Hypervigilance is often associated with trauma responses. It shows up in those moments when the nervous system kicks into high alert, scanning your surroundings for danger, even when none is immediately present. While we typically think of this in the context of personal safety, hypervigilance can also quietly infiltrate the workplace, affecting performance, relationships, and overall well-being.
What Is Hypervigilance?
At its core, hypervigilance is a state of increased sensory sensitivity and an exaggerated intensity of behaviors designed to detect threats. It’s a nervous system that doesn’t trust things to be okay unless it’s constantly checking and scanning the environment or other people’s emotions.
In a workplace context, this can manifest differently from how we typically perceive stress or burnout. Hypervigilance is less about working long hours and more about the internal pressure to monitor, anticipate, and control—even at the expense of one’s peace or capacity.
Signs of Hypervigilance at Work
Hypervigilance can be hard to spot because it often masquerades as being a “dedicated employee.” Here are some signs it might be present:
Over-responsibility
Taking on more than your share to avoid burdening others, or because you don’t trust others to follow through. If you find yourself excessively double-checking, micromanaging, or having difficulty delegating tasks to others, you might be experiencing hypervigilance within the workplace.
Constant Scanning for Tone or Danger
Do you sometimes feel on edge about receiving emails, coworkers’ body language, or minor changes in tone from coworkers or supervisors? If you’re reading into neutral or ambiguous situations as potential threats, hypervigilance is rearing its head within you.
Perfectionism with Fear at Its Core
Hypervigilance shows up when you push yourself to meet impossible standards out of fear of being criticized, shamed, or rejected. This one can be tricky to identify because we all want to succeed within our jobs or careers. The key is to understand a healthy boundary between meeting your standards and knowing when it is becoming obsessive to go “above and beyond.”
Difficulty Resting or Disconnecting
Stress within the workplace is a common occurrence. When you’re struggling to relax after work in a healthy manner due to replaying conversations, anticipating future problems, or checking notifications long after work hours, then hypervigilance may be present.
Startle Response or Reactivity
How do you respond to a notification popping up or an unexpected request coming in? If you’re jumpy, startled, and flustered or feel your heart race with every “urgent” email, even if it’s manageable, you may be under the thumb of hypervigilance.
Where Does It Come From?
Hypervigilance in the workplace is often rooted in earlier experiences where safety depended on being alert, such as growing up in unpredictable environments or working in high-stakes jobs. For some, trauma, whether relational, racial, financial, or systemic, can prime the nervous system to expect harm, even in environments that seem “normal” on the surface.
What Helps
The goal isn’t to eliminate awareness or drive. The goal is to transition from a state of survival to a state of regulated presence. Below are some tangible steps to take to curb hypervigilance within the workplace.
Somatic Awareness
Noticing what’s happening in your body during work can be a positive step towards healing hypervigilance. Is your jaw tight? Shoulders up? Are you holding your breath? Learning to recognize and respond to these cues can help you intervene early when stress begins to build.
Self-Compassion Over Self-Correction
Instead of scolding yourself for being “too sensitive” or “too much,” practice meeting your hypervigilance with kindness. Remind yourself: “This is a protective response. It makes sense. And I don’t need it right now.”
Boundaries as Nervous System Care
Your ability to say no, set limits on your availability, and clarify expectations aren’t just productivity tools; they’re healing practices for a hyper-alert system.
Co-Regulation and Safe Relationships
Find people in your workplace (or outside of it) who help you feel grounded and safe. A calm, steady presence, which is someone who doesn’t feed the urgency, can help rewire your nervous system’s baseline.
Support That Meets You Where You Are
Therapy can be a powerful way to explore the roots of hypervigilance and begin to shift long-held survival patterns. Approaches like somatic therapy or trauma-informed counseling help you tune into your body’s cues and gently retrain your nervous system to respond to safety and ease.
If parts of this blog felt familiar, know that you’re not alone, and you’re not broken. Hypervigilance is often an understandable response to past environments where being on high alert helped you stay safe. But today, safety might look different. It might look like setting boundaries, trusting your team, or simply permitting yourself to rest.
When you’re ready, reach out to Firefly Therapy to connect with a therapist who understands the toll hypervigilance takes—and can help you find a new way forward.