The Anxious Truth - A Panic, Anxiety, and Mental Health Podcast

"What if I forget how to breathe?"

"What if I just stop breathing?"

"I can't get enough air in my lungs."

"I can't take a deep breath."

Breath and breathing focused anxiety is quite common among people that suffer from anxiety disorders like panic disorder and agoraphobia.  In this episode I discuss the two most common forms of this anxiety.

For full show notes: https://theanxioustruth.com/89

[1:30] "I Am Afraid That I Will Forget How To Breathe"

The first is an obsession with the thought that you have to actively, manually breathe, or your body will somehow forget to breathe or you will stop breathing.  This obsessive, irrational thought may grip you during every waking moment, tricking you into thinking that you must stay involved in the process of breathing to avoid some horrible fate.

[12:19] "It Feels Like I Can't Breathe.  I Can't Take a Deep Breath!"

This is the second common form of breath and breathing focused anxiety.  You may walk around all day suffering from "air hunger", feeling like you can't breathe or that you can't get a deep enough breath.  You may feel like there is a tight band around your chest, which causes you to attempt to expand your ribcage and "fill" your lungs to maximum capacity to relieve that sensation.

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Intro and outro music - Afterglow by Ben Drake (with permission)