A panic attack can cause you to lose your breath or breathe too much. Getting your breathing under control, in contrast, can go a long way toward alleviating the physical symptoms of your attack. Understanding how to breathe correctly is the key to gaining this control. However, issues with breathing and associated physical symptoms are not always caused by panic attacks, so it's important to consult a doctor to determine whether the cause of your breathing difficulty is a panic attack or some other medical condition.
Carbon Dioxide Issues
Shortness of breath or hyperventilation, meaning you breathe too deeply or rapidly, are both classic symptoms of panic attacks. Hyperventilation is also called "overbreathing." It can cause you to feel breathless. As you breathe, you take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide. Breathing too rapidly or too much leads to low levels of carbon dioxide in your blood. This causes your hyperventilation symptoms, such as a dry mouth, light-headedness, chest pain and confusion. While panic attacks and anxiety are top causes for breathing incorrectly, it also may be caused by a heart or lung disorder, an infection or bleeding. That makes it especially important to see a doctor to determine the cause of your hyperventilation.
Night Attacks and Other Symptoms
Some people suffer from nocturnal panic attacks and wake up with classic panic symptoms, including either shortness of breath or hyperventilation. Increased breathing is a central aspect of your flight-or-flight response and hyperventilation is your body's method for compensating for the increased breathing that occurs with the absence of physical exertion. Sweating, a fast heart rate, a sense of doom and chills or flushing are other possible symptoms of panic attacks. These symptoms can be alarming because they can seem to indicate a heart attack or another serious medical problem.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Breathing and relaxation techniques are part of the cognitive behavioral therapy that you may utilize to manage your panic attacks. Therapists commonly utilize diaphragmic breathing. People who hyperventilate often breathe from the chest rather than the diaphragm, which is the correct way to breathe, note William T. O'Donohue and Jane E. Fisher, authors of "General Principles and Empirically Supported Techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy." Such therapy also addresses the patterns and thinking that may trigger an attack as well as your behavior once an attack sets in. While you may recognize the triggers for your attacks, the root cause of panic attacks is unknown, Hall-Flavin writes. Stress, genetics, certain changes in the way portions of your brain work or a sleep disorder may be root causes.
Biological-Behavioral Breathing Therapy
Biological-behavioral breathing therapy may reduce your feeling of panic by halting your hyperventilation -- and it may work better than cognitive behavioral therapy, notes Alicia E. Meuret lead author for a study published in the "International Journal of Cognitive Therapy." Capnometry-Assisted Respiratory Training, or CART, helps you breathe in a way that reverses the abnormally low levels of carbon dioxide in your blood due to hyperventilation. This change in carbon dioxide levels in turn helps alleviate your panic symptoms. CART involves performing home breathing exercises twice daily and attending five training and review sessions over a one-month time frame. You use a portable capnometer device to gain feedback on your carbon dioxide levels. Your breathing exercises may be modified based on the feedback. The exercises are meant to reduce acute or chronic hyperventilation and the physical symptoms associated with it. You actually learn to breathe more slowly and more shallowly because, contrary to popular belief, deep breaths actually make hyperventilation and its associated symptoms worse.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Nocturnal Panic Attacks; Dr. Daniel K. Hall-Flavin
- MayoClinic.com: Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder -- Treatments and Drugs
- Science Daily: New Breathing Therapy Reduces Panic and Anxiety by Reversing Hyperventilation
- "Capnography: Clinical Aspects"; J. S. Gravenstein et al.; 2004
- "International Journal of Cognitive Therapy"; Catastrophic Appraisal and Perceived Control as Moderators of Treatment Response in Panic Disorder; Alicia E. Meuret et al.; 2010
- "General Principles and Empirically Supported Techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy"; William T. O'Donohue and Jane E. Fisher; 2009
