Breathing Anxiety

[PPR1983]

Hello everyone.

Yet again I am suffering with problems and I always find the anxiety forum helps me.

I have constant thoughts that I will forget how to breath. This is driving me mad and i am terrified that i forget how to breath. I am finding this very difficult to cope with and I feel I am always trying to calm myself down before I have a panic attack about this. I had these thoughts for months before and I managed to get these to get out of my mind, but they have now come back really bad. It really gets me down and i am constantly aware of my brething. When I write about this it sounds really silly but it is a horrible experience.

what make matters worse is that I am home alone at the moment as my parents are on holiday and it is getting worse as i have to much time on my own and too much time to think about this.

I would be grateful if anyone could give me any advice on this.

many thanks for reading.

PPR1983

[Daisy]

Hello PPR1983

Your worry about forgetting how to breathe is just your anxiety disorder. Once you come to terms with one worry another takes it's place in your mind. I can relate to that myself. monster has suggested you read, Paul David's book, 'At Last a Life'. I agree with monster, it is really worth a read and you can go on Paul David's web page and read most of the book there. Claire Weekes' book, 'Self Help for your Nerves', I haven't read myself, but, believe it is also very good. V Victor suggests, Cognitive Behavoural Therapy, I have just started that myself, hard work but I am pleased with it so far.

Hope this info helps in some small way.

[RabidBadger]

Hi

It is very common when suffering from anxiety to start 'overthinking'. Very often a fear of not being in control causes you to think about things that are normally handled by your subconscious and need never cross your conscious mind.

Even if, in an extreme situation, you could forget to breathe or hold your breath for long enough, your brain would detect the lack of oxygen and cause you to pass out. Your subconscious mind would then take over your breathing and your conscious mind would have no choice in it. Obviously, you would regain consciousness when your oxugen saturation stabilised.

Chris

[mr panic man]

hiya i suffer from the same thing but i dnt worrie i will forget how to breath cuz i no that wont happen to me or you but still i cnt take my mind of it n its horrible the only time i get some peace is when im asleep there just no taking my mind of it :( n i have read the claire weekes book it was very helpful but dusent touch on this subject no where seems 2

[RabidBadger]

Hi Mr Panic Man

I must explain that I'm not a doctor or a psychologist or anything but I have been suffering from similar problems for about 9 years and I have read just about every self-help book going. Here's my take on it...

When you experience a scary symptom like feeling like you can't breathe, it is very easy to start a worry cycle, and even if you are telling yourself that it can't happen, you are still unwittingly keeping it in mind. It's like thinking "don't think about the number 7, don't think about the number 7" - of course you are going to think about the number 7.

I've found that the best course is instant dismissal followed by distraction. As soon as you start to think about your breathing (or anything negative), say to yourself "STOP, this is not a healthy or helpful thought" and then find something that will fully occupy your mind. I know it's not easy but the more you practise it, the easier it gets.

You are rational enough to know that you won't stop breathing just because you think you might, so just dismiss it. Don't try to balance it with rational arguments, just dismiss it and then distract yourself. If you do this enough, it will become habit, just like the negative thought has become habit.

Hope this helps

Chris

[mr panic man]

yea thanks i will try n put that method in to practice hope it works 4 me you say u have had this 9 yrs how did it come about ? and is it easyer now than when you first started it

[PPR1983]

Hi all

Thank-you all very much for your replies, these have been very helpful and I am going to put them into action! I am going to try very hard to clear these thoughts from my head.

PPR1983

[RabidBadger]

Hi

I started having panic attacks in 1999, about two years after my marriage broke up. They just seemed to come out of the blue at a time when I was perfectly happy with life.

My anxiety went up and down until July 2005 when my house was repossessed and I had to move back to my parents' house. Then I developed full-blown agoraphobia and even leaving my bedroom to go to the bathroom was terrifying.

In September 2006 I realised that I couldn't go on living like that so I decided to do something about it. I started religiously practising the best bits of what I'd learned about anxiety over the years and I asked my doctor to prescribe me escitalopram. I know a lot of people don't like the idea of taking medication but I found that it took the edge off the anxiety enough for me to start helping myself and motivating myself.

I'm pleased to say that now I go out to the pub several nights a week and I've bought myself a car. I wouldn't say I'm cured but I'm much better than I was. It takes hard work and determination but the rewards are worth the effort.

A lot of people think the same way as I used to - that they want a quick fix and if something doesn't yield results in the first few days, then it can't be working but the cycle of negative thinking takes years of practice to get into (albeit unintentional) and this can't be undone overnight.

Anyway, good luck. You can contact me through my website if you want to.

Chris