hypervigilance

Constantly tense, on guard, and exceptionally aware of the emotions of others around you? Hypervigilance could be the reason. Do you ever get the feeling that your friends are all talking about you behind your back? Or walked into a room and wondered whether every single person is secretly mad at you? “We enter hypervigilance when we become scared,” explains Jordan Vyas-Lee, psychotherapist and co-founder of leading mental health care clinic Kove . “It brings sensory inputs to a heightened state of awareness, and the brain begins semi-automatically scanning for threats. At its most severe, it comes with a feeling of primal fear.” “Socially anxious people will over-attend to others’ facial expressions looking for the judgments that they fear,” he explains, “which leads to people misattributing ambiguous signals from others as threatening.” “Secondly you may want to engage in some sort of grounding strategy,” he says. “Hypervigilance sends the brain into overdrive, and slowing the mind down can really help. Wrestling your awareness on to something non-threatening and focusing very intently on it can help to shift the mind out of anxiety mode. “Controlled, mindful breathing works well, or counting how many black shoes you can see on the underground can decentre your awareness from feared stimuli and soothe the brain’s threat systems.” If you, or someone you know, is struggling with their mental health or emotional wellbeing, you can find support and resources on the mental health charity Mind’s website and NHS Every Mind Matters or access the NHS’ guide to local mental health helplines and organisations here .