The 7 types of hyperarousal - do you get cold sweats or tingly hands?

"No previous study has addressed the unresolved question of whether hyperarousal may be one common construct or rather has multiple dimensions. This study discovered seven different dimensions of hyperarousal and provides a concise instrument to assess them."

"Perhaps the most well-known, the 'anxious' feeling of tension, is defined by being worried or concerned about something bad happening in the future. It can also indicate feelings of guilt or fears about missing out on things."

"Another type of tension, revealed by their analysis, is called 'somatic' - also known as the 'fight or flight response'. This can be characterised by tight feelings in the chest, palpitations, faster breathing or tingling fingers."

"The sixth, 'vigilant', is defined as having heightened awareness in public spaces. People who feel this type of tension are likely to agree with the sentence 'When I am in public, I feel overwhelmed because I cannot keep track of everything going on around me.'"

Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience identified seven distinct dimensions of hyperarousal, challenging the previous assumption that stress-related tension was a single construct. The study analyzed data from 467 adults completing questionnaires about everyday hyperarousal symptoms. The seven types include anxious hyperarousal involving worry about future events, somatic hyperarousal characterized by physical fight-or-flight responses like chest tightness and palpitations, sensitive hyperarousal marked by emotional vulnerability and being easily startled, sleep-related hyperarousal causing insomnia and mental fatigue, irritable hyperarousal involving agitation and hostility, vigilant hyperarousal featuring heightened public awareness, and sudomotor hyperarousal. This classification provides a concise instrument for assessing different tension experiences.

Read at Mail Online