Stress Center Peer Support

I've been dealing with depression/anxiety for quite awhile now also dealing with ocd alot lately, have an obsessive thought(constantly thinking about my breathing)that just won't go away, just wondering if anybody out there has experienced the same thing and if so did you get over it and how.

I also have a lot of anxiety and obsessive thoughts about my breathing. Sometimes it feels like I'm not getting enough air. Other times it feels like my breathing is so "manual" and if I don't pay attention then I'll stop breathing. The truth is that our bodies know how to breath without our help! We can slow down our breathing to calm down, but we won't just stop breathing or forget how to breathe just because we're afraid.

What works for me best is to use distraction. I do crossword puzzles or other word games to keep my attention off my breathing. If I'm in a situation where I can't do puzzles, like when driving, then I try to do some math in my head (like starting with the number 300 and then continually subtracting another number like say 12 until I get close to zero -- 300, 288, 276, etc.). By then, my body takes over and my breathing goes back to normal. Give it at try!