Anxiety, Panic Attacks And Insomnia

INCREASINGLY COMMON IN ADULTS, TEENS AND CHILDREN

What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension, tension, fear or jitteriness. We all experience anxiety at one time or another, it is a normal human experience – it keeps us safe at times of danger. Unfortunately however, many people experience anxiety on a daily basis, ranging from a mild feeling of unease to crippling panic attacks with extreme fear and sense of impending doom.
What is a Panic Attack?
A panic attack is a sudden surge of overwhelming anxiety and fear. It may be a response to stressful or dangerous situations or to anxiety. Sometimes the panic can seem to appear out of the blue, or you can wake with it from a bad dream or following a sleep apnoea episode.

The accompanying physical symptoms can be equally disturbing. Your breathing speeds up, your heart pounds, your armpits drip. You may be dizzy or nauseous, feel dazed and confused, and you may find it difficult to breathe

What is Insomnia?
Insomnia is difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or returning to sleep. It is classified as a sleep disorder. The common short-term effect is tiredness and excessive daytime sleepiness, but if insomnia occurs night after night it can be debilitating. The cumulative long-term effects of sleep loss have been associated with a wide range of health consequences including an increased risk of diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack.

Faulty breathing habits are characteristic

THE LINK WITH YOUR BREATHING PATTERN​

A faulty pattern of breathing is common in people with both acute and chronic anxiety, panic and stress disorders and depression, and in those who experience chronic insomnia.

Their ‘everyday’, baseline pattern of breathing is characteristically ‘overbreathing’ – either through the mouth or the nose – and typically at an elevated rate, predominantly with the upper chest. They may frequently sigh or yawn, and have large audible inhalations when speaking.
They are often unaware of this.

Research shows people with panic disorders typically breathe at around 12 L per minute at rest, when it should be around 5 L per minute. They characteristically have low baseline levels of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Some of the problems with chronic overbreathing:
  • depletion of CO2 causes blood vessels to constrict and reduces the delivery and uptake of oxygen to the brain and body tissues (the Bohr effect) 
  • low CO2 and bicarbonate levels cause disruption in body and brain chemistry
  • reduction in CO2 means loss of one of the body’s natural sedatives
  • it promotes a sympathetic dominant nervous system (fight or flight) – which can be likened to always having your foot at least partially on the accelerator.
  • it excites your brain and makes muscles tense
  • too much of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol are produced
  • you are primed and trigger-happy – and may tip into the distressing physical and mental symptoms of a panic attack.
  • the hyper-arousal state reduces resilience to stress, and prevents sleep, creating a vicious cycle.
None of this is conducive to calm, dealing well with stress, or restful sleep.

How much might you be depriving your brain, organs and cells of essential oxygen by snoring all night and puffing, sighing and gasping by day? It is not just stopping breathing (apnoea / apnea) that deprives your body of oxygen.

RELIEF THROUGH BREATHING RETRAINING
Calm your nervous system, access parasympathetic state, stabilise your blood chemistry

With breathing retraining you are correcting your baseline breathing pattern and learning to control your breathing when under stress. It can make a big difference in both managing and preventing anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, and the associated symptoms.

Normal breathing and controlled breathing are very calming. They are a natural sedative. Breathing retraining shows you how to access the parasympathetic– rest and digest – state of your autonomic nervous system. It’s a wonderful tool to have to calm your mind, calm your nervous system, stay relaxed and in control in stressful situations, calm your body and get off to sleep. Correct (functional) breathing also enhances oxygen uptake to every cell in your body, and of course that includes the brain. Not only will you feel calmer and more rested, but focus and concentration improve.

While it is important to identify and address the cause(s) of anxiety and insomnia, the better your baseline breath­ing pattern, the less likely you are to experience it.

Our experience with working with thousands of people with anxiety and sleep disorders is that improvements are usually reported to start within the first 24 hours. 

Breathing & Symptom Assessment - EXAMPLE


Symptoms
A middle-aged woman was referred by her psychologist for breathing training, as her anxiety and panic attacks were becoming more disabling and cognitive techniques were not helping enough. She also slept poorly and was extremely tired. She snored, had restless legs, and was waking three to five times every night.
She ticked off 48 different signs and symptoms associated with dysfunctional breathing and chronic  hyperventilation on the questionnaire, scoring most of them as severe.

Breathing Pattern
This lady's breathing was observed as she went through the checklist: she breathed quickly with her upper chest, and took two huge sighs in the first minute. Even before full assessment of her breathing pattern, chronic overbreathing/hyperventilation was obvious and a likely explanation for many of her symptoms and her lack of sustained progress with other therapies. 

  • $145

Breathe Away Online Breathing Course

  • Course
  • 16 Lessons
  • 90-day access

The BreatheAway course is the online version of the breathing retraining programs that Tess Graham has delivered to over 6000 people since 1993.
Buy nowLearn more