Chronic Hypervigilance & Nervous System Dysregulation

You Don’t Remember the Last Time You Felt Relaxed—And That’s Not Your Fault

Even when things are fine, your body doesn’t trust it. 

Maybe it shows up as constant tension—your jaw clenched, your shoulders tight, your breath shallow. 

Maybe it looks like always scanning the room, picking up on every tiny detail, preparing for something to go wrong. 

Or maybe it’s never fully resting, because deep down, you’re afraid if you do, you’ll miss something important.

This is chronic hypervigilance—your nervous system stuck in fight-or-flight mode, even when there’s no immediate danger. 

It’s not something you’re imagining—it’s a real, physiological response to long-term stress or trauma (McEwen, 2017).

Hypervigilance isn’t just feeling anxious—it’s a full-body, nervous system response to prolonged stress, trauma, or unpredictable environments. When the brain learns to expect danger, it keeps scanning for threats—even when they aren’t there (Porges, 2011).

This happens because of dysregulation in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls your fight-flight-freeze response. 

If you’ve experienced trauma or chronic stress, your sympathetic nervous system (the gas pedal) may stay activated for too long, while your parasympathetic nervous system (the brake) struggles to slow things down.

💡 Your nervous system isn’t permanently wired this way. 

Let’s work on retraining it so safety feels possible again.

What We Support

Chronic Hypervigilance: When Your Body Won’t Power Down

Hypervigilance isn’t a personality trait—it’s a learned survival mechanism. Your body has spent so long protecting you that it doesn’t know how to stop. Over time, this can lead to physical exhaustion, emotional reactivity, and even chronic health issues (van der Kolk, 2014).

🔹 Signs of Chronic Hypervigilance:

• Constantly feeling on edge, even in safe situations
• Difficulty trusting calm or relaxation—it feels unsafe or unnatural
• Startling easily—your body reacting before your brain catches up
• Trouble sleeping—your system doesn’t fully power down at night
• Emotional reactivity—small things triggering big responses

💡 If you feel like you can never fully relax, that’s not your fault—it’s your nervous system doing what it learned to do. 

Let’s help it reset.

Nervous System Dysregulation: When Your Body Stays Stuck in Survival Mode

When the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is dysregulated, it struggles to shift between high alert and rest. Instead of moving fluidly between states, it either stays stuck in fight-or-flight (hyperarousal) or shuts down completely (freeze/dissociation) (Dana, 2018).

🔹 Signs of Nervous System Dysregulation:

• Hyperarousal (Fight-or-Flight Mode): Constant stress, anxiety, anger, difficulty slowing down
• Hypoarousal (Freeze Mode): Fatigue, dissociation, brain fog, emotional numbness
• Emotional Whiplash: Swinging between feeling too much and feeling nothing at all
• Chronic Health Issues: Digestive problems, headaches, muscle pain due to prolonged stress responses

💡 If your nervous system feels stuck, that’s not a personal failure—it’s biology. 

Let’s work on rebalancing it.

How We Support Nervous System Healing

🧠 Somatic Experiencing & Body-Based Healing

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a trauma recovery approach that helps the body discharge stored survival energy from the nervous system (Levine, 2010). Instead of just talking through trauma, SE works by reconnecting with bodily sensations to help your system learn how to regulate again.

🔹 Somatic-Based Techniques We Use:

• Grounding exercises to calm a hyperactive nervous system
• Micro-movements to release stored tension & stress
• Breathwork to activate the parasympathetic “rest & digest” response

💡 Your body holds onto stress—somatic work helps it let go. 

Let’s explore body-based healing together.

🛠 DBT Skills for Emotional Regulation & Distress Tolerance

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is one of the most effective approaches for nervous system regulation, emotional reactivity, and distress tolerance (Linehan, 2014).

🔹 DBT Tools for Nervous System Dysregulation:

• TIPP Skills (Temperature, Intense Exercise, Paced Breathing, Progressive Relaxation) to shift out of fight-or-flight mode fast
• Radical Acceptance for working through overwhelming emotions
• Opposite Action to help rewire emotional responses in real time

💡 Regulating your emotions isn’t about controlling them—it’s about working with them. 

Let’s build skills that help.

🌀 Polyvagal Theory & Safe Social Connection

Polyvagal Theory explains how safety and connection are the keys to nervous system healing (Porges, 2011). When the vagus nerve—the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system—is underactive, it can make it harder to shift out of stress states and into calm.

🔹 Ways to Activate the Vagus Nerve & Rebuild Safety:

• Gentle movement (rocking, humming, singing) to stimulate the parasympathetic system
• Safe social connection with people who make you feel seen & accepted
• Mindfulness-based practices that signal “you are safe” to the body

💡 Your nervous system heals best in safety—not isolation. 

Let’s find ways to create that safety together.

Why Nervous System Regulation Matters

Healing from chronic hypervigilance isn’t about convincing yourself you’re safe—it’s about teaching your nervous system that it’s safe. This isn’t something you can think your way out of—it’s a full-body process that requires retraining how you respond to the world.

With the right support, you can:

✅ Feel more in control of emotional and physical responses

✅ Reduce anxiety, panic, and automatic fear responses

✅ Shift from fight-or-flight mode into a calm, regulated state

✅ Improve sleep, focus, and daily energy levels

✅ Stop bracing for impact and start actually living

💡 Your body doesn’t have to stay in defense mode forever. 

Let’s help it find balance again.

References

Dana, D. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.

Levine, P. A. (2010). In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness. North Atlantic Books.

Linehan, M. M. (2014). DBT Skills Training Manual. Guilford Press.

McEwen, B. S. (2017). Neurobiological and systemic effects of chronic stress. Chronic Stress, 1, 1-11.

Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.

van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.