People trying to quit smoking, reduce alcohol use or overcome drug addiction often face intense cravings that make recovery difficult.
A new review suggests that something as simple as controlled breathing may help.
The research, published in Addiction, found that breathing exercises can produce small but meaningful reductions in cravings across many different types of substance use.
Addiction is a long-term medical condition that changes how the brain responds to rewards, stress and self-control.
Cravings are one of the biggest reasons people relapse after trying to quit. While medicines and counselling remain the main treatments, researchers continue searching for simple, low-cost tools that can provide extra support.
Scientists from Monash University reviewed 20 previous studies involving 1,249 participants. Instead of testing one breathing method, they examined several approaches, including heart rate variability biofeedback, resonant breathing, yogic breathing, rhemercise, breathing that mimics smoking and three-part breathing.
Heart rate variability biofeedback teaches people to match their breathing to their heart rhythm using a sensor. Resonant breathing aims for a similar slow breathing pattern, usually around six breaths each minute, without needing special equipment. Other techniques use slow breathing combined with different breathing patterns or body awareness.
After combining all of the available evidence, the researchers found that controlled breathing consistently reduced cravings for nicotine, alcohol, opioids, stimulants and several other substances. The improvements were generally small but statistically reliable.
The review also compared different styles of breathing. Heart rate variability biofeedback showed the strongest evidence when people practised over multiple sessions, suggesting it may help reduce long-term cravings. Simpler breathing methods appeared especially useful for providing quick relief during a single session when cravings suddenly appeared.
Evidence for reducing withdrawal symptoms and dependence was less certain because relatively few studies measured these outcomes. However, some studies suggested potentially large improvements, encouraging researchers to investigate further.
Scientists believe slow breathing may help by calming the body’s stress response. Addiction cravings are often triggered by anxiety, emotional distress or stressful situations. Slow, controlled breathing can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, sometimes called the body’s relaxation system, lowering heart rate and helping people regain emotional control.
One important advantage is accessibility. Most breathing exercises require no expensive equipment and can be practised almost anywhere. Because most adults own a smartphone, researchers believe future breathing programmes delivered through mobile apps could become an affordable addition to standard addiction treatment.
The authors emphasise that breathing exercises should not replace medical treatment, counselling or medicines when these are needed. Instead, they appear most useful as an additional strategy that people can use alongside professional care.
This review provides encouraging evidence that controlled breathing may become a practical tool for managing addiction cravings. Although the average benefit was modest, the methods are inexpensive, safe and easy to learn.
Larger clinical trials with longer follow-up are still needed to determine which breathing techniques work best, how often they should be practised and which groups of patients benefit the most.
If you care about alcoholism, please read studies that your age may decide whether alcohol is good or bad for you, and people over 40 need to prevent dangerous alcohol/drug interactions.
For more information about alcohol, please see recent studies about moderate alcohol drinking linked to high blood pressure, and results showing this drug combo shows promise for treating alcoholism.
