Hypervigilant

Are you always on edge?

Do you monitor other people’s moods for signs they’re angry or upset with you? Worry you’re somehow ‘in trouble’ or have disappointed someone? Overthink interactions, people-please to keep the peace, or brace for something to go wrong?

You may be caught in a pattern of chronic emotional tiptoeing – adjusting what you say, do and feel to avoid conflict, criticism or rejection.

This is hypervigilance: a state of heightened alertness in which we scan for threats to our physical or emotional safety. We may believe this anxiety is simply ‘who we are’. But being perpetually on guard isn’t a personality trait. It can be a trauma response developed in unstable or unpredictable environments, where walking on eggshells became a way to feel safe.

In Hypervigilant, clinical psychologist Dr. Kim Sage – herself a highly vigilant person – draws on research, years of clinical experience and her own life on high alert to reveal why our brains become wired for danger – and how we can begin to feel safe again.

With practical tools to tackle overthinking, people-pleasing, perfectionism and fawning, Hypervigilant will help you recognise the patterns keeping you trapped, regulate your nervous system and break free from anxiety and fear.