Psychological state testifying to a great vulnerability, hypervigilance is an obsessive caution, paralyzing and a source of permanent anxiety. Little known to the general public, it is nevertheless quite common, especially among perfectionists and insecure of themselves.

If you jump at the slightest noise, or feel on high alert almost all the time, there is a good chance that you are hypervigilant., an exacerbated defense system linked to anxiety.

Each of us can call on this warning system from time to time, which we have inherited from our ancestors. In the days of cavemen, this system allowed us to survive against predators that attacked us. Even today, it can be of use to us in the face of perceived danger. However, if the alert persists for no valid reason, it is an anxiety disorder called hypervigilance.

In general, sufferers are hypersensitive to their environment. Their brain constantly over-analyzes all present and past events, and overreacts to supposed threats.

The potential dangers are too anticipated, which creates a vicious cycle of anxiety. We can also over-interpret the signs, or noises, reactions of people, by attributing to them reasons which are false, or which could put us in danger. For example, if we are in a job interview, and the recruiter suddenly frowns for no apparent reason, while we are talking about ourselves, the hypervigilant will panic and lose his means, thinking that all is lost and he will not have the job. It can also be a physical danger: you panic when you hear the sound of an airplane, a car, a suspicious noise at home.

On the other hand, hypervigilance is different from paranoia: in fact, in this last psychotic illness, the patient is delusional and has no access to the reality of the present. The hypervigilant, for his part, is lucid about his discomfort, without managing to change it. He remains on his guard at all times and suffers from significant anxiety on a daily basis.

Hypervigilant people will tend to:

• scream and jump when surprised;
• spy on the surrounding environment;
• avoid crowds, large gatherings;
• over-analyze situations and imagine the worst;
• have a hypersensitivity to the tone and expressions used by the interlocutors;
• take everything personally.

These symptoms can lead to obsessive behaviors, difficulties in social relations as well as social withdrawal.

Hypervigilance can be linked to generalized anxiety disorder or social disorder, or to post-traumatic stress disorder. Loneliness that is too prolonged could also promote the appearance of symptoms of hypervigilance.

But the causes of such a phenomenon are numerous. Hypervigilance is also characterized by a kind of cocoon in which the person lives: vulnerable, he then engages in rituals of protection and alert that reassure him, and keep him in a comfort zone, even if the symptoms are binding and cutting off from the world.

Post-traumatic stress is not just about having experienced an assault, or a serious accident. It can be having experienced too many arguments and cries as a child, witnessing verbal violence from parents, siblings … It is also linked to a trauma of repetition, which ends up creating a disorder. generalized anxiety.

There are several ways to get out of it, including gentle methods, such as meditation, breathing exercises, or yoga.

We can also undertake psychotherapy, with a professional who may be specialized in obsessive and anxiety disorders, which will allow us to lay down the causes of the disorder, and take a step back on the feelings, especially in the event of a feeling of danger. who shows up.

Beyond these solutions, a better hygiene of life can also help initially to alleviate the symptoms:

• move every day, play sports, and circulate the body’s energy;
• to see friends ;
• talk to a loved one;
• write down your feelings, identifying the fears that are at the origin, even obvious at the beginning;
• seek objective evidence of perceived dangers.