When Seeley Lutz, a 26-year-old from Alexandria, Virginia, feels overwhelmed — both in a social scenario or by all she has to get accomplished — she mentioned she appears like her physique begins to close down.
“I often feel like there’s something heavy sitting atop my chest or blocking my airways, leaving me unable to breathe,” Lutz mentioned. “It truly feels like you’re suffocating even when there’s plenty of oxygen available.”
What she’s experiencing — and what many individuals expertise — known as “air hunger.” John Scott Haldane and James Lorrain Smith coined the time period in a 1892 paper. And it’s a standard symptom of tension, though individuals hardly ever speak about the way it feels ― and even know that it has a reputation.
Merely put, air starvation is the sensation that you would be able to’t get sufficient air. From a medical standpoint, it’s known as dyspnea. When nervousness causes it, it’s tied to the “fight or flight” response.
“When we perceive a threat, whether real or imagined, the brain signals the body to enter fight-or-flight mode,” defined Gayle Watts, a medical psychologist with Turning Tides Psychology. “This activates the sympathetic nervous system, which increases heart rate, tenses muscles and alters breathing patterns.”
To the physique, a menace isn’t at all times as primal or life-threatening as being chased by a bear. It will also be giving a presentation, experiencing a trauma set off or something in between.
When your sympathetic nervous system is activated, it’s possible you’ll hyperventilate or breathe too shortly or shallowly. That’s the place the sensation like you’ll be able to’t get sufficient air is available in.
And sadly, what could really feel instinctual could make issues worse. “Paradoxically, the more we focus on our breathing and try to ‘fix’ it, the more we reinforce the cycle of anxiety and air hunger,” Watts added.
Nervousness and air starvation can grow to be cyclical: You’re feeling anxious, so that you expertise air starvation, after which struggling to breathe triggers extra nervousness. You could then grow to be anxious about, nicely, feeling anxious, fairly than the unique menace.
Kyle Elliott, a tech profession coach who has nervousness issues and lives in Santa Barbara, California, has skilled this firsthand. “The stress of the situation caused further anxiety and panic, which only made it seemingly more difficult to breathe,” he mentioned. “I’ve never experienced something so scary before.”
What precisely is behind that? “Anxiety can amplify the perception of breathing difficulties by increasing attention to respiratory sensations, sometimes even when there is no actual physiological distress,” mentioned Harry Cohen, a psychologist and creator of ”Be The Solar, Not The Salt.” “The bottom line is that it appears very real to us and feels bad.”
The excellent news is it received’t final without end. “Air hunger typically subsides relatively quickly,” mentioned Jenelle Thompson-Keene, a licensed skilled counselor with Thriveworks in Champaign, Illinois, specializing in nervousness, coping expertise and stress.
If it occurs incessantly, is intense, or lasts longer than a few minutes, or is accompanied by chest ache or nausea, she inspired searching for assist from knowledgeable. In any other case, the coping expertise under ought to do the trick.
Ekaterina Goncharova by way of Getty Photographs
How To Handle Air Starvation
A number of bodily and psychological methods can calm your physique in mere moments. Listed here are some examples the psychological well being clinicians shared:
Expose your self to chilly temperatures.
Going exterior on a colder day, washing your fingers with chilly water, taking a chilly bathe and even dunking your face in a bowl of ice water can calm your nervousness. Thompson-Keene defined it may well gradual your coronary heart fee. Principally — and a minimum of within the case of dunking your face — you’re triggering the “dive reflex.”
Floor your self along with your senses.
One other strategy to handle nervousness — and subsequently air starvation — is by getting in contact along with your 5 senses with the 5-4-3-2-1 approach.
“Try naming five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste,” Watts mentioned. “This brings your awareness back to the present moment and helps disrupt anxious thought patterns.”
Change your posture.
Even in comfy positions and when air starvation isn’t a difficulty, it’s possible you’ll not have the ability to breathe as nicely. So, it’s particularly necessary to be conscious of the way you’re sitting throughout an air starvation “attack.”
“Sitting hunched over can create a sense of restriction, making air hunger feel worse,” Watts mentioned. “If you’re struggling with breathlessness, try sitting up straight or standing and rolling your shoulders back to open up your chest.”
Do a respiration train or approach.
As Watts talked about, individuals could attempt to take deeper breaths after they’re experiencing air starvation — it’s solely instinctual. And it may well make signs worse.
“Instead, slowing your breathing and focusing on a structured pattern can help rebalance oxygen and carbon dioxide levels,” she mentioned.
Watts inspired the 4-7-8 approach: Inhale via your nostril for 4 seconds, maintain your breath for seven seconds, then exhale slowly via your mouth for eight seconds.
“This helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which signals to your body that you are safe and can relax,” Watts added.
Cohen additionally advised managed respiration workouts, reminiscent of diaphragmatic respiration. Primarily, that approach is about taking deep breaths, feeling your abdomen rise as you inhale and sink as you exhale.
“Studies show that focusing on breath patterns enhances respiratory stability and reduces the unpredictability that often fuels panic,” he mentioned.
Attempt cognitive reframing.
This cognitive behavioral remedy (CBT) ability encourages altering your perspective to be extra life like and useful.
Within the case of air starvation, it would appear to be this: “Air hunger is a perception, not a true lack of oxygen.”
“By understanding the role of the brain in amplifying sensations, people can learn to reinterpret the experience as non-threatening, reducing the emotional distress associated with it,” Cohen defined.
Repeat a constructive mantra.
One Thompson-Keene advised was “I’m safe and this will pass.”
She added, “It is a way to help ground your mind and body in the present moment.”
Apply mindfulness-based stress discount.
This toolkit is much like a number of the different suggestions. In follow, it would appear to be breath consciousness, physique scans and conscious motion.
Its usefulness is research-backed, too. Cohen mentioned it “has been shown to decrease anxiety by improving one’s ability to interpret bodily sensations accurately, reducing the tendency to catastrophize normal fluctuations in breathing.”
Additional, a examine in JAMA Psychiatry discovered it as efficient because the gold-standard drug, escitalopram, for sufferers with nervousness issues.
Give your self a ‘butterfly hug.’
This system incorporates respiration and cross-body tapping, Thompson-Keene mentioned, which many discover useful. She shared this YouTube video that explains find out how to do it. In brief, put your left hand in your proper arm and vice versa. Then, faucet your arms, give attention to respiration, and repeat constructive mantras to your self.
Lutz is a fan of this one. “I’ve found that butterfly hugs sometimes help with this feeling, which is great,” she mentioned.
Whichever tip you employ, and nonetheless lengthy it takes to work, bear in mind you’ll survive this, too.
“In a very short period of time, you should be feeling much better,” Cohen mentioned. “Remember, what you’re feeling does feel unpleasant, but it will soon pass.”
