How do I know if my shortness of breath is anxiety?

Gillian Batty
Oct 6, 2024
5 min read

How to tell if shortness of breath is from anxiety

Irregular shallow breathing is a natural feature of the anxious state. If you've been checked by a doctor and are confirmed healthy, yet still experience shortness of breath, it could be that you are experiencing anxiety. Although shortness of breath is a very common experience when you’re feeling anxious, it's not a sign of dysfunction and isn’t something to worry about. Have you noticed that even when you think you feel breathless, you are still alive and well? That’s because believe it or not you have all the oxygen you need. It’s just that the way your body is getting that oxygen into your system feels unfamiliar. Your style of breathing has shifted to the type that is designed for emergencies, not for relaxing on the sofa. My clients find that gaining a full understanding of how the anxious body functions is key to becoming less afraid of its mystifying activities. So here is a little information you might find useful.

You are more adaptable than you realise!

As a mammal, you have a highly adaptive breathing apparatus. Most of the time our breathing mechanism automatically adjusts to suit the conditions we’re in. For example, we yawn when we are tired and need a little more oxygen in the system. We can also consciously control our breathing, like -

· When we hold our breath to swim underwater.

· When we pinch our noses before jumping into a pool.

· When we do deep yoga breathing to synchronize with our body’s movements.

· When we breathe in rhythm with our steps while pacing ourselves during a run.

· We also hold our breaths or breath through our mouths if there is a strange smell we want to avoid.

We are organisms that are in constant relationship with our environment via our sensory systems, continuously adapting and learning.

What causes shortness of breath from anxiety?

You are just in survival mode!

The anxious state is a survival state, not one designed for the type of deep, meditative breathing that fills your lungs with richly oxygenated blood and distributes it to your organs and muscles at a leisurely pace. Instead, when in a survival state, even a low-level one, it’s a time for emergency breathing. This type of breathing is meant to get you moving quickly. It’s the kind of breathing we do when we sprint, feel upset, or experience something surprising, like winning the lottery or meeting someone we find attractive. It’s fast and shallow, occurring in the upper section of the diaphragm, at the top of your chest.

You are simply reacting naturally to conditions

Notice that when any living creature feels safe, its body softens, and it breathes slowly and deeply into its belly. It doesn’t pay much attention to its surroundings because it doesn’t need to – its senses are signalling that all is well, meaning it’s safe to rest and restore. This is the relaxation response, which is the opposite of the anxious state. We love this feeling because our nervous system is balanced, and we feel at ease. In contrast, if a loud unexpected bang happens, your balanced nervous system instantly transforms itself into the state of Fight, Flight, Freeze. In this state we are on alert and highly reactive. This is the anxious state we don’t enjoy, and we are always trying to escape from it.

Your system knows how to breathe without your help

Most of the time we take our breathing for granted. We don’t pay the rhythms of our breath any attention at all, until we notice that it isn’t feeling the way it normally feels. Then we can find ourselves fixating on its irregularity. Suddenly we’ve got caught up in a bodily process that feels unnatural. Naturally and instinctively, we want to correct it. We start trying to dominate the way our breathing apparatus functions, battling against a breathing rate we don’t like the feeling of. We search online for breathing exercises, becoming tyrants as we follow instructions and try to inflict them upon our diaphragms. We desperately look out for the promised health benefits and spend our time consciously breathing in a particular way. It’s exhausting.

How to relieve shortness of breath from anxiety?

As soon as we stop implementing the instructions, we scrutinise the results. Has my shortness of breath from anxiety improved? Inevitably, it’s often the same. We don’t realise until somebody explains it to us, that we do not need to put so much energy into breathing. We have a perfectly designed system that can do the job for us. All we need to do is get out of its way, and let that system get on with it. For those of you familiar with my work, you’ll know that trying to control aspects of the body to eliminate unwanted sensations and experiences, is like picking a fight with your own nervous system. If you fight it, it fights back.

It's not our fault that we react this way. We are accustomed to being taught to overcome problems by battling them and controlling ourselves. What people don’t often teach is that this approach puts us in opposition with ourselves, leading to increased internal physical and emotional conflict. This, in turn, intensifies the anxious state. Why? Because we’re signalling to the part of the brain responsible for keeping us safe that we are in a fight. It doesn’t know the fight is with ourselves. This part of the brain is your faithful servant, and when you tell it that there is something you are trying to get rid of, it responds by putting you into a state ready for combat – one where breathing becomes fast, shallow, and efficient enough to get you off that comfortable sofa and into battle. It's just that the battle you are fighting is with your own breathing mechanism. So often, because there is nothing to run away from, we stay right where we are feeling stressed and confused.

Relinquishing the need to control

Often, when we don’t like something that our system is doing because it feels strange, our relationship with ourselves becomes strained. You may have noticed that there is a causality loop taking place here, where the battle you have with your breathing rate creates more of the breathing rate that you don’t like. Balance is not restored by battling your system. Balance happens via improving the relationship you have with your system. When you learn how to work with your survival system instead of against it – the natural by-product is that balance is easily restored. Take a moment to stop fighting the breath. Soften your upper body by just slumping, and hand over the control to the wisdom of your own body. You can just watch, with curiosity, and let it do its own natural thing. It knows how, and the more you allow it to do its job, the more you will learn to trust it, and the smoother your breathing will become as a result.

Learn more about your breathing apparatus to gain a full understanding of your system.

If you’d like more support and guidance on learning how to restore your system to balance - check out my course that will walk through what to do, step by step.

About Gill the author

Gillian Batty is a dedicated counselor, researcher, and academic with a specialised focus on the research and treatment of anxiety. With a robust academic background, Gillian holds a Psychology Degree, a Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling and Psychotherapy, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Mindfulness and Compassion-Based Practice. Gillian has also earned an MSc in Global Mental Health.

Currently, Gillian is pursuing a PhD, where her research is centered on exploring the impact of the biomedical approach to anxiety and developing a comprehensive systems-based model for its treatment. With a deep commitment to advancing mental health care, Gillian combines practical experience with academic research to offer evidence-based insights and treatment strategies for individuals struggling with anxiety.