Hypervigilance Questionnaire

Most definitions of hypervigilance picture someone fresh from combat or assault, scanning their environment for threats. But for those of us who grew up in a toxic family system, hypervigilance often runs quietly in the background at baseline — a constant, exhausting effort to confirm beliefs about ourselves and the people around us.

‍

It can look like assuming a partner's bad mood is your fault, reading an email from your boss as bad news before you've even opened it, worrying how you came across in a conversation, or staying tuned in to everyone else's feelings so nothing catches you off guard. The inner child is doing the scanning — and unlike a phone retrieving data cleanly, it tends to get the signal wrong, filtering everything through old beliefs about being unsafe, unlovable, or in trouble.

‍

This 20-question questionnaire helps you take an honest look at those patterns. Rate each statement on a 1–5 scale (Never to Very Frequently) and add up your responses; dividing by twenty gives you an average. Pay special attention to the "Very Frequently" answers — they tend to point to where your vigilance lives. Hypervigilance generally falls into three categories: about self (do I cause others' feelings? did I make a mistake? am I coming across wrong?), about others (are they upset with me? are they trustworthy? do they like me?), or a combination of both — which is most common.

‍

The goal isn't a diagnosis. It's awareness. If a question jumps out at you, it's likely connected to how you were raised — and that's exactly the thread worth following, on your own or with a therapist.

‍

Enter your email for free access to the questionnaire.

‍