The syndrome of hyperventilation is a psychosomatic disorder, in which a wrong breathing pattern is responsible for a multitude of complaints. The thesis that breathing therapy could possibly lead to improvement or even removal of the complaints, has been investigated. In this investigation the effect has been explored of: relaxation therapy (involuntary breathing-regulation), relaxation and breathing therapy (voluntary breathing-regulation), and no therapy (control group). All groups were given an informative brochure and an informative dialogue with an explanation of the complaints. Both therapies proved to be significantly effective in comparison to the control group. The frequency as well as the intensity of the attacks appeared to decrease significantly by breathing therapy compared to relaxation therapy alone. The control group got worse. Apart from a short description of the investigation and the results, we will enter the psychological and physiological aspects of the syndrome of hyperventilation as well as the implications for therapy.

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