Manual breathing

[odessa]

Hi,
My name is John. I suffer from manual/conscience breathing. I have been thru so much since 2001 including losing my 8 year old Daughter. Mother, Father in law and several close friends. We live in my Moms home but are scorned by the family for some reason. We will soon be moving due to the stress of this area.

I manual breathe far too often and almost always obsess over my breathing. My chest gets tight and it is hard to inhale. I have had my lungs checked twice
and was told it is the massive stress/anxiety I an going through. The doctor prescribed lorazepam which keeps me calm but when it starts wear off it's back to manual breathing.

I do treadmill everyday with no problems. When I am occupied which is very hard to do with this and massive anxiety normal. I also breathe normal on the rare occasion I can relax.

I dread going to bed because I think I will manually breathe and have the tight chest and ab muscles so Don't sleep good. I am trying to find a doctor but I just feel alone and like I am going crazy...

[LiveAboveIt]

You're not alone. I have the very same problem. I wish I had the answers or something that I could say to make it go away.. But all I can do is reassure you that you aren't alone and you aren't crazy. And I'm so sorry about everything you have gone through. It's tough losing those you love.

[odessa]

Thank you for your response. I truly hope we can overcome this nightmare. I will be thinking of you and praying for you.

[LiveAboveIt]

Going through a lot of this lately. Wish I could find a way to just be okay with it. It instills a lot of weird fear right now, like I'm not breathing right or something. But I don't notice it when I'm distracted, which makes it equally as weird that it bothers me so much when it's happening. Like I can't breathe or something.

[Prospector]

Well, that's key to solving the whole problem for you. The problem is absolutely nothing to do with your breathing, and it never will be. It's not even to do with you thinking about breathing (occasionally or repeatedly) . I can do that right now with no problem, and then move my mind on to something else with ease.
What is causing your problem is your interpretation of you thinking about breathing. The interpretation is leading to some sort of perception of danger, as if thinking about breathing is a bad thing, or that by thinking about it; there are imaginary negative consequences. By understanding this logic, and being aware of this logic as the negative thought cycle begins; you'll be able to reduce the fear. Without the fear/anxiety, thinking about it holds no meaning, and the entire problem will disappear. People can be stuck in mindsets for years, decades even, but exiting these mindsets is easy if alternatives are brought in to your conscious awareness.

It goes for every type of 'OCD'. It's all about fear, and nothing to do with the topics of the thoughts. I've noticed this over the years, and it's why I haven't had these kinds of thoughts for a long time.