How Carbon Dioxide Affects Mental Symptoms in Humans

Your mental condition at any given time is affected by nearly countless factors. One thing that affects how a person's mind is functioning is the type of air that he is breathing. Air that is too high in various substances creates different states in the mind, and that includes when the brain receives more carbon dioxide (CO2) than normal.

CO2 Shortage - Confusion

• The body and the brain expect a certain amount of carbon dioxide to be in the body at all times. When that standard level is disrupted, it sets off a chain reaction of symptoms based on the lack of CO2. Confusion is one symptom that appears when people have too little carbon dioxide reaching their brains. This symptom appears when people hyperventilate. This causes too much oxygen and too little carbon dioxide to circulate through the body.

CO2 Shortage - Anxiety

• Having a shortage of carbon dioxide in the brain, whether from hyperventilation or other root causes, leads in some cases to feelings of anxiety. These manifest in various ways. Some people feel stressed, others anxious and some report feeling suffocated or panicky. In a related symptom, people sometimes have difficulty controlling their emotions and are prone to all kinds of outbursts when the brain is not operating properly due to a carbon dioxide deficiency.

CO2 Excess - Lethargy

• Carbon dioxide excess does not occur as often as carbon dioxide shortages. Carbon dioxide excess results from external introduction of too much CO2, or as a symptom of lung disease. When you start to have too much carbon dioxide in the blood, one of the first indicators that something is wrong will be a feeling of lethargy or tiredness washing over you.

CO2 Excess - ICP

• When the volume of carbon dioxide in the body is too great, the blood vessels in the brain start delivering too much blood to the brain. This increases intracranial pressure, or ICP. Increased ICP causes headaches, vomiting and seizures and can be very dangerous if left unchecked. In addition to the physical symptoms, the behavior of a person can change mildly or radically when pressure in the brain increases.