hyperarousal

American  

[hahy-per-uh-rau-zuhl] / ˌhaɪ pər əˈraʊ zəl /

noun

1. a physiological state in which a person experiences a heightened response to stimuli, including increased emotional reactivity, intense anxiety or stress, and hypervigilance.

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Example Sentences

For many Americans, what began as a stress response has become a chronic state of hyperarousal and vigilance.

From The Wall Street Journal

Fireworks trigger the flight response — meaning both literal flight and the stress response known as “hyperarousal” — which uses up avian energy, forcing the birds to spend more time looking for food.

From Salon

Luckily, there’s one brain region standing between us and this cascade of hyperarousal: the prefrontal cortex, an area right behind the middle of our eyebrows.

From Scientific American

Chronic nightmares suggest that this adaptive process hasn’t yet worked, and are the result of ongoing hyperarousal.

From Slate

The determinants of our mental well-being go beyond our genes and brain chemistry to include inflammation, gut health, sleep, nutrition, hormones, chronic limbic hyperarousal because of unresolved trauma, and even having our fundamental human needs for community, nature, meaning and purpose go unmet.

From Washington Post