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Well traditionally breathing into a paper bag was used as a way of dealing with the short term symptoms of panic attacks. When you hyperventilate you need more carbon dioxide (CO2) to normalise the levels in your blood.
However more recent research shows that breathing into a paper bag creates a sharp increase in CO2 that causes MORE panic attacks. Bad news! A more recent approach to hyperventilating is to focus on measured breathing and attempt to lengthen and slow breathing without the aid of a bag. This helps to reduce the panic attack, and also increases the CO2 in your blood but at a much healthier rate. It also avoids the problems of too little Oxygen in the blood caused by breathing into a bag.
So really the answer is, modern science says it doesn't really help much, and it isn't very safe.
Paper bags are used to help regulate your breathing. It controls how much air you breathe in and how much air you breathe out. A close friend was having a bad panic attack one time and I gave her a paper bag to use, which helped her calm down and gave her something to focus on, bringing her back down to earth.
Anonymous
December 25th, 2015 9:18pm
It's all about breathing. When having a panic attack, you need to control your breathing or you'll hyperventilate. Breathing into a paper bag helps to keep your breathing normal.
Anonymous
December 27th, 2015 7:56am
When you have a panic attack generally you are short on breath or breathing to fast, so I belive a paper bag will help you to control your breathing
Anonymous
January 23rd, 2016 8:01pm
They actually helps by resetting your CO2 (carbon dioxide) levels in your blood. Frequently when you are having a panic attack you hyperventilate which can exacerbate the anxiety and also add extra physical sensations. If you don't have a paper bag, fear not, there is another exercise which you can do to reset your carbon dioxide levels as well. Breathe in from your nose for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, then exhale out of your mouth for eight seconds then repeat around 10 times. 4-7-8 breathing is an excellent tool to use and while it may be hard at first to execute, I can promise it is a life saver!
Anonymous
January 29th, 2016 5:53am
they help you focus on your breathing more
It helps you to think about your breathing rather than think about the stressor which is putting you in this state of mind. But don't get used to it. It's not always healthy. In terms of the carbon dioxide it lets you inhale in.
rebreathing Your exhaled 02 will help you from hyperventilating. It also give you focus on your breaths.
Anonymous
April 3rd, 2016 3:56am
Paper bags help with panic attacks because it is a way of managing your breathing patterns. Often during panic attacks, you will hyperventilate of have difficulty breathing normally. The bag helps to control your breaths. It works, trust me!
They give you something to focus on. Ensuring your getting air to breathe. yet they don't always work for everyone.
It helps control your breathing so that you don't take quick little breaths or deep long breaths. Breathing right plays a huge roll in panic attacks.
Anonymous
April 8th, 2016 8:05pm
Paper bags can be great help under panic attacks when you breath rapidly and feel like you loose control. By breathing into a paper bag you can gain back that control as well as your breathing.
Anonymous
April 9th, 2016 8:52pm
I found whenever I had a panic attack they helped control the depth of my breath. Instead of panicking and taking lots of shallow breaths I would focus on filling the bag and then deflating it as slowly as possible and this brings your breathing back under your control
Pursued lip breathing and breathing into paper bags help with reducing anxiety. People who are having anxiety attacks are expelling too many carbons at a time therefore breathing into a paper bag or doing pursed lip breathing are expelling minimum amount or or the regular amount of carbons at a time. Breathing into a paper bag forces the person to expel the carbons they are exchanged with a person, and they release the correct amount.
Anonymous
April 13th, 2016 10:10pm
Breathing into a paper bag forces you to breathe slowly, which helps you to calm down.
Breathing into a paper bag while having a panic attack reminds you to take deep breathes as the bag inflates and deflates.
Anonymous
April 23rd, 2016 6:04pm
Some people believe that it helps you control your breathing better by breathing into a paper bag? Personally I've never done this so I wouldn't know, But it supposively helps.
Anonymous
April 25th, 2016 5:14pm
In the process of a panic attack, the breathing on a regular basis is leveled, but in a panic attack we feel we're short of breath, so in many cases we hyperventilate... this causes that our leveled breath (the equilibrium of O2 and CO2) suffers an alteration, our body takes too much oxygen but not enough dioxide. Paper bags help to breathe CO2 because we're breathing the same air and because it's our exhale is full of CO2 and not oxygen and this helps to stop the feeling of nausea, cramps, etc. This symptoms are caused by a disorder called respiratory alkalosis, and it's a vicious cycle, this leads to more anxiety and that makes you hyperventilate and hyperventilation leads to more respiratory alkalosis and it's pretty dangerous. Hope this was helpful for you
When you're having a panic attack, you can't keep your breathe in. Paper bags slow your breathing, and you can breathe some oxygen in.
Here is a scientific explanation Copied form the web:
When people get anxiety attacks they 'over-breathe'. This lowers the level of carbon dioxide in the blood and that makes them feel worse! Breathing into a paper bag for half a dozen or so breaths, builds up the carbon dioxide in your body again, so you should immediately start feeling better.
Anonymous
April 10th, 2017 12:45am
The paper creates more carbon so you produce more oxygen so it helps your breathing
Panic attacks can be intensified if a person does not get their breathing slowed down. A paper bag can help manage the duration of a breathe which will help someone who is unable to control their breathing during a panic attack.
Anonymous
June 6th, 2017 7:16pm
It has to do with the diaphragm I believe. It kind of forces you to breathe deeper and breathing exercises help with anxiety.
Anonymous
June 12th, 2018 3:27am
In fact, emergency room physicians often tell people suffering panic attacks to breathe into paper bags on the theory that rebreathing exhaled, carbon dioxide-rich air will raise carbon dioxide levels in the blood and stop the panic attack.
Anonymous
March 23rd, 2024 7:15pm
A paper bag can be quite helpful during a panic attack to effectively manage hyperventilation, which is a common symptom of panic attacks.
Hyperventilation leads to a drop in carbon dioxide levels, causing symptoms like lightheadedness and limb tingling.
Breathing into a paper bag allows you to rebreathe your exhaled carbon dioxide, helping stabilize these levels and alleviate such symptoms.
However, this method is only suitable for some and should not replace professional treatment.
It's a temporary measure, and long-term management of panic attacks requires consulting healthcare professionals for tailored advice and treatment options, including therapy and possibly medication.
Lastly, "Always seek professional guidance for effective panic attack management."
They only help if you're hyperventilating. Other times, they give you something to focus on, but they do not directly help panic attacks.
Sometimes panic attacks trigger a response where the individual takes in more oxygen than needed, this response is called hyperventilating. Hyperventilating is one way your body copes with high levels of stress, but not having a balance of oxygen can lead to fainting or a feeling of lightheadedness. In the event of a panic attack a Paper Bag could help control your oxygen levels and help you re-breath exhaled carbon dioxide.
Anonymous
December 10th, 2015 11:52am
It helps by breathing in and out of the bag. By breathing in the bag, Carbon Dioxide is released and so is some Oxygen your lungs didn't take into your body. You keep breathing in and out, with less and less Oxygen released into the bag and going into your lungs. Because of that, your brain and body slows down, therefore slowing your panic attack.
When you have a panic attack, your breathing can become erratic and your body's levels of carbon dioxide can be reduced. Breathing in and out of a paper bag will build up the levels of carbon dioxide again, making you feel better!
•When people get anxiety attacks they 'over-breathe'. This lowers the level of carbon dioxide in the blood and that makes them feel worse! Breathing into a paper bag for half a dozen or so breaths, builds up the carbon dioxide in your body again, so you should immediately start feeling better.
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