Hello everyone, I'm making this post because I wanted to talk to people who may have the same condition I have and I would love to hear about their experience with it and how they cope. Also the idea of Anxiety Induced Shortness of Breath like what I've been experiencing seemed absurd to me and so hopefully this post can shed some more light on it.

About a year ago I went to bed one night having difficulty breathing, and have thus been experiencing constant shortness of breath ever since. Recently it was determined I have shortness of breath caused by anxiety. This was shocking to me because the idea that my shortness of breath can be caused psychologically is something that seemed absurd. When I hear "Shortness of Breath caused by anxiety", I think of panic attacks and breathing issues caused by extreme stress, not the never-ending air hunger I have. I have pretty much gone through all tests that can be done for breathing issues. I'm in the military so I was fortunate enough to quickly be booked for appointments. After many many appointments, it was determined that my symptoms and normal test results meant the breathing issues are being caused by anxiety. Despite it only being confirmed now, I have been going through treatment for that possibility since the start of the year.

The reason it was hard wrapping my head around having anxiety induced shortness of breath, was because I always thought I was very mentally resilient. In addition to this, I didn't feel unhealthily anxious, I have my moments of stress such as making a near deadline, but I also have my relaxing and fun moments. Also the shortness of breath never felt like something I can control, no matter how hard I tried. Now being confirmed to have this condition, and having been given many breathing exercises and mental health resources, I am still unable to improve my shortness of breath. I have noticed that the more stressed I get, the worst it usually is, however its bad sometimes even when I'm completely relaxed. For a while I thought it could be caused by my childhood, which was very traumatic. However, I've spoken to a social worker for a while now and have had numerous sessions confronting those experiences and while I feel much better and mentally fit, the breathing issues have not improved.

For the most part, I've learned to live with it, however I want to breath normally again. If anyone can relate to this condition and is willingly to share their experience with it, I would love to hear from you in the comments below or privately. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this.