Microblog Memes

It makes more sense to me if I consider the potential impact of hypervigilance — "the elevated state of constantly assessing potential threats around you". It's associated with PTSD, and whilst my paramedic friend doesn't have a diagnosis of that, I know that their family were abusive, and they identified that much of their anxiety stemmed from hypervigilance.

It makes sense to me that if someone's anxiety is being driven by hypervigilance (a chronically dysregulated stress response), that some people may find it beneficial to put themselves in genuinely high stress situations, to sort of channel the stress into a sensible outlet.

Another related example is that I have a friend who goes for a run when she feels very anxious. She says that she's found it ineffective to try logicking her way out of feeling anxious, or trying to calm herself down, and that going for a run feels like saying to her body "you're absolutely right, there was something scary here, but now we have escaped it, and can relax". I always find it interesting how people sometimes speak about their bodies and brains and existing separately from themselves, often in an attempt to reconcile the tensions between different aspects of ourselves