Now why did they not release this story before the 2008 Financial collapse...

Thank You, I was a paramedic and our protocol was deep breath. I also have occasional panick attacks,once every 2 or 3 years, but I know when it is happening I am sure I am going to die. Now I know not to deep breathe. Thank you so much.

Learning to slow down the breathing rate is part of mastering panic/anxiety attacks. I was taught to breathe in for 2 counts and out for 4 counts as a way to create a relaxed state. Belly breaths from the diaphragm rather than shallow breaths from the chest is a better way to breathe and establish control.

Deep breathing has always had the opposite effect on me. It just goes to remind me that I'm having a panic attack, which makes everything worse. The only things that help me:

- Get to a place where you're alone and unlikely to be disturbed (a bathroom or dressiing room, your car, far corner of a store, etc).

- Take some Ativan (or Valerian if you can't get a script for Ativan).

- Eat some sugary candy (Pez and M&Ms are portable and non-messy) in case you're actually having a hypoglycemic episode (those and panic attacks are very hard to tell apart, even to a veteran like myself).

- Remember that the attacks only last for a minute or two. They're scary as hell (trust me, I've been there!), but the worst is over. It only gets better from there.

- Do your best to distract yourself. I had a panic attack in a bookstore because someone outside the store vomited (the BIGGEST panic trigger for me), and once I took my "cocktail", I milled around the store and read a bunch of books. Putting on my nerd suit, I get absorbed in them and figure that if some superhero can stay cool with a cache of guns in his face, I can walk out of the store after the mess has been cleaned up (albiet swiftly and holding my breathe XD).

- Treat yourself to a little book or something afterwards. Panic attacks suck. You deserve a reward. :)

Been doing this for over 40 years without knowing it had a name. Just learned it...somehow. Works great.

That why you breathe into a paper bag. You can still breathe hard, but the oxygen level drops and soon the dizziness and trembling and heart palpitations go away.

Very simple. It's worked for decades.

This is exactly what the Buteyko people have been teaching for at least 20 years in the west, and over 50 years inside Russia. One difference is that capnometry is done without expensive equipment, just using breath hold time. The method has now been verified in several clinical trials for its effectiveness on Asthma and as a consequence has made it into the "British Guidelines on the Management of Asthma".

If the medical literature on chronic hyperventilation is anything to go by, we have only just scratched the surface and are certain to see far wider application of reduced breathing techniques for managing many chronic diseases.

When we look back and really examine periods of chaos in our lives we see that the periods of uncertainty were also the phases of growth that led us to where we are today.

The one thing you have control over is yourself. Your emotions and the way you react to those emotions are entirely in your hands. Your life will unfold according to your reaction to it. So stay mindful of the present.