If you huff and puff constantly, why?

[TheChewdors]

Genuine question. And yes, I know that in some cases it might be down to a medical condition. But if it’s not due to medical reasons, why do you do it?

I went into town earlier and came across two people, in separate shops, who were looking around, and constantly huffing and sighing. Then I went into a third shop, and the woman serving me was sighing loudly as she served me.

I think, unless it’s for a medical reason, that it’s actually pretty rude and anti social to walk around doing it!

Maybe people just huff and puff around you? Which is why you notice it so much?

I live with one. It’s awful.

My partner does, and doesn’t know he’s doing it. Drives me nuts, lol.

I know a man at work who does this huffs and puffs. I actually asked him one day was he ok due to the huffing and puffing. He is a lazy man and if he put more effort into his work and less into huffing and puffing about the place it might work out better for him.

Anxiety. I sigh a lot when I feel a bit short of breath. I started reading about anxiety and a lot of people were saying they sighed all the time without even noticing they did it. I feel like just cos you brought it up I'm going to be doing it all day now😆

Pain, depression, menopause, grief, trauma, bad habit from family/friends. I don't think people realise they're doing it for the most part.

The french have a saying for that: Coeur qui soupire n’a pas ce qu’il désire…
meaning that your heart sighs when it hasn’t got what he wants.
i am 100% guilty of that.. For me, it is an expression of my frustration

There’s many reasons.

I’d rather be not at work?

I have a headache.

I have a stomachache.

My knee hurts.

It’s X amount of weeks until my next holiday.

I’m perimenopausal.

I need to buy groceries before going home and then cook dinner for family.

I have teenagers

One of my cats pissed on the floor next to the litter tray and I ended up being late for work cleaning it up.

Only 20 more years before retirement?

I worry sometimes about my 80 year old mother.

One of my favourite houseplants has died with no explanation.

My rear driver side tyre has a slow puncture.

someone or something has pissed me off and I’m thinking about it.

It’s not 1998 anymore.

Youngest child has messaged seven times that morning with ridiculous, increasingly shrill queries.

Youngest child messages one more time with no apology but asking for money.

The 90degree fused curve in my thoracic spine impedes my lung function.

I do it a lot, and apparently I hold my breath too then I suddenly gasp for air. No idea why and didn't realise I did until my DC told me. I think I do it more when I'm tired/exhausted.

Because I’m pregnant and hot!

Same with me! It's catching too, like yawning. In fact reading about it here is making me do it all the more 😄

You don’t tut because you’re English!. I don’t walk around tutting at everyone and neither do any other English people I know.. It’s not a cultural trait you do it because you’re rude

I do it occasionally. I have a tendency to hold my breath at times without realising (especially if thinking or concentrating about something) then I take a deep breath and sigh when I either realise I need to breath or my thoughts move onto another subject.

Humans are varied - some people yawn, smile, blink or sigh more than others. Some people are naturally less inclined to do these things, others are conditioned more strongly to suppress them.

Sighing is a natural human response and can be helpful for both emotional and physical reasons.

If the employee was sighing and eye rolling, they may be a) prone to it b) have a general reason not related to work c) be having a bad day d) be serving a particularly annoying person.

I don’t do it but know people who do and I find it really irritating and passive-aggressive. It’s the same as people who constantly exaggerate their blocked nose or sore throat so you ask them what’s wrong 😑

I sigh all the time. It’s just how I breathe. I’m sure there’s a medical reason but I’m not going to the dr to get my sighing sorted. Waaayyy to minor to bother the GP about.

I do it when I am doing a household chore that I am not enjoying, but would not do it in public or at work. My colleague does it at work and I think it makes her look unprofessional, along with many other things she does to be honest.

Are you a very trying person? The type who gets in other people's way a lot? Takes multiple items to the till them ums and aahs about them, declines a bag, then asks for one when the purchase is complete, asks if 'while you're there' you could get a refund on an item you bought last year, rummages endlessly for your purse, then wants to pay with a voucher that expired last week?

I sigh because life contains many annoyances. Sometimes I'm annoyed with myself (why did I forget my sunglasses!), sometimes with the situation (why is the supermarket out of the one ingredient I want) and sometimes with, yes, YOU (why has the woman in front of me only started rummaging in her bag for her purse when she got to the till instead of preparing to pay efficiently so we can all get on with our days).

I find myself doing it occasionally when I’m busy later in the day if by then I have completely overextended myself physically. It might be that. I agree that passive aggressive isn’t acceptable. People are responsible for their own behaviour.

Because my cardiologist told me to reduce my stress levels and sighing/huffing helps when people annoy me.

That's interesting. I'm a prolific yawner triggered particularly by exercise and warm stuffy rooms. Apparently yawning can be a cooling mechanism.
In 6th form there was a particular (hut) classroom that was awful for setting me off. I loved the subject and was fully engaged but the yawning was chronic. It still gets me in certain classrooms which is somewhat awkward as a teacher!

I also carry a lot of random muscle tension through my body and intermittent deep breaths can help with that.

I didnt realise I did this until a colleague said it to me one day. Once he drew my attention to it I realised I do it a few times a day. Its certainly not a passive aggressive or performative thing, I do occasionally have anxiety and disordered breathing so I think it comes from that. I shallow breathe and then have to take a big breath.
I also have psoriatic arthritis so groan if I have to bend over! My poor family :)

I mean, there was one common denominator in both your encounters with people who seemed to be pissed off…

Because all have to express irritation occasionally, just to avoid going insane, and failing to repress a small sigh is generally less upsetting for the object of one’s annoyance than simply grabbing them by the shoulders and saying “Christ, you’re a cunt”.