# Is there a physiological reason or effect to a 'Heavy Sigh'?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-physiological-reason-or-effect-to-a-heavy-sigh/715565>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 21, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-physiological-reason-or-effect-to-a-heavy-sigh/715565 "2015-03-21T02:51:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-physiological-reason-or-effect-to-a-heavy-sigh/715565/1 "2015-03-21T02:51:34Z")

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My dog was abused before I got him. I’ll coax him into bed and he’s all stiff and fearful. I’ll give him snuggles and scritches and eventually, he’ll let out a Heavy Sigh and settle in. What’s going on here?

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-physiological-reason-or-effect-to-a-heavy-sigh/715565/2 "2015-03-21T07:10:20Z")

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An obvious speculation: A tense critter would tend to hold its breath and not breathe freely. When he relaxes, then he stops doing that and takes a deep breath.