What You Need to Know About Asthma and Anxiety

When you have asthma, your airways (bronchial tubes) can become inflamed. If you encounter triggers, such as allergens, exercise, or temperature changes, your airways become even more inflamed, making them tighten. This makes it hard to breathe, causing symptoms such as:

• shortness of breath
• wheezing
• coughing
• chest tightness

Asthma symptoms can also be worse at night, causing you to wake up frequently. Medications for asthma may also cause insomnia.

Anxiety, on the other hand, is a mental health condition. Unlike occasional worries or fears, an anxiety disorder may cause a wide range of physical symptoms as well.

There are several types of anxiety disorders. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most common. With GAD, you may experience the following symptoms on most days for 6 months or longer:

• difficulty controlling fears and worries
• concentration difficulties
• restlessness and fatigue
• insomnia
• irritability
• muscle tension

If you have an anxiety (or panic) attack, it’s also possible to experience breathing difficulties. Panic disorders may also cause shortness of breath and choking sensations.

Below is a quick chart to help you determine the key similarities and differences between asthma and anxiety:

While asthma and anxiety are two separate conditions, it’s possible to have both at the same time. A flareup of one condition may also exacerbate the other.

Anxiety-induced asthma

There are numerous possible asthma triggers, including strong emotions such as stress and anxiety. Such strong emotions can change your breathing patterns — with or without asthma. You may even start experiencing faster breathing or breathlessness.

When you do have asthma, any worries, fears, or anger that may be associated with an anxiety attack could trigger breathing problems. You may find that calming breathing techniques, as well as anxiety treatments, could help improve your asthma symptoms over time.

How asthma induces anxiety

On the other hand, asthma may sometimes worsen anxiety symptoms. This may be especially true if you have severe, uncontrolled asthma that’s difficult to manage.

Severe asthma may significantly impact your quality of life. This can cause more anxiety over missing work, school, and regular activities. Such unpredictability in your asthma management may also lead to increased fears and worries over traveling too far from your home and medical equipment.

Additionally, research shows that some people living with asthma may experience limited coping strategies and unhelpful thinking patterns, which may induce anxiety symptoms. Managing mild and moderate asthma may also lead to better anxiety outcomes.

Without treatment and management, anxiety may lead to poor asthma control, and asthma may increase your symptoms of anxiety. It’s important to recognize the differences, while also getting treatments that can help you manage each condition.

Medical treatments for asthma and anxiety

Asthma and anxiety treatments involve different medications. Depending on your own situation, you may need multiple treatments to help you manage your condition(s).

Asthma may be treated with:

• a quick-relief inhaler to manage/prevent an asthma attack
• a nebulizer, especially in children
• oral, inhaled, or intravenous (IV) corticosteroids
• inhaled anticholinergics
• leukotriene modifiers
• biologic injections
• cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), though more research is needed

Anxiety is treated with a combination of:

• talk therapy (psychotherapy), such as CBT
• anti-anxiety medications
• antidepressants
• beta-blockers

Other treatments

You shouldn’t replace any prescribed medications for alternative treatments, but certain complementary therapies can help you manage asthma and anxiety.

Breathing exercises are a mainstay of pulmonary rehabilitation techniques for lung diseases such as asthma. By retraining the way you breathe, you may be able to improve overall lung function and subsequent asthma symptoms.

The American Lung Association recommends practicing the following exercises each day, for 5 to 10 minutes at a time:

• Belly/diaphragmatic breathing. With your hands on your stomach, breathe in and out through your nose. Feel how your stomach rises on the inhalation, and falls on each exhalation. Exhale up to two to three times longer than your inhalation. Keep your shoulders and neck relaxed during the process.
• Pursed lip breathing. To complete this exercise, breathe in through your nose, and then exhale through your mouth, keeping your lips pursed. As with belly breathing, your exhalation should be at least two times longer than your inhalation.

Mindful breathing patterns may also help you see improvements in anxiety-induced asthma. If you feel anxiety or stress coming on, consider a 7-7-7 breathing technique, where you:

1. Inhale for 7 counts (seconds).
2. Hold your breath for 7 seconds.
3. Exhale for another 7.

Regular exercise, rest, and a healthy diet may also improve anxiety-induced asthma.

Aerobic exercise may be particularly helpful for anxiety symptoms, but it’s important to choose activities that won’t exacerbate your asthma. Some of the best choices for exercise-induced asthma (EIA) include swimming, walking, and biking.

Asthma and anxiety are both common comorbidities, with each one potentially exacerbating the other. Still, it’s important to recognize the key differences between these two separate conditions for better management, and so you know when to get treatment.

Anxiety can lead to breathing difficulties, making your asthma symptoms worse. At the same time, uncontrolled asthma symptoms can increase stress about your ability to breathe, possibly leading to long-term anxiety.

If you suspect you have asthma, anxiety, or both, talk with your doctor about your symptoms and a treatment plan that may help you break the asthma-anxiety cycle.