There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from never fully being able to relax. You walk into a room and immediately scan for where the exits are, and who is near them. who is near. A car door slams outside, and your heart rate spikes before your brain even registers what the sound was. Your partner says your name in a slightly unusual tone, and you brace for a conflict that was never coming. This is not anxiety in the general sense of the word. This is hypervigilance, and for many people, it has been running so quietly in the background for so long that it’s now normal for them, and familiar. Hypervigilance is a state of chronic, heightened alertness in which the nervous system stays locked in threat-detection mode even when no real danger has yet presented itself. It is one of the most common responses to trauma, and it affects far more people than those with a formal PTSD diagnosis.