Column June 8, 2025
Hypersensitive Stress Response — When Small Stimuli Set You Off
Hyo-seop Kim
Chief Director
Table of Contents
Even the smallest sound makes you flinch
You jump or get irritated at the sound of a door closing, a phone ringing, or a bright light. The threshold for stimulation has dropped, leaving the nervous system in a state of hyperarousal in which even ordinary stimuli are perceived as threats. The cause is often long-term stress, trauma, or sleep deprivation.
How Korean medicine views hyperarousal: Hyperactive Heart Fire (心火亢盛)
- Heart fire (心火) rises excessively, leaving the mind unable to rest and constantly on guard
- Hyperactive Liver yang (肝陽上亢): Liver yang surges upward, accompanied by headache, tinnitus, and red eyes
- Yin deficiency with effulgent fire (陰虛火旺): A state in which body fluids (yin) are deficient, allowing relative excess of heat (fire)
Treatment approach
- Cheonwangbosim-dan (天王補心丹): Tonifies Heart yin and clears fire to settle hyperarousal
- Sanjoin-tang (酸棗仁湯): Specialized for sleeplessness and irritability caused by deficiency-vexation (虛煩)
- Acupuncture: Shenmen (HT7) and Neiguan (PC6) calm the Heart; Taixi (KI3) replenishes Kidney yin
- Auricular acupuncture: Treatment of the sympathetic and Heart points on the ear provides ongoing stabilization
Managing the senses in daily life
- Use noise-blocking earplugs or noise-cancelling earphones
- Replace bright overhead lighting with indirect lighting
- Set aside at least 20 minutes of "sensory rest" each day in a low-stimulation environment