pixel
Gold Member
:x3: Thanks @Ragdoll Circus, I was way off! :facepalm:
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Are We Supposed To Fight Our Hypervigilance?
- Post starter OneToughCookie
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- Moderator
- #14
sun seeker
Diamond Member
I've noticed before that I come across as cute when I express hypervigilance about making sure everyone is okay. I think people have even used that word before.
The only trouble is when I do this, I'm dead serious. :cry:
pixel
Gold Member
sun seeker
Diamond Member
Except this kind of hypervigilance, for me, comes from one of my most horrific childhood traumas.
I do know you're trying to make me feel better and I keep expressing my frustration. I do appreciate your efforts!
I do know you're trying to make me feel better and I keep expressing my frustration. I do appreciate your efforts!
- Post starter
- #18
OneToughCookie
Silver Member
Oops, forgot to press Post Reply.
I'm sorry your hyper-vigilance extends to others and that few people are sensitive to your distress, @sun seeker. That sounds really scary, actually.
@Ragdoll Circus, thank you for explaining that! I definitely recognize when I'm feeling distressed. What I'm not sure about is whether, say, @sun seeker, should stop herself from checking to make sure people are OK, or if I should just close my eyes in the parking lot at night and try to think of something other than the potential that someone is lurking in the shadows and keep from changing my behavior (like walking far from the cars) even though I feel extremely vulnerable due to the hyper-vigilance and said pesky amygdala. It's clear to me it's a PTSD symptom and the goal is to reduce or eliminate symptoms, but I would think that would be done through regular treatment, as we all still experience a variety of symptoms after exposure to a trigger. Let's say we're experiencing depression as our symptom. I doubt it makes much of a difference if we cry/let it pass or if we force ourselves to smile/think happy thoughts, as that symptom's probably still going to appear next time regardless of our response to it, but maybe some responses are better for our well-being than others. The relief of our symptoms, though, is probably going to come from a valid treatment; medicine, social support, I have therapy tomorrow evening, so I'll ask and get back to you all!
I'm sorry your hyper-vigilance extends to others and that few people are sensitive to your distress, @sun seeker. That sounds really scary, actually.
@Ragdoll Circus, thank you for explaining that! I definitely recognize when I'm feeling distressed. What I'm not sure about is whether, say, @sun seeker, should stop herself from checking to make sure people are OK, or if I should just close my eyes in the parking lot at night and try to think of something other than the potential that someone is lurking in the shadows and keep from changing my behavior (like walking far from the cars) even though I feel extremely vulnerable due to the hyper-vigilance and said pesky amygdala. It's clear to me it's a PTSD symptom and the goal is to reduce or eliminate symptoms, but I would think that would be done through regular treatment, as we all still experience a variety of symptoms after exposure to a trigger. Let's say we're experiencing depression as our symptom. I doubt it makes much of a difference if we cry/let it pass or if we force ourselves to smile/think happy thoughts, as that symptom's probably still going to appear next time regardless of our response to it, but maybe some responses are better for our well-being than others. The relief of our symptoms, though, is probably going to come from a valid treatment; medicine, social support, I have therapy tomorrow evening, so I'll ask and get back to you all!
This is a great post and I can really relate to what you are going through. Like you, I have always struggled to balance my hypervigilance; however, this behavior was present before I experienced my trauma (violent home invasion). I hope what I've found and experienced can be of help to you as I have experienced this behavior both before and after a trauma.
Many of my peers used to joke about my hypervigilance in crowded places like restaurants or theaters as a lighthearted conversation piece. This slowly turned into an annoyance and grievance for them as they couldn't understand why I would ask our group to move our seats because of a shady person or something that only I had observed. Because I didn't want to lose my friends, I learned to balance and control my behavior instead of fight it- not by being less vigilant (as fighting it only caused me severe anxiety, paranoia, and fear, especially post-trauma), but by filtering out how much of my behavior and observations I shared with those around me. This meant actively filtering out some of my usual actions, like having my group move or change venues. Instead of making everyone move or alter plans, I would take the information I gathered and decide whether it is an urgent "threat" or not. If not, or if unsure, I would actually become even more vigilant and monitor in place (if that makes sense). While it sounds like my problem only got worse, it really didn't. My hypervigilance usually ended in a fight or flight response. With the new approach, I simply worked on adding in some more responses such as "continue to monitor", or "not actually serious."
Post trauma, my behavior has definitely gotten worse, but my system still works. As sad as it is that a lot of friends won't understand, I've learned to remain what many would call hypervigilant, while minimizing the impact it has on those around me.
In summary, to your question on if you should fight your hypervigilance, my opinion as a sufferer would be to try controlling it rather than fighting it. Even in the instances where it can feel debilitating or like you are losing those around you, I feel like fighting it can cause other symptoms like fear or anxiety to manifest even more, whereas controlling it and learning to categorize everything you observe as critical or not critical, before that fight or flight response kicks in, can help substantially.
Please don't take my opinion as fact or as contradicting what any licsensed individual might recommend because I'm sure there are many ways to approach this complex issue, especially for those who might be more affected than I am. This is just what worked for me pre and post trauma.
Many of my peers used to joke about my hypervigilance in crowded places like restaurants or theaters as a lighthearted conversation piece. This slowly turned into an annoyance and grievance for them as they couldn't understand why I would ask our group to move our seats because of a shady person or something that only I had observed. Because I didn't want to lose my friends, I learned to balance and control my behavior instead of fight it- not by being less vigilant (as fighting it only caused me severe anxiety, paranoia, and fear, especially post-trauma), but by filtering out how much of my behavior and observations I shared with those around me. This meant actively filtering out some of my usual actions, like having my group move or change venues. Instead of making everyone move or alter plans, I would take the information I gathered and decide whether it is an urgent "threat" or not. If not, or if unsure, I would actually become even more vigilant and monitor in place (if that makes sense). While it sounds like my problem only got worse, it really didn't. My hypervigilance usually ended in a fight or flight response. With the new approach, I simply worked on adding in some more responses such as "continue to monitor", or "not actually serious."
Post trauma, my behavior has definitely gotten worse, but my system still works. As sad as it is that a lot of friends won't understand, I've learned to remain what many would call hypervigilant, while minimizing the impact it has on those around me.
In summary, to your question on if you should fight your hypervigilance, my opinion as a sufferer would be to try controlling it rather than fighting it. Even in the instances where it can feel debilitating or like you are losing those around you, I feel like fighting it can cause other symptoms like fear or anxiety to manifest even more, whereas controlling it and learning to categorize everything you observe as critical or not critical, before that fight or flight response kicks in, can help substantially.
Please don't take my opinion as fact or as contradicting what any licsensed individual might recommend because I'm sure there are many ways to approach this complex issue, especially for those who might be more affected than I am. This is just what worked for me pre and post trauma.
not wishing to hijack the thread or undermine hypervigilance as a symptom but I am curious about how this works as a symptom of PTSD. What you describe as a symptom is what I do as a trait or possibly habit from military training. Ex soldiers are known to be 'on guard' to the extent where we will normally find ourselves in the corner of a venue like a restaurant so we can observe our surroundings including people coming and going. Obviously for us it is all about security protocols so what are you guys looking for? Do you consciously know what you are looking for (eg physical assault caused PTSD so you are looking for a similar potential threat) or is it more generalised as in you know you are scanning but not necessarily consciously aware of what you are scanning for?
Freedomfighter
Diamond Member
Well, there was someone in the office the other day who had too much coffee, so I saw that person all over the place too. Do you think that we have been trained to refrain from letting it all out?
I think we have, and I even have received nevative comments from some that suggested my intensity.
What fun is life without intensity. When Iam in Iam in all the way, and I go all out, and I certainly aint shy about allowing myself what I truly deserve. Meaning Iam most definetely not shy about mental intensity and certainly not shy about physical intensity. This of course only will apply to situations that I screen and that I fully decide on.
- Post starter
- #22
OneToughCookie
Silver Member
I apologize for taking so long to reply; it's been a crazy couple of weeks.
@JAG, I love what you said. It's essentially what my therapist told me to do. She said it's reasonable to feel scared in a parking lot at night in a high-crime part of LA as a lone female, so staying in bright light and looking out under the cars is perfectly reasonable. She believes my hyper vigilance will give way to plain "vigilance" as I acknowledge that I couldn't have prevented my sexual assaults and release self-blame.
I bet that probably applies to a lot of you. I know that my boyfriend and I both took responsibility for our abuse as children by changing our behavior so as not to "provoke" our parents. We thought our sisters were insane for acting defiant, as they received the brunt of the abuse when they did so, and we were less harmed by being pleasing. That victim-blaming attitude was a survival mechanism for us, but it doesn't acknowledge that even if we'd had perfect information and so did our sisters, our parents attacked us and there was nothing we could do about it. Recognizing you didn't cause or allow the bad things that happened to you might be helpful in reducing your body's tendency to constantly overreact with self-protection and seek to prevent the event's recurrence. Instead of focusing on what we could have or should have done to avoid the trauma, we can focus on what the person responsible for the trauma shouldn't have done and recognize our innocence.
@Richie, that's a really good question. For me, it's more of a general threat, but is often directly associated with my personal trauma. Hyper vigilance is simply "increased awareness of their surrounding environment, sometimes even frequently scanning their settings to identify potential sources of threat" (VeryWell). I wasn't attacked with a weapon, yet I watch what people pull out of their bags in a crowded subway station. When I'm walking past men, I watch their arms to make sure they aren't going to reach out and invade my personal space. When a male tries to convince a girl to come out that night repeatedly when she says she doesn't want to, I see him as someone who won't respect a 'no' and put him in the potential threat category. When I'm in a new part of town, I keep an eye on everyone around me and keep a keychain I have that can do some damage at the ready.
While being on guard is part of security protocols in the armed services, your protocols don't apply as a citizen. You're not (as) in danger, so your alarm system should be turned off most of the time. The question is, is your habitual scanning accompanied by feelings of fear, desire to carry a weapon, the sensation you're always under threat? If it is, then that's hyper vigilance, not simply a routine you got into. When you come home, you stop putting on your uniform every day. Unless you thought the scanning were necessary, you would probably stop that as well because it consumes a great deal of energy.
@Freedomfighter, it's been a long day and I don't understand what you meant. Could you try articulating it a different way for me, perhaps?
@JAG, I love what you said. It's essentially what my therapist told me to do. She said it's reasonable to feel scared in a parking lot at night in a high-crime part of LA as a lone female, so staying in bright light and looking out under the cars is perfectly reasonable. She believes my hyper vigilance will give way to plain "vigilance" as I acknowledge that I couldn't have prevented my sexual assaults and release self-blame.
I bet that probably applies to a lot of you. I know that my boyfriend and I both took responsibility for our abuse as children by changing our behavior so as not to "provoke" our parents. We thought our sisters were insane for acting defiant, as they received the brunt of the abuse when they did so, and we were less harmed by being pleasing. That victim-blaming attitude was a survival mechanism for us, but it doesn't acknowledge that even if we'd had perfect information and so did our sisters, our parents attacked us and there was nothing we could do about it. Recognizing you didn't cause or allow the bad things that happened to you might be helpful in reducing your body's tendency to constantly overreact with self-protection and seek to prevent the event's recurrence. Instead of focusing on what we could have or should have done to avoid the trauma, we can focus on what the person responsible for the trauma shouldn't have done and recognize our innocence.
@Richie, that's a really good question. For me, it's more of a general threat, but is often directly associated with my personal trauma. Hyper vigilance is simply "increased awareness of their surrounding environment, sometimes even frequently scanning their settings to identify potential sources of threat" (VeryWell). I wasn't attacked with a weapon, yet I watch what people pull out of their bags in a crowded subway station. When I'm walking past men, I watch their arms to make sure they aren't going to reach out and invade my personal space. When a male tries to convince a girl to come out that night repeatedly when she says she doesn't want to, I see him as someone who won't respect a 'no' and put him in the potential threat category. When I'm in a new part of town, I keep an eye on everyone around me and keep a keychain I have that can do some damage at the ready.
While being on guard is part of security protocols in the armed services, your protocols don't apply as a citizen. You're not (as) in danger, so your alarm system should be turned off most of the time. The question is, is your habitual scanning accompanied by feelings of fear, desire to carry a weapon, the sensation you're always under threat? If it is, then that's hyper vigilance, not simply a routine you got into. When you come home, you stop putting on your uniform every day. Unless you thought the scanning were necessary, you would probably stop that as well because it consumes a great deal of energy.
@Freedomfighter, it's been a long day and I don't understand what you meant. Could you try articulating it a different way for me, perhaps?
Muttly
Diamond Member
Apparently I have work to do still (heh), because the idea of giving up my hyper vigilance is not really acceptable. I guess if I reframe that in that I'm still allowed to be vigilant, just not hyper - vigilant it might be ok? Going back to what @Ragdoll Circus was talking about, I know sometimes, like today, I don't realize I'm having PTSD/anxiety issues until I realize just how alert I am.
@Richie I don't have a specific trauma to look for. I grew up with all sorts of abuse. For me, in many ways I learned to look for and expect threats in much the same way a military person was. My dad had been in the military and he taught my brother and I to do this. And my brother to a special pleasure in trying to catch me unawares, stalk me when I was outside, etc. I was also taught that I was going to face threats from others and would need to be able to escape or defend myself.
@Richie I don't have a specific trauma to look for. I grew up with all sorts of abuse. For me, in many ways I learned to look for and expect threats in much the same way a military person was. My dad had been in the military and he taught my brother and I to do this. And my brother to a special pleasure in trying to catch me unawares, stalk me when I was outside, etc. I was also taught that I was going to face threats from others and would need to be able to escape or defend myself.
- Moderator
- #24
Sideways
VIP Member
I do this. And stuff like standing in a lift? I'm always with my back against the wall so no one is behind me. Eating in a shopping centre eatery where there is always someone behind you? I just can't. It permeates all those little scenarios in life. Walking down a footpath with someone behind me? I find a reason to stop till they pass.
I've never been near a combat zone. Unfortunately, growing up in an unsafe environment causes exactly the same chronic hyper awareness of potential threats being everywhere. So from a completely different trauma background, you end up with almost identical perpetual scanning and awareness for potential threats.
There are slight variations from person to person, and likely from the different types of chronic trauma environments. I can cope pretty well with a car backfiring, but if someone nudges my handbag or shoulder, look out!
The brain seems to be primitive in the way it responds to chronic threat in this regard. Chronic threat, even chronic verbal abuse of a child, can cause pretty much the same hypervigilant response as chronic threat from a combat zone.
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