Shortness of Breath and Anxiety

Can anxiety cause shortness of breath? Yes, it very well can. Many people keep thinking if anxiety is a cause leading to difficulty in breathing. During any anxiety attack a person will often experience shortness of breath. In many anxiety or stress related disorders, a person will experience difficulty in breathing or will start breathing rapidly. However, the reverse is also true - if a person experiences breathing problems, it will affect the person mentally, and a person will experience anxiety.

Causes

Adjustment Related Disorders: People having any adjustment disorder, often will experience shortness of breath. People having maladaptive behavior or varying moods like nervousness, worry, jitters and impairment in normal functioning, and problems like inability to attend school or work or interacting with other people may also suffer from difficulty in breathing.

Panic Related Conditions: During panic disorders, intense anxiety is the main symptom. Other symptoms are breathing difficulty, palpitations, trembling, nausea, tingling sensations and fears of going mad. The panic attacks can last for several minutes or hours, and can cause intense discomfort to a person.

Phobias: Many persistent fears, or being paranoid about something and avoiding the object or situation can lead to mild to intense anxiety. Phobias can lead to rapid breathing or shortness of breath. Sometimes, phobias of witnessing blood or tissue injury, which is known as needle phobia can interfere and complicate medical intervention or tests.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: This disorder is characterized by persistent thoughts, ideas, obsessions, purposeful or intentional behavior. A person can be termed as suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder if the obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior is time-consuming and distracting enough, to interfere with the daily functions related to work or school.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: PTSD condition is diagnosed when a person again experiences a traumatic event with intrusive tense recollections which can be dreams, flashbacks or hallucinations. This is a serious disorder, where a person might experience shortness of breath, and in severe cases might be hospitalized.

Other Causes: Other causes include generalized anxiety and certain lung diseases. If a person experiences excessive anxiety or worry due to two or more life circumstances, a person might experience breathing problem from anxiety. In lung diseases like asthma or pulmonary tuberculosis, a person will often experience difficulty in breathing. The shortness of breath due to anxiety in such lung disease can occur.

Treatment
The treatment will be aimed at treating the cause, rather than the symptom. So, to go for a complete treatment one needs to seek medical care and treatment. However, with some home care measures one can considerably manage stress, and measures like breathing exercises and good diet can help improve the breathing. Here, are some home measures and the situations when you need to seek medical help.

Home Care and Anxiety Management Tips

• Try to figure out what worries you the most, or makes you depressed. Maintain a diary of such thought and experiences. Find a person like a friend, a clergy or family member who will listen to you. You can also go for some therapy or consult a psychologist.
• To cope with stress, try to inculcate healthy habits.
• Eat a good balanced diet, and avoid overeating.
• Get enough sleep, and exercise regularly.
• Get enough fresh air.
• Take a break from things, if they become very stressful.
• Go for some breathing meditations like Vipassana meditation, yoga or other type of meditation for stress management.

When to Seek Medical Care

• Seek immediate medical help, if you have thoughts of suicide.
• If you experience anxiety which is elicited by the memory of a traumatic past event, then medical attention is required.
• Seek immediate medical help, if you have severe pain in the chest, with shortness of breath and dizziness or sweating, as it could be a symptom of a heart attack.
• Contact a doctor, if you have sudden feeling of panic.
• Seek medical help, if anxiety affects your normal functions like work.
• Seek medical attention, if you have a certain habit which you keep repeating over and over again.
• If you have tried the above self care measures for several weeks, and your anxiety hasn't reduced, then make sure that you opt for medical help.

With some home self-care measures, one can manage the stress level and thus control anxiety and difficulty in breathing. But, always keep in mind the above situations where you need to seek medical care, to prevent any life-threatening situation.