I've had that problem for as long as I can remember (I'd hazard around 7-8 years old). I have the same problem with blinking and swallowing my saliva. It's very annoying when I randomly start thinking about one of these (and I usually associate one with the others) and I can't stop manually controlling them. I don't have any problem manually breathing. It doesn't last very long before I can forget about it and resume automatic activity. I also have this problem with eye contact during conversations. It feels wrong to look into the eyes all the time, so sometimes I'll just randomly look away. Before I have read about eye contact and autism and stuff related to that, I didn't know or understand that you were supposed to look into people's eyes. Women really dig it when a guy look into their eyes; that simple fact made a world of difference in knowing how to approach women.
It seems that some people don't understand the problem at all, as if it didn't happen to them.
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This is something that I would define as a mental (mind) type of problem that only spreads through deep thinking and build up of random ideas. The same started when I was in 3rd grade, I remember imagining things, they were pretty random or I was just just being creative. Then the same thought as you had came to me and all of a sudden I was in panic (not physically showing it) in my mind. The more i thought about it the harder it was for me to get off that thought. Thinking to breathe was annoying and scary, there where many things I was limited to with this thought,it was plain scary but I won't get into much detail because it's A whole nother post to explain. Then somewhat 5 years later I was at a point where I was depressed with this thought, I lost my feeling of joy and creativity because another thought came along about swallowing saliva which I will not get into since I might spread another issue into your mind. But then there is this saying that time heals problems, and it did. From my experience the soulution to get it mostly off my mind was to try forget about the thought as its about to hit me, the only problem is when you think about not doing something you do it which is another problem. In this case you can wait out the problem, over time if the amount of time you think about it decreases, then it should keep decreasing to the point where you will hardly think about it. Keep this as hope just don't think about what I wrote science it will bring you to this that horrible thought again, you have helped me too science I used to think I was all alone on this. It's always hard to know someone else has the same problem as you in a big world when you haven't seen one. Thank you and here is advice to you.
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You're not alone. I have experienced the same terrifying experience. It started for me in junior high school (everything was going great...no problems..loved school and life.. then bang everything changed.) which I'm sure you can relate with.
I thought, what is going on here, am I crazy? Why am I suddenly so concerned about breathing...makes no sense? And at my age, there is no way I'm going to tell my parents and especially friends...sounds about right, I bet. So now, I feel alone and helpless...not a good feeling.
BUT, here is the really good news...thank God. It's NOT forever.
You realize...hey, I didn't think about breathing for one hour. And you ask yourself what happened, why?
The answer is, I got distracted from breathing, Which means you can do it again and again and move on from this c**p and live a normal life.
Please feel free and most importantly feel comfortable replying with questions and concerns.
Overcoming together,
Greg
I thought, what is going on here, am I crazy? Why am I suddenly so concerned about breathing...makes no sense? And at my age, there is no way I'm going to tell my parents and especially friends...sounds about right, I bet. So now, I feel alone and helpless...not a good feeling.
BUT, here is the really good news...thank God. It's NOT forever.
You realize...hey, I didn't think about breathing for one hour. And you ask yourself what happened, why?
The answer is, I got distracted from breathing, Which means you can do it again and again and move on from this c**p and live a normal life.
Please feel free and most importantly feel comfortable replying with questions and concerns.
Overcoming together,
Greg
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How is it like that, I'm not stressed, I sleep early. But everytime I think that I'm breathing, I'm having a difficulty of breathing. Pls tell me why
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I'm glad you are not stressed...that's always helpful.
Based on my experience, which involved visiting doctors, this thinking pattern of breathing is primarily a result of OCD.
There are many forms of OCD; this happens to be one of them.
If you're not that familiar with OCD, it's simply a chemical imbalance which causes an individual to focus too much on a particular thought.
The great news is there are many ways to overcome this.
Medication is one way.
A knowledgeable doctor will be able to prescribe proper medication to reverse the imbalance.
And, this will help you stop focusing on breathing.
Greg
Based on my experience, which involved visiting doctors, this thinking pattern of breathing is primarily a result of OCD.
There are many forms of OCD; this happens to be one of them.
If you're not that familiar with OCD, it's simply a chemical imbalance which causes an individual to focus too much on a particular thought.
The great news is there are many ways to overcome this.
Medication is one way.
A knowledgeable doctor will be able to prescribe proper medication to reverse the imbalance.
And, this will help you stop focusing on breathing.
Greg
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please help me since the last six months im suffering from this problem the first 3 months had me thinking about my breath hardly once a day but now im continously thinking about it i dont feel the anxiety when im sleeping and at anytime when im distracted from it pls i want to get rid of this problem help me
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It sounds very much like you may have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder like I do. It's nothing to be afraid of. My symptoms have been in remission for 6-7 years, so I wanted to help others. This is a form of obsession know as somatic obsessions, or sometimes sensorimotor obsessions. A really good physiatrist could help you find medication to lower the symptoms while you work on a variety of therapies (For example, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT, Exposure Prevention Response EPR, and Mindfulness have all been proven to work in patient studies). One key note on mindfulness: since you're obsession are on breathing you'll instead focus on "noticing you're noticing" your breath, or your chest movement and nostril flairs. This keep's you from reinforcing the breathing obsession. But a licensed therapist could help you much more than I can. It's just a mistake I made. I wish you all the best in your recovery and a long happy life... hang in there :)
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I have been going through this since my first grade health teacher told the class that breathing was voluntary. I am 37 now, I do not think it is anxiety or a panic attack as I do not have any other issues associated with those things. I think it is just paralysis by analysis. I focus on my breathing so hard that I cant do it involuntary anymore. When I am going through it I always feel like I am either suffocating or hyperventilating as I am trying to figure out how often to breathe on my own. What works for me is just to think about a million things at once. If I can forget that breathing is voluntary I will be fine until I think about it again. Also the only person I ever told about this is my girl friend, and she definitely uses it as a weapon. Many times after a bed fight I get the remember to breath, and god damn the next 2 hours I am stuck in this hell until I can forget about it.
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I'm the same It feels like I'm going to forget how to breath it's horrible and scary
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Hey i think i also got the same symptoms with you. Its been already a month since i experienced breathing problems and i feared i got something bad going in my lungs cos im coughing . Ive been to the doctor several times but all s just well. I had x rays but it was normal. I think its just post nasal drip since i was also having a runny nose esp. In the morning. Guess its just anxiety or hypochondriasis. Get well soon bro.
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