Your lung condition and anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of fear, worry, or unease that goes on for some time, and can get in the way of you enjoying life.

Studies suggest that anxiety is common when people have a long-term condition, including a long-term lung condition. A lot of things can cause anxiety, and anxiety affects people in different ways.

Some people may experience panic attacks, social phobia, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), particularly following a traumatic hospital admission. 

Sometimes there may be no clear reason why you feel anxious. 

Anxiety can have a lot of different symptoms, both physical and emotional.

The NHS has more information about anxiety, fear and panic and a full list of the signs and symptoms of anxiety.

If you haven’t had anxiety before it can feel scary. But there’s a lot of organisations offering help and support. 

Feeling anxious could make your lung symptoms feel worse, because anxiety can change the way you breathe and cause symptoms.

When you’re anxious, you might feel more emotional or have panic attacks. Being extremely anxious could cause flare-ups of your lung condition or asthma attacks.

Anxiety is also linked to stress, and when you’re stressed: 

• you might not take your medicines as prescribed 
• if you have asthma, you’re more likely to react to your usual asthma triggers.
• you may smoke more,  which can put you at more risk of lung symptoms.

Anxiety can affect our body, thoughts, and feelings in different ways. 

Feeling breathless may make you feel more anxious, which in turn may make your breathlessness worse, starting up a cycle that can feel hard to get out of:

A panic attack is a sudden and extreme attack of anxiety. Panic attacks are when your feelings of anxiety get worse suddenly.  

In a panic attack you can get a lot of physical symptoms very quickly. For example, your heart might beat more quickly, or you may feel sweaty, sick, or shaky. You might feel you are short of breath.  

The charity Mind have more information about panic attacks, including advice on what to do during a panic attack. 

Is it a panic attack or an asthma attack?

It can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between an asthma attack and panic attack.

This is because they have some similar symptoms, like difficulty breathing, wheezing, a tight chest, and dizziness. They can also both make you feel anxious.

But it’s very important to know the differences between them so that you can get the right help.

You're having an asthma attack if:

• your reliever inhaler is not helping or it is not lasting 4 hours at a time
• you find it difficult to walk or talk
• you find it difficult to breathe
• you’re wheezing a lot, or you have a very tight chest, or you’re coughing a lot
• your peak flow score is much lower than usual.

If you have any of these symptoms, follow our steps on what to do if you’re having an asthma attack.

If you’re having a panic attack, you might:

• find it difficult to breathe
• have chest pain
• feel sick, faint, or dizzy
• get pins and needles or a tingling or numbing feeling in your fingers
• feel very hot or sweat or get hot flushes.

You should make an appointment with your healthcare professional after your symptoms have improved. They can help you to understand whether you had an asthma attack or a panic attack. 

We also have more information on what to do after you have an asthma attack.

It might seem scary to be told that you had a panic attack, especially if you’ve not had one before. But there is help available for managing them. Talk to a healthcare professional about the steps you should take when you’re having a panic attack. 

There are a lot of things that can help you to manage your anxiety symptoms, such as:

• getting active
• doing breathing exercises
• connecting with others who have had similar experiences of anxiety on our HealthUnlocked forum
• self-help therapies that you can try on your own to help with problems like stress and anxiety. Have a look at the NHS website for more information.

It’s a good idea to try different things because what works for other people might not work for you, and the other way round.

Get more ideas on self-care for your emotional well-being.

Talk to your GP, nurse or healthcare team about how you’re feeling. They can offer you support and help you to manage your mental health. 

They may suggest:

• talking treatments, counselling, or therapy – cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is often used to treat anxiety 
• antidepressants or other medication, you can discuss which type is right for you with your doctor – but they should offer you talking therapy alongside medication too
• pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) – research has shown PR improves not only your fitness, but your mental well-being.

The charity Mind has more advice about how to seek help for a mental health problem. 

The NHS has more detailed information on treatment for generalised anxiety disorder in adults.