How do paper bags help with panic attacks?

Great question! Paper bags allow the recirculation of carbon dioxide back into your lungs since it is lost during hyperventilation. When we hyperventilate, we breathe too fast and expel too much carbon dioxide, thus creating the sensation of being smothered. Reintroducing the carbon dioxide allows for thay balance to be achieved. Always remember to consult a physician before taking such steps so that you can be evaluated and if need be, trained to use this method. Remember, we are not physicians here, nor do we advocate or advise such steps.

When you breathe into a paper bag, you are exhaling carbon dioxide into the bag and breathing it back in with oxygen. It lowers your oxygen intake, allowing your heart to slow down and calm your body.

breathing into a paper bag can help you refocus your attention to your breath and bring you back to a calmer state of reality

Paper bags can have multiple uses during panic attacks! If you are hyperventilating, breathing into a paper bag will restrict the amount of oxygen you are inhaling. An excess of oxygen can lead to dizziness and rapid heartbeat. You can also use paper bag breathing as a way of becoming more mindful of your breathing, and truly focus on inhaling, holding and exhaling. It can take as little as one minute of conscious breathing to stop the body's panic response. Paper bags can also be liberally wrung, crinkled or shredded as a way of focusing on a simple task to stop your mind from racing.

Breathing in carbon dioxide is super good for a temporary relaxing feeling. I need 25 more characters to finish this, but it is that simple. It is a fine temporary solution, but if you find yourself doing it all the time, you probably need professional help.

They stop the person inhaling too much oxygen. In turn this dampens the fight or flight response triggered by the sympathetic nervous which is enacted every time we breathe in.

Paper bags are helpful because they increase carbon dioxide levels, but I don't particularly find that to be a good thing. They relieve the symptoms of the breathing difficulty, which can help someone because the breathing issues create more panic. I find a more effective way to deal with the breathing is a calm, measured breathing exercise. This is also scientifically safer, because there isn't a reduction in blood-oxygen levels when using measured breathing. Paper bags are okay, but measured breathing (belly breathing is the most effective tool I've come across for coping with panic attacks) is excellent, in my experience.

Paper bags help with panic attacks as panic attacks can cause people to over breathe. By breathing into a paper bag it builds the carbon dioxide back up in your body, so this should help you feel better.

During a panic attack, you can begin to hyperventilate, which lowers the levels of carbon dioxide levels in your blood which makes you feel even worse. Paper bags help with this by building up the carbon dioxide in your body again.

Sometimes when people become panicky they over breath. This lowers the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood, by breathing into a paper bag 10 times ish, it can help raise Carson dioxide in the blood stream, making you feel better. On a more personal level, I like things I can control, so by breathing into a bag (or blanket for me) I feel more in control of what I'm doing. Counting breathes also helps calm my brain by distracting out from the panic attack itself.