuring techniques are widely used, whose objective is to modify the dysfunctional thoughts behind the symptom.

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