Guide · anxiety · 3 min read
Breathing exercises that help during panic — a practical guide, when you cannot concentrate on anything else
Deep breathing is the wrong advice during panic. What helps is a longer exhale and something concrete to count.
Start here
The order matters less than doing the first one tonight. Start there and come back to the rest.
When concentration is gone, work with what is left.
If you only do one thing from this page, do the first point below. It is first because it removes the most friction for the least effort.
What helps
Count out loud if you can. Speaking forces a slower, more normal breathing pattern than thinking does.
Do not wait until the peak to practise. Doing four rounds on a normal afternoon is what makes it available at the peak.
Make the out-breath longer than the in-breath. Four in, six or eight out is enough. The exhale is the part that shifts things.
What to do when it does not work
Put one hand on your ribs and one on your belly so you can feel which one is moving. This gives your attention a job that is not "am I dying".
A physiological sigh — one inhale, a second short sip of air on top, then a long release through the mouth — often works in one or two rounds.
Questions people ask
Does this replace treatment?
No. Breathing exercises are a coping tool. Panic disorder responds well to CBT and, in some cases, medication. Talk to a professional.
What if I feel more dizzy?
Stop and breathe normally. Dizziness during breathing exercises usually means you are breathing too hard or holding too long.
Written for people who want the practical version. No accounts, no tracking, no newsletter wall.
If this is not the angle you need, try Tired eyes after a long day of screens — where to start, when the day has been loud, Preparing for a conversation you are dreading, without the usual advice, if you have done this a hundred times or The five minutes after a difficult meeting — a straightforward guide, when you are doing this for the first time.