Panicking A new way to focus on your breathing

This recent Wall Street Journal article looks at a new strategy for dealing with panic attacks that "[turns] the current treatment for one of the most uncomfortable symptoms -- hyperventilation -- on its head." I'd argue that, during an acute bout of panic, the belief that you're actually, currently in the process of losing your mind or dying -- having a heart attack, or a stroke, etc. -- is far more uncomfortable than the sensation of hyperventilating. But the mental and physical symptoms of panic are pretty much impossible to tease apart fully, so, you know, whatever -- good on the 'ol WSJ. 

The Southern Methodist University research team featured in the article teaches those having panic attacks to take slow, shallow breaths instead of the long, deep breaths more conventionally suggested to counter hyperventilation. Here's how it works:

...hyperventilation is actually a state of "overbreathing." When people breathe faster or more deeply than normal, they breathe off too much of their carbon dioxide, leading to unpleasant symptoms including anxiety and panic, and at the same time leading the body to restrict the amount of oxygen that gets to the brain.

Based on that this understanding of breathing physiology, [the SMU team] reasoned that breathing less—thus boosting carbon dioxide—should reduce hyperventilation and the anxiety-producing sensations that go along with it.

In the new treatment ... people are taught to breathe slower and shallower over four weeks by matching their breathing rate to a series of tones they hear on an audiotape.

Using a capnometer, a machine typically used in hospitals to measure patients' vital signs, patients are taught how to monitor their carbon dioxide and oxygen levels so they can see if they are successfully raising their carbon dioxide levels.

The results of the SMU research are promising, but apparently more research is needed before anyone can say for sure that the technique works better than traditional strategies for stopping hyperventilation. Another problem: unless you happen to have a capnometer lying around the house, you're pretty much out of luck when it comes to giving CART a try.