Glossary

Term · Postpartum: Mind

hyperarousal

Also: feeling on edge, heightened arousal

A state where the nervous system stays on alert, with a racing heart, easy startling, poor sleep, and irritability. It is a symptom of trauma-related stress.

In plain words

Hyperarousal means the body's alarm system stays switched on. You may feel tense, jumpy, or unable to relax, even when nothing dangerous is happening. Sleep can be light, and small noises can startle you. Hyperarousal is one of the symptom groups of posttraumatic stress disorder. It also appears in acute stress disorder, which can follow a frightening event and lasts from three days to one month. Birth can be frightening, whether it was an emergency, a surgery, or a time when a mother felt unsafe or unheard. Hyperarousal does not mean a mother is weak or doing something wrong. Many symptoms ease over weeks. When they do not, or when they get in the way of daily life, the at 1-833-852-6262 can help you find care.

The deeper version

In DSM-5-TR, hyperarousal is one of four symptom clusters of posttraumatic stress disorder, alongside intrusion, avoidance, and negative alterations in cognition and mood. Its criteria include irritable behavior and angry outbursts, reckless behavior, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle, concentration problems, and sleep disturbance. Acute stress disorder, diagnosed from three days to one month after a traumatic event, includes arousal symptoms among its criteria. Perinatally, hyperarousal overlaps with the sleep loss and physiological change of early motherhood, and it is harder to separate from ordinary postpartum adjustment. Ayers and colleagues (Psychological Medicine, 2016) found that a mother's subjective experience of birth, including feeling threatened, was among the stronger predictors of later post-traumatic stress.

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Sources

  • American Psychiatric Association — Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), 2022
  • Ayers S et al. — The aetiology of post-traumatic stress following childbirth: a meta-analysis and theoretical framework. Psychological Medicine, 2016

The Mothership Topic Wiki is general information for mothers and the people who care for them. It is not medical, legal, or mental-health advice and does not create a provider relationship. Experiences posted by members are their own. In an emergency call 911. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, call or text 988.