WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS: THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTENTION TO CORRECT BREATHING

Here is another extract from the Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry (1983):

This shows again the importance of attention to correct breathing. Over-breathing is breathing in a rapid and shallow way which results in a fall in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood. The resultant symptoms include dizziness, tinnitus (noises in the ears), headache, a feeling of weakness, faintness, numbness and tingling in the hands, feet, and face, carpopedal spasms (severe cramp in hands and feet), and precordial discomfort (area of the chest over the heart). There is also a feeling of breathless-ness which may prolong the condition. When a patient has unexplained bodily symptoms, the possibility of persistent overbreathing should always be borne in mind.

The anxious person tends to overbreathe, whilst the depressed person often takes a short in-breath and has a long sighing out-breath.

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