Shortness of Breath and Anxiety (Why It Happens and What Helps)

When anxiety and panic strike, your breathing becomes faster and shallower, yet it can feel like you are struggling with a shortness of breath. You may suddenly feel as though you can’t quite get a full breath, or that your breathing has become tight or shallow.

In my anxiety work in Ely, one of the most common and unsettling physical sensations people experience during anxiety is the feeling that they cannot get enough air. You try and breath faster to get more air yet this just makes things worse. I’ve covered before how anxiety can link to chest pain as a result of accelerated breathing.

Many anxiety clients have told me how they have been told that they ‘don’t breathe properly’. It can become habitual to stay tense and on edge. Anxiety leads to a change in your breathing, and that change can create worry that something is medically wrong.

Many people describe feeling as though they cannot take a deep breath, or that their breathing has become tight or restricted. When this happens suddenly it can feel frightening and may lead people to worry that something serious is wrong.

In reality, shortness of breath is a very common physical symptom of anxiety.

Understanding why it happens can help make the experience far less alarming and help you to find a solution that helps.

 

Why Anxiety Affects Breathing

When anxiety activates the body’s fight-or-flight response, the nervous system prepares the body to react quickly to danger.

Part of this response involves changes to breathing.

Breathing often becomes:

• faster
• shallower
• more focused in the chest rather than the diaphragm

This helps the body take in oxygen quickly in case it needs to move rapidly.

Although this response is helpful when facing real danger, anxiety can trigger the same reaction even when there is no immediate threat.

In fact, your breathing is the first thing that changes when you feel anxious. You may not notice this until you feel you can’t breathe or your chest gets tight.

If you’re experiencing symptoms like breathlessness, dizziness or a racing heart, you may find it helpful to explore my anxiety hub for Ely, which explains how anxiety can affect both the mind and body.

 

Why It Can Feel Difficult to Breathe

Because breathing changes during anxiety, people may notice sensations such as:

• tightness in the chest
• feeling unable to take a satisfying breath
• rapid breathing
• a sense of air hunger

These sensations can feel uncomfortable but they are not dangerous.

They are simply the body’s natural response to stress. However, they can create panic that something is wrong. This makes yo more anxious and that impacts upon your breathing even more noticeably.

 

Anxiety, Panic and Breathing

Breathing changes often appear alongside other physical anxiety symptoms such as dizziness, a racing heart or shaking.

When these sensations happen suddenly, some people begin to worry they may faint, lose control, or that something serious is happening.

This is one reason why panic attacks can feel so frightening.

For some people, these experiences can also lead to fears such as a fear of dying during anxiety or panic attacks.

 

Why Breathing Anxiety Can Become a Cycle

Once people become aware of their breathing, they may start monitoring it closely.

This increased attention can make the sensations feel stronger, which can increase anxiety further.

Understanding that these breathing changes are part of the body’s anxiety response can often help reduce this cycle.

When anxiety and panic rises, many people try deep breathing or breathing techniques. However, because these are generally used only once feelings get strong, it can feel like it isn’t working and people give up too soon. However, learn to control your breathing and you start to take back control over the physical symptoms of anxiety. You can calm feelings if they start to rise and you can bring down unwanted anxious feeelings.

 

When Anxiety Symptoms Keep Returning

Occasional anxiety symptoms are very common. We are designed to experience stress and anxiety. However, if it is explainable and short lived then it is not too problematic.

Anxiety and panic become a problem when there is a repeating, ongoing cycle of unwanted thoughts and feelings that have a detrimental affect on your life.

However, if symptoms such as breathlessness, dizziness or a racing heart are appearing regularly, it may help to recognise some of the signs your anxiety is getting worse.

You may also find it helpful to understand when you should seek help for anxiety if anxiety is affecting everyday life.

 

Finding Support

Shortness of breath during anxiety can feel frightening in the moment, but it is a common and natural response from the body.

Many people find that once they understand how anxiety affects breathing and the nervous system, these sensations feel much less alarming.

Understanding anxiety enables you to more effectively go on to calm anxious thoughts and feelings.

If anxiety symptoms have been affecting how you feel day to day, a free consultation is available to talk things through and explore what support might help.

To your health and happiness,

Dan Regan

Anxiety Therapy and Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

 

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