Shortness of breath, now with more anxiety ∞

Here’s an excerpt from an anxiety-focused update to my shortness of breath article, which has become freakishly popular lately. Maybe it correlates with the American election.

Anxiety — excessive worry, either too much, or too long, or both — is a surprisingly potent and amazingly common cause of many odd symptoms. Shortness of breath and chest pain are among the most frequently reported of those. Although it’s common, anxiety is badly neglected as an explanation for many problems. Even though it’s almost the same thing as “stress,” many people don’t recognize that they are anxious, or they deny it or minimize it. And many people just don’t know that shortness of breath can be caused by anxiety! It really can.

Of course, many people don’t even recognize that they are anxious in the first place — or they deny it or minimize it! — let alone the weird symptoms it can cause (including plenty of pain).