To understand the
importance of breath in recovering from anxiety, one first has to understand
the brain and the function of its parts.
Anxiety, or fear,
originates in two areas of the brain.
The first is the
Limbic system where, in addition to helping store emotional memories, the
amygdala - (about the same size and shape
as an almond) - is constantly on the lookout for danger. Working with the hippocampus, the amygdala
compares everything we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel with significant memories
of everything we’ve ever experienced.
When it finds a match and the match is labeled as a danger, the amygdala
triggers a fear response, preparing the body for flight or fight by activating
the release of epinephrine (adrenaline), cortisol, and other chemicals into our
system.
And the thing about
the amygdala is, it has no cognitive ability, meaning it can’t think and has no
sense of time, and being so, it can’t tell the difference between a real current
threat or an old memory or nightmare.
That’s why telling yourself you shouldn’t be anxious rarely works.
The second area
that fear originates from was discovered by research conducted at the
University of Iowa; “Fear and panic in humans with bilateral amygdala damage”
(2013 - Feinstein, et al). Their investigation indicated that fear could
be induced in persons whose amygdalae were damaged by having them breath an air
mixture with low oxygen and high carbon dioxide – and it worked by producing
intense fear in people who had never felt fear before. As one test subject said of the experience; “it was the number one, worst feeling ever.”
This fear reaction takes place in the
brainstem, and is a response to a lack of oxygen within the complex Autonomic
Nervous System (ANS). Basically, the ANS
detects a lack of oxygen in the bloodstream and sends the fear message that the
body is dying.
By looking at these
two systems and the body’s reaction to anxiety/fear, one can see how low grade
anxiety, originating in the amygdala, can trigger a full out panic attack,
launched by the ANS; As we begin to feel anxious, our breathing becomes more
rapid and shallow. Less oxygen reaches
the lower part of our lungs and the bloodstream becomes starved for oxygen and
polluted with carbon dioxide. Muscle
cells in our body send signals to our ANS and the ANS escalates the moderate
anxiety to a full panic attack. It
becomes a cycle of fear that is overwhelming.
Pretty scary stuff.
Through two
complimentary systems; the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), which is
responsible for the fear response, and; the Parasympathetic Nervous System
(PNS), which calms things down, the ANS controls respiration, heart rate, blood
pressure, blood flow, body temperature, et cetera. Of all the functions the SNS and PNS control,
that control can only be overridden consciously in one area: respiration. We can control our breathing to speed up or
slow down, to be shallow or deep.
And this is where
breathing comes in as part of treatment for anxiety and anxiety disorders.
While the SNS might
be gearing up for a knee-shaking panic attack, we can counter its effects by
practicing measured diaphragmatic breathing, also known as “belly
breathing”. Instead of drawing air into
the lungs by expanding the chest, we draw air deep into the lungs by pushing
the belly out and pulling down on the diaphragm. The technique I teach my clients is to
breathe in through the nose to a slow count of five seconds while expanding the
belly, hold for one second, then blow it out through the mouth as though they
were trying to blow the seeds off a dandelion – again, for about five
seconds. The reason for this is twofold;
Not only does it draw oxygen rich air deep into the lungs, it also pushes out
the carbon dioxide that has pooled in the bottom of the lungs.
In addition to
feeding the body the oxygen it needs, it also activates the PNS which reacts to
the slower breathing rate and starts to calm other things down by lowering the
heart rate and blood pressure, dilating blood vessels, et cetera.
You can try it
right now by repeating this measured diaphragmatic breathing method three
times. By the end of the third slow, measured, deep breath, you should start to
feel it in your body – often as a warming sensation in the large muscles.
In my practice as a
Multimodal Therapist, I can employ a wide range of therapeutic approaches so
long as they have proven efficacy, and given the positive research into
breathing, Mindfulness, and Yoga, I integrate one or more of these when treating
clients with anxiety issues to address their symptoms.
Of course, therapy
doesn’t end there; once a client has their anxiety under some level of conscious
control, we can then begin to explore where the anxiety originates from and
choose a treatment plan to address those origins.
Aaron D.
McClelland, RPC – www.interiorcounselling.com/aaron
