hi wolfie~ having been hyper-vigilant most of my life, i will say that it's not the vigilance that is the problem, but the thoughts that come swarming over what we notice, and the feelings that come along for the ride.

while the vigilance is a brain function, and very hard to change, the thoughts and feelings are more responsive to a determined intervention. remember, what we focus on is enlarged in the mind's eye, so focus on positive things.

perhaps people stop talking when you come into the room to see if you have something to tell them ? smile and nod, see what happens next. if they look surprised, then you might have been giving them mixed signals about how to respond to you~ that can certainly be changed.

there is a post in the Emotions forum with some self-soothing and other coping skills, that might be of use to you:
http://forums.psychcentral.com/post-...anic-ptsd.html

also, you might look into Cognitive Therapy, 'change your world by changing your mind'
best wishes~
Gus