Why Anxiety Makes It Difficult to Breathe

One of the most frightening sensations of anxiety is the feeling that it’s difficult to breathe. In fact, this is one of the most scary feelings that anybody can have, with or without anxiety.  Now, with anxiety, at times it can feel like you're struggling to breathe, your chest feels tight, and your heart seems to be beating out of your chest. It can make you think you’re having a medical emergency and on the verge of passing out. But I don’t want you to worry, because this is an extremely common symptom of anxiety and you're not in any danger. So, in today’s episode, let’s talk about why you have difficulty breathing and what you are going to do to catch your breath and get back to feeling normal again. Let’s dive in. JINGLE. 

As you might have heard me talk about, my anxiety first began with a string of panic attacks. And no, it wasn’t two or three panic attacks - I had somewhere around 8 panic attacks in a single day. The first one happened when I was relaxing at my kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. But that quickly changed when I was hit with my first panic attack and, from there, it turned into the scariest day of my life. In fact, there were moments throughout that day that I was convinced I was seconds away from dying. With each panic attack, I’d feel this overwhelming surge of panic and fear rush through me and then my chest would get really tight, my heart would beat really fast, and it’d feel very difficult to breathe. Every single time - without fail – I’d think I was on the verge of passing out. It simply felt like I couldn’t take normal breaths and I wasn’t able to get enough oxygen. 

What made matters worse was that each panic attack seemed to be worse than the one before. So, somewhere between panic attacks 6 and 7, I rushed into the ER. I told the doctor what was happening and they did a series of tests - but they couldn’t find anything wrong. He mentioned that it sounded like I was having panic attacks, so he sent me off with a prescription of Xanax. But I wasn’t convinced. I left the ER absolutely certain that I was having some serious medical emergency.

Now, the doctor was right. There was nothing wrong with me - I was simply suffering from intense panic attacks. But why were my panic attacks making it so difficult to breathe? Well, because when you experience a panic attack or are suffering from anxiety, your fight or flight response has engaged. You are being flooded with adrenaline, cortisol, and other stress hormones because your body believes that it needs to spring into action. In other words, you’re body is getting ready to fight a threat or flee to safety. 

But here’s the important part: to get ready for this intense physical activity, your body needs more oxygen. So, unsurprisingly, your breathing rate increases. You start taking short, quick breaths instead of longer, slow ones. This creates the sensation that you're not able to get enough air, even though your body is actually receiving plenty of oxygen.

On top of that, anxiety triggers your muscles to tense up, including those in your chest. When these muscles tighten, it can create a sensation of pressure or constriction in the chest, making it feel difficult to take a deep breath. But again, this is your body's natural way of preparing you for immediate action. 

OK, so to recap, when you feel like you're having difficulty breathing, I want you to know that it’s a normal side effect of anxiety and panic attacks. I promise that you are getting enough oxygen even though it might not feel like it. 

Also, there’s one other concern I want to address. When it feels like you are struggling to breathe, you can begin to worry that you are going to faint or pass out. But I want to assure you that fainting from anxiety or panic is very rare. Fainting is caused when you experience a drop in blood pressure. But with anxiety and panic, your body's response is to actually increase your blood pressure, and this is designed to keep you alert and conscious. So, rest assured, it’s very unlikely that you will actually faint.

Alright, how do we make it easier to breathe when we’re experiencing anxiety and panic attacks? Some might tell you that you just need to slow down and concentrate on your breath. They’ll recommend you just take longer, deeper breaths. 

But that’s not what I’m going to tell you. That’s focusing on the wrong thing. Our focus needs to be on the core problem - getting rid of our anxiety and panic attacks. To do that, I have two things. First, for panic attacks, I’m going to put a link below to the episode I did called “Why You Need to Encourage Your Anxiety to Get Even Worse.” That’s going to show you an incredible psychological tool to stop your panic attacks forever. Second, I’m going to put a link to the 5-Step Cure to Anxiety and Panic Attacks in the link below. That’s going to give you the step-by-step guide that I used to overcome my anxiety and the same steps that I teach my clients to fully recover from anxiety.. 

Remember, you are not alone on this journey. There are millions of people suffering in the same way that you are suffering. With the right systems in place, you will fully overcome all your anxiety symptoms and get back to living a normal life, I promise.