Quotes About Hyperarousal

Regardless of the name, your symptoms may change. You may be in the fog of dissociation and numbing for years and then come into hyperarousal.13 Unfortunately, chronic PTSD doesn't tend to disappear on its own, but instead often gets worse, for reasons explained in chapter 2 (see page 15 on kindling).

agrypnia excitata,

Along with mistrust, hyperreactivity, hyperarousal, depression, and aggression, the numbing response and emotional constriction that are part of the trauma response may lead to the loss of ability to accept caring and support from others. As mistrust grows, so does the ability to accept love and support (van der Kolk 1987).

Emotional flashbacks are also accompanied by intense arousals of the fight/flight instinct, along with hyperarousal of the sympathetic nervous system, the half of the nervous system that controls arousal and activation. When fear is the dominant emotion in a flashback the person feels extremely anxious, panicky or even suicidal.

When we respond to a life-threatening situation, hyperarousal is initially accompanied by constriction in our bodies and a narrowing of perceptions. Our nervous system acts to ensure that all our efforts can be maximally focused on the threat ...