You’ve heard of sleep apnea, where you stop breathing in your sleep.

You may even have it.

Do you have “screen” apnea?

The NY Times says it happens when you’re too focused on screens.

You don’t stop breathing altogether but you might sometimes hold your breath without realizing it or just take shallower breaths.

It’s part of our body’s stress response to any sort of stimuli as our nervous system kicks into gear (just in case there’s a threat) and then our body responds by slowing our breathing to help us focus.

Cats do it when they’re stalking prey…right before they pounce, they tend to freeze and hold their breath.

And, apparently, so do we when we get a email, text, or Slack message.

In other words, we’re constantly overstimulated, we tend to get jumpy and go into a “chronic state of threat” that leaves you feeling exhausted and drained every day.

Here’s a trick that might help though:  If you catch yourself holding your breath, try SIGHING out loud studies show it might help reset your breathing and get you to start taking deeper breaths again.