Hypervigilance
Constant excessive attention to danger, even when the surroundings are safe.
How it shows up
You sit with your back to the wall. You read faces before anyone speaks. You hear every sound in the house. The tiredness that comes with it isn’t from work, but from constant scanning.
What we do with it in therapy
Hypervigilance once made sense — where danger existed, attention was protection. The work isn’t to force yourself to trust, but to give the body enough experiences of safety.
See also
Neuroplasticity
The brain's capacity to change through experience — the reason therapy can work at all.
Regression
A temporary return to an earlier developmental stage during a period of distress or change.
Violence in a relationship
A pattern of behaviour by which one person establishes power and control over another — physically, psychologically, sexually or economically.
