Stress Center Peer Support

Does anyone else ever catch themselves holding their breath and have to pretty much remind yourself to breathe? It's a very strange thing, and kind of scary.

Over the past year and a half, breathing has become such a big deal. I concentrate on it a LOT more than I should, and freak out when I think it's not going right.

I have done that breath holding thing for quite sometime. I would do it the most when I was anxious, nervous, or even when I was angry. I think it is a very common thing to do when we are anxious. I even now sometimes am aware that I am doing it, I give myself a reminder to just relax and take some slow breaths,it always passes esp when I dont make a big deal about it

yeah...strange thing is that it happens constantly, even when I'm not under any stress nor anxious.

I don't do that exact thing with holding my breath, but I do concentrate on my breathing WAY too much. It just seems like it's so shallow sometimes. Often I will realize that it's been a long moment since I took my last breath. Actually I'm going to see a pulmonologist just in case.

You bet...that's always when I feel really weird. I always check my breathing and I am always breathing very shallow. My husband will say "your making that noise again" and he is right. Apparently I make some strange noise in my throat when I breath shallow. We all have to make a big effort to breath deeply. It becomes natural after a while but sometimes I fall back into my bad habits....negative thinking and breathing.

lisa- i do that too. sometimes i wake up at night feeling like i forget how to breath. its a scary thought not being able to control your body. i JUST write a post called cant control body and was talking about how i couldnt swallow. it was so scary. but i have those scary breathing problems too. like your brain forgot to tell your lungs to breath

Lisa,

I do it all the time, I don't even realize I do it sometimes. I was at the doctors on Tuesday and I asked him why I do it, he said many people who have anxiety do it unconsciously. Hope this helps.

Debbie

I don't hold my breath, but I am a real shallow breather. Even when doing the relaxation tape, I have to breath much more often than Lucinda. In fact, that whole tapes seems fast to me. Also, my chest is always really tight like I'm under a big pile of bricks. Angel B.

I find that I am always reminding myself to breathe when driving. I turn on the air conditioner so I know that I am getting enough air and it also is a reminder to breathe normally. I am using the breathing techniques on my relaxation CD. Still a work in progress.

I feel the same way with the holding my breath and forgetting how to breathe. I feel like my breath is closing up on me and i'm trying to catch my breath...then i'm starting to breathe really shallow. I'm just stressing out because i keep feeling when am i going to get a full breath and not loose my breath... I'm still trying to work on relaxation but even that put me into anxiety