Shortness of breath anxiety is no fun. You feel faint. Your legs wobble. Your vision is blurry and you worry that you might faint or worse in front of people. Maybe you are on your way to speak in an important meeting or maybe you’re in the process of a house move. Maybe you were just sitting there minding your own business when you were suddenly gripped by tightness in the chest and a feeling of impending doom. You panic because you can’t breathe properly, so you panic even more.
When it happens frequently, the fear of the physical symptoms of panic can become so great that the sufferer is afraid to leave their home lest something happens to trigger an attack. It is as debilitating as any physical illness. The good news is that the condition is treatable and controllable.
As a first step, a visit to the doctor can eliminate any chest or heart problems as a cause of the symptoms. However, a diagnosis of ‘panic attacks’ or ‘anxiety’ is not a slight on your character and it does not mean that you are imagining or inventing the problem.
The problem is caused by the sympathetic nervous system and the ‘fight or flight’ response to a life-threatening situation. Our bodies are programmed to divert our internal resources to cope with the threat. Here in the 21st Century, we can’t kill our computers or run away from the economy section in the middle of a long-haul flight. Meanwhile, our internal body chemistry is going haywire, making us feel rotten.
In the short term, drugs such as beta-blockers, tranquillizers or antidepressants can be used to control the symptoms. It may take some time to get the right drug at the right dose until you feel better without unpleasant side effects.
These episodes are one of the easiest conditions to treat using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT. Your therapist will teach you the anatomy and physiology behind the attacks. You will learn that the symptoms, however unpleasant, should pass within the space of about half an hour. With time, they disappear completely.
Controlled breathing exercises can be very effective. The trick is to breathe slowly and deeply, in through the nose, out through the mouth, for a matter of minutes until the symptoms fade away. There are numerous other techniques, exercise, aromatherapy, just having a good laugh. You don’t have to ‘live with it.’
Learn more about how Reiki can help, Click here: shortness of breath anxiety