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Do blood phobia patients hyperventilate during exposure by breathing faster, deeper, or both?
Thomas Ritz1, Frank H Wilhelm, Alicia E Meuret
1Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75205, USA. tritz@smu.edu
Depression and Anxiety
|December 17, 2008
Summary
Patients with blood-injection-injury (BII) phobia hyperventilate through deep, irregular breathing, not faster breathing, which may cause fainting. This breathing pattern should be targeted in BII phobia treatments.
Area of Science:
- Psychophysiology
- Respiratory Medicine
- Phobia Research
Background:
- Blood-injection-injury (BII) phobia patients exhibit hyperventilation when exposed to feared stimuli.
- Hyperventilation is defined as increased minute ventilation exceeding metabolic demand, caused by altered breathing frequency or depth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specific breathing pattern components (frequency vs. depth) contributing to hyperventilation in BII phobia.
- To compare breathing patterns in BII phobia patients and non-anxious controls during stimulus exposure.
Main Methods:
- Respiratory inductance plethysmography was used to record breathing patterns in 12 BII phobia patients and 14 controls.
- Participants viewed emotionally varied film clips and engaged in leg muscle tension during some clips.
Main Results:
- BII phobia patients showed significantly increased minute ventilation during surgery films, driven by deeper and more irregular tidal volumes, not respiration rate.
- Leg muscle tension elevated ventilation but less than phobia-induced hyperventilation.
- Deeper breathing correlated with increased dizziness and faintness symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Hyperventilation in BII phobia is characterized by excessively deep and irregular breathing, potentially leading to fainting.
- Behavioral interventions for BII phobia should address these dysfunctional breathing patterns.
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