The Possibly Deadly Consequences of Social Media Breathing Challenges

Social media viral breathing challenges may seem harmless, but some can have life-threatening consequences. One of the earliest, “the blackout challenge,” has been around since 2008, and continues to gain traction on TikTok even though it often has devastating results. The challenge requires restricting oxygen flow until loss of consciousness, putting the brain and body at serious risk. At that time, the CDC reported over 80 deaths were linked to the game. The challenge continues to resurface, this time under new names like the “pass-out challenge” and the “choking challenge.”

Recent interest in home wellness hacks has renewed curiosity in breathing challenges. Though these new challenges focus more on the health aspect than the original thrill-seeking objective, they open up a conversation about what oxygen deprivation can do to your body. “It is a common misconception I have heard through the years, that holding your breath increases lung capacity,” Payel Gupta, MD, clinical professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and clinical instructor at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, explained. “But breath-holding doesn’t grow lung tissue or increase lung volume.”

We spoke with her about the dangers of these breathing challenges and what breath work is actually helpful.

The Normal Breathing Process

Before we dive into breathing challenges, it is important to understand how normal breathing works. When you breathe in, it is your body’s job to pull in fresh oxygen and deliver it to your bloodstream which runs throughout your body. As your cells burn oxygen to produce energy, CO₂ is produced as waste. The CO₂ then travels through your bloodstream back to the lungs, where you exhale it. What triggers your respiratory system to perform this vital process is not lack of oxygen, but an excess of CO₂ in the body. “Your brainstem monitors rising CO₂ levels in your blood, and when they climb, that's what creates the "gotta breathe now" sensation,” Dr. Gupta said. “This is exactly why breath-holding challenges are risky: hyperventilating beforehand blows off CO₂, which delays that warning signal even though oxygen is still dropping toward dangerous levels — you can pass out with no prior urge to breathe.”

In general, a healthy person can hold their breath for between 30–90 seconds comfortably. “The baseline depends on O₂ saturation, fitness, and whether someone has underlying heart/lung/blood disease,” Dr. Gupta continued. Competitive breath-holders, like freedivers, train to hold their breath for several minutes, but this is only done under supervision and after specific training. “The real danger isn't a fixed clock but loss of consciousness with no warning once CO₂/O₂ levels cross a threshold.” For divers this can result in a "shallow water blackout.” For challengers, the very high CO₂ (hypercapnia) can cause confusion, drowsiness, and can suppress breathing drive even further.

What Happens When the Body Is Deprived of Oxygen?

The longer your body is deprived of oxygen, the more your heart rate will rise and you will begin to experience other symptoms like lightheadedness and impaired judgment. This can further lead to loss of consciousness and, if it continues, hypoxic brain injury, cardiac arrhythmia and death. “Cell death begins within minutes without oxygen,” said Dr. Gupta. “The brain and heart are the most oxygen-sensitive organs, so even a single severe hypoxic event can cause lasting cognitive or cardiac damage, not just a ‘scary moment’." 

This is not the only danger. Power-breathing trends, which rely on forceful breath-holds, can rupture alveoli, the small pockets in our airways, and cause pneumothorax (collapsed lung) or barotrauma (lung tissue damage). Hyperventilation can cause dizziness, muscle cramps and fainting, which can be extremely dangerous if driving or in water. “None of these trends are targeting anything with real preventive or lung-capacity benefit — they're mimicking either athletic training (free-diving, yoga breathing techniques) or pure spectacle, stripped of the supervision that makes the source practice survivable.”

Can You Increase Your Lung Capacity?

As we stated earlier, holding your breath doesn’t increase lung capacity. But the idea comes from athletes, like free divers, who practice holding their breath for a long period of time. “What breath-holding practice actually trains is your body’s ability to tolerate carbon dioxide and the brain's response to rising carbon dioxide levels in the blood, not the lungs themselves,” said Dr. Gupta. 

Total lung capacity, or the amount of air your body can hold, is largely determined by chest wall/diaphragm mechanics and body size. So, “any gains in lung capacity come from aerobic conditioning, diaphragmatic breathing training, and in some cases inspiratory muscle training devices — not holding your breath longer.”

But some science-backed breath work, like slow diaphragmatic breathing and paced breathing techniques. have been found to reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure and modestly improve asthma control. “The evidence is much stronger for "slow it down" practices than for anything involving breath-holding or hyperventilation stunts.” 

Safe breathing exercises include:

• Diaphragmatic (belly) breathing — improves respiratory efficiency, especially helpful in asthma/COPD
• Pursed-lip breathing — reduces air trapping, used clinically in COPD
• Box breathing (4-4-4-4 count) — no breath-holding to the point of distress; used for stress and to calm your nervous system
• Incentive spirometry — a handheld clinical tool you breathe into for lung expansion post-surgery
• Aerobic exercise — the single best evidence-backed way to improve functional lung capacity over time
• Pranayama practiced with instruction — some techniques have evidence for stress and mild asthma symptom control when taught properly, not learned from a viral clip

The Danger of Unsupervised Health Challenges

When searching for ways to improve your lung capacity, it is important to remember that everyone’s body is different. How long someone can safely hold their breath is very patient-specific. “Someone with asthma, heart arrhythmia, or seizure history can have a very different risk threshold than a healthy 25-year-old, and no viral video is going to know which one you are,” said Dr. Gupta. 

The main problem is that performing any breathing exercises without consulting your doctor first can have serious consequences. “The unifying issue is that these clips show people doing things that do not make sense when you look at the way the body functions,” Dr. Gupta concluded. “These viral trends compress or omit the training, supervision, and individual risk screening that make the "real" version of these practices survivable in professional settings.”

Learn more about how your lungs work and safe breathing exercises on our website.