Hypervigilance as a Possible Mental Health Threat!
Alaa Babiker
Mental illness represents relatively high percentage of today’s illnesses in low-income countries, and it varies from one society to the other as many factors control its severity including society cultures, traditions, practices, and social class. Internally displaced people had a greater prevalence of mental diseases (53%) than non-displaced people, including major depressive disorder (24.3%), generalized anxiety disorder (23.6%), social phobia (14.2%), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (14.2%).
In a mental health care campaign, I have been devoted to write about, I continue to regularly shed light on the important matter of Mental Health, the one and only matter that most of the populations in Sudan are unaware of its significance. Although Sudanese mothers are very kind and loving to their families, but when raising children, they sometimes tend to do it in an incorrect way, it is like it was inherited to them or they have been taught that is the only right way, I mean beating children to listen and only obey, raising them to be very dependent on others, leaving them to mentally suffer for the rest of their lives is not a correct way for raising them!
Have you ever had the feeling of being guilty about what people think of you? Have you ever lost trust in everyone and everything around you including your only self? Have you ever been thinking all the time about the possibilities of right and wrong, thinking ten times in one minute about doing something this way or that way? Have you ever been Hypervigilant?! I believe many of you have. Without a doubt many parents raise their children the best way they know, sometimes they do it well, and some other times they are left confused themselves. Parents in low-income countries struggle very much trying to afford their children’s living expenses, their food, medical expenses, clothing, and education, all of that to be covered for 3 or 5 children, so they sometimes forget about the mental health of their children’s, keep beating them and name-calling them to chain them and make them obedient, not thinking of the lifetime outcomes they will have as a result. At other many cases, parents are simply unaware of the existence of mental health itself, and this is one of reasons I work hard to help make known to the entire population. So when parents raise children, to consider the significant side of Mental Health.
One serious symptom of some mental health conditions is Hypervigilance. On one hand, normal minds can rest and have times of clearance and this helps a person gain new strength both mentally and psychologically. While on the other hand, hypervigilant people’s minds are set to excessively analyze and calculate the threats around them on a regular basis and even without the need to do so, leaving the person in constant awake and in a state of continuous insecure due to previous traumas, usually a constant ones. Therefore, Hypervigilance comes as a symptom of serious mental conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia. When you are exposed to extreme events of fear or sadness specially when it gets constant, your nervous system keeps sending electrical signals of warnings to your mind to be awake and look for any nearby threats. Unfortunately many parents in low-income counties, and Sudan is no exception, believe that frightening kids is a good way for controlling their behaviors, if you don’t stop crying I will call the police for you, if you don’t get up for school I will call the doctor to give you an injection, and many other examples. The child does be quit or go to school at that moment, but his/her mind save the event as a threat of fear from doctors and police men, and the next day when they are exposed to such threats their minds overthink and overreact about it, and those are simple examples, some parents threat their children with physical hurt like knifes and flames, can you imagine the trauma that these children would have and its effect on them when they grow older, and its effect on the society?!
In addition to the severe mental health conditions that can be caused by Hypervigilance if not treated properly, it can cause living in a state of everyday struggles, starting with not trusting people, looking around you to find that person who hides behind the curtains or behind the door, fear of talking and expressing your feelings, being anxious about the bad things about to happen, some people get afraid when their parents open their mouths to talk, or get their heart beats go fast when their parent’s phone rings because they got used that whatever gets out of their mouths is a threat, and this goes with them for many years, and eventually they became hypervigilant, unless they got aware of this incidence and got to heal their minds properly.
To release the effects of hypervigilance from the mind and help yourself get cured if its severity, it is very important listening to mental health professionals online as a start, or you can go and talk to them personally. Body movement is important as it helps the body release all of the negative energy, and doing prayers at home is one great movement. Practicing sports is also useful, specially the spiritual ones like Yoga and meditation. Also, don’t forget that it is okay to have feelings and needs, and don’t be afraid or ashamed of talking about them to a close friend.
In the end, it is not wrong to go to a consultant if it’s getting out of hand, they prescribe medications that can help with your condition if you need so. And it is always okay to seek for help. Stay close as I will be writing about The Most Effective Solutions for Healing Hyperviolence at Home. Keep your mental health up everyone, and stay safe.