Can Anxiety Cause Breathlessness?
- Do you often feel short of breath even when there's no physical reason?
- Do you find yourself sighing or yawning more when you're anxious?
- Are you unsure whether your breathlessness is anxiety-related or something else?
- Do you struggle with the panic that comes from not being able to catch your breath?
- Have you been checked medically but still feel something's wrong?
If you nodded along to any of these, you're in the right place.
Click the button to speak to an Anxiety Specialist
What you'll learn in this article:-
- How anxiety affects our breathing
- Signs your breathlessness may be anxiety-related
- Habits that may unintentionally worsen symptoms
- Five calming strategies you can start using today
- How to talk to your GP with confidence
- Answers to the most common client questions
The Anxiety-Breath Connection
It is helpful to understand what happens in our bodies when we feel stressed or anxious.
As anxiety specialists at Better Your Life, we often meet clients who feel alarmed by changes in their breathing. Many come to us after countless medical tests that show no physical problem. Still, they can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong.
If you are panicking that there is something physically wrong, we want you to know that anxiety can absolutely also impact your breathing. When our brains perceive a threat, either real or imagined, they trigger our body’s stress response. This is often called “fight or flight.” Part of that response includes rapid, shallow breathing, known as hyperventilation.
Hyperventilation causes a drop in carbon dioxide levels in the blood, leading to a host of physical symptoms such as:-
- Chest tightness
- Dizziness
- Tingling in the fingers, limbs or face
- A feeling of not getting enough air, even when we are
This is not dangerous, but it feels frightening. Hyperventilation is a key physical symptom of anxiety that can significantly alter our breathing patterns.
Why Anxiety-Driven Breathlessness Feels So Scary
Anxiety-related breathing problems can mimic symptoms of asthma, heart issues, or even suffocation. That’s what makes it so distressing. Even when doctors assure us we’re healthy, the sensation can feel very real.
One of our clients shared:
“It felt like I was suffocating. I couldn’t get a full breath, and that panicked me even more. Every test came back normal, but I felt ignored, as if I was making it up.”
This experience is far more common than most people realise. The NHS Wheeze Clinic confirms that anxiety can worsen respiratory symptoms in people with asthma, and even create the sensation of breathlessness in people without any diagnosed respiratory illness.
Download our Anxious Thoughts Diary Workbook and Reframing Your Anxious Thoughts Workbook to help you relieve the pressure and reduce the spiral of anxious overthinking.
Signs That Our Breathlessness May Be Anxiety-Related
While we always advise starting with a medical check-up to rule out physical conditions, there are some clear signs that anxiety could be at the root of our breathing symptoms:
- The breathlessness appears or worsens during times of stress or worry
- Test results for asthma, heart problems, or other lung conditions are normal
- We feel short of breath even when resting
- The symptoms are paired with other anxiety sensations like chest tightness, dizziness, or a racing heart
- Breathing improves when we are distracted or calm
If this sounds familiar, it’s not in your head. It’s in your nervous system, and you; can be helped.
What Makes It Worse?
Understanding what might unintentionally increase our symptoms is essential to feeling better. Here are some common aggravators, and why they matter:
- Focusing too much on our breath. Hyper-awareness can lead to a cycle of anxiety
- Trying to “get a deep breath” constantly. This may increase tension in our chest muscles
- Holding our breath unconsciously. Common in anxious moments and disrupts the oxygen balance
- Poor posture. Compresses the lungs and limits airflow
- Caffeine or stimulants. Elevate our heart rate and mimic anxiety symptoms
- Lack of restful sleep. Weakens our stress tolerance, increasing breathlessness
Once we can identify these patterns, we can begin to change them. And that’s when the real relief starts.
How to Talk to Your GP About Breathlessness
Feeling dismissed or misunderstood when describing our symptoms is sadly very common. Here are some tips to advocate for yourself:
- Write down your symptoms when they occur, how they feel, and how long they last
- Track your anxiety levels and note any emotional triggers
- Mention both physical and emotional aspects i.e., “This happens most when I’m feeling anxious or overwhelmed”
- Ask for clarity. “Could this be related to anxiety?” or “What tests will help us rule things out?”
Opening a conversation like this can make your GP more likely to explore holistic solutions.
How We Can Calm Anxiety and Improve Our Breathing
Here are practical, science-based strategies that we share with clients at Better Your Life. These tools help us soothe anxiety and retrain the breath.
1. Use Diaphragmatic Breathing
This gentle breathing technique brings the diaphragm, our primary breathing muscle, back into action. It helps restore oxygen and carbon dioxide levels to balance and calm the nervous system.
Here’s how we can practise it:
- Place one hand on our belly and one on our chest.
- Breathe in slowly through our nose, letting the belly rise.
- Hold your breath for 2 seconds.
- Exhale slowly through pursed lips for 6 seconds, letting the belly fall.
- Repeat for 2–3 minutes, or as needed.
This breath retraining can feel strange at first. If it feels uncomfortable, start with just a few breaths and build up over time.
2. The Power of Posture and Movement
Poor posture can physically limit how much air we can take in. When we’re anxious, we tend to hunch our shoulders, tighten our chest, or curl into ourselves to make ourselves appear as small as possible.
Instead, let’s try the following:
- Roll our shoulders back every hour
- Stretch our arms and spine regularly
- Sit with our feet flat and spine upright
- Go for short walks or gentle movement to reset our nervous system
Even small movements help discharge anxious energy and free up our breath.
3. Grounding Techniques for When Breath Feels Out of Control
When we feel overwhelmed, shifting focus away from our breath can help. One of our favourite grounding tools is the 5-4-3-2-1 method:
- 5 things we can see
- 4 things we can touch
- 3 things we can hear
- 2 things we can smell
- 1 thing we can taste
This technique brings us back to the present moment and gently calms the mind and body.
4. Regulate the Nervous System with Simple Tools
Activating the vagus nerve can help bring our bodies out of panic mode. Here are a few simple ways we can do that:
- Humming or singing
- Splashing cold water on our face
- Gently massaging the sides of our neck
- Using long, slow exhales (the outbreath is what signals safety to our brain)
- These little habits tell the body it’s safe to relax.
5. Understand and Reframe the Fear of Breathlessness
Many of us develop a fear of breathlessness itself. We begin to monitor our breathing constantly, which makes symptoms worse. Here’s a truth to remember: our bodies know how to breathe.
Trusting our body again can take time, but we can get there by gently practising letting go of control and working with a supportive anxiety therapist.
Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety and Breathing Problems
This is a typical pattern we see:
- We feel anxious or stressed
- Our breathing becomes shallow or rapid
- We notice the sensation and panic more
- That panic worsens the symptoms
It’s a habit loop. But by interrupting the cycle at any point, we can create real change. Whether it’s slowing our exhale, shifting our focus, or getting support, every small step matters.
One of my clients shared:
"I spent years 20 years taking medication and thinking I had asthma, but it turned out to be anxiety. Once I learned to calm my nervous system, the breathlessness became manageable and I was able to stop taking my meds. I just wish I’d known sooner."
That’s what we want for you, too.
Science Backs This Up
The link between anxiety and breathlessness is well-documented. A 2020 paper in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that up to 60% of people with panic disorder report breathing difficulties.
Healthline also confirms that anxiety can cause both temporary breathlessness and chronic hyperventilation if left unaddressed.
And according to the NHS, addressing the underlying anxiety can dramatically reduce both the frequency and severity of breathlessness.
You Deserve to Breathe Freely Again
I know how scary it is to feel like we can’t breathe. I also know that anxiety doesn’t just live in our thoughts, it lives in our bodies too. And we can feel safe in our breath again with the right tools, compassion and understanding.
At Better Your Life, we help clients uncover the true source of their anxiety, soothe their nervous systems, and regain trust in their bodies. Whether your breathlessness is new or something you’ve struggled with for years, we’re here to support you.
Book a call today with an anxiety therapist and begin your journey towards calmer, easier breathing.
We are always so grateful for the feedback we get from our clients.
Other Resources
Understand What is Anxiety?
Discover How To Reduce Anxiety Right Now
Watch some Breathing Techniques to Reduce Anxiety
Watch Why Do I Feel Anxious after Drinking Alcohol
Read Can Journaling Help With Anxiety
Read What Is Burnout and How To Overcome It
Download The Circle of Control and Influence Worksheet
Download The Anxious Thoughts Diary Workbook
Download Our Guide How to Help Your Anxious Child
Download Our Guide How to Manage Stress and Anxiety in the Workplace
FAQs: What We Often Get Asked
Q: Is it anxiety or asthma?
A: Always check with your GP first. If tests are normal and symptoms still persist, it’s time to consider anxiety as the root cause.
Q: Can anxiety cause breathlessness even when we feel calm?
A: Yes. We may have an activated nervous system even when our minds feel "fine." This is especially common in high-functioning anxiety.
Q: Will it always feel this way?
A: No. With the right tools and support, our clients often see real improvements in just a few weeks.
Q: I’ve tried breathing exercises, but they make me more anxious. What should I do?
A: That’s okay. Start slowly and try grounding techniques first. Once you feel safer, breathing exercises often become more helpful.
Q: How can I find out if my anxiety is behind my breathlessness?
A: Speak to an anxiety specialist so they can help you get to the root cause of your anxiety, and then you should notice improvements with your breathing.
