Thinking About Asthma – Your Mental Attitude is Important!

One aspect of asthma which is very important is your approach to the treatment, the way you think about your asthma. It stands to reason that if you think you’re going to die you’ll become depressed – if, on the other hand, you think you really don’t need to use the inhalers you might be surprised by an acute, unexpeced attack. And that’ll certainly make you unhappy!

Stress and anxiety does increase your risk of having an asthma attack. Mindful breathing that calms you down has been shown to reduce the number of attacks, as well as their severity. We’ll come back to that later when we talk about breathing techniques, which is one of my favourite approaches to managing my mindset and thus asthma.

And if you’re stressed and anxious, you can easily become physically and emotionally drained, which does increase your risk of having an attack.

Children can also have a more difficult time coming to terms with their asthma. It’s been theorized by researchers – and surely by more than a few exasperated parents and guardians – that children with allergic diseases, such as atopic dermatitis and asthma, are more likely to experience emotional and behavioral difficulties such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Which certainly is quite understandable!

Severe asthma can also have a negative impact on personal relationships. Individuals with severe asthma may express feelings of guilt of being burdensome to their loved ones. Intimate and sexual relationships may also suffer under the stress of living with moderate to severe asthma. Having to reach for an inhaler can certainly dampen you spirits ….

Strong emotions – like anger, fear, stress, and excitement – can trigger your asthma. So can emotional responses, like laughing and crying. The first time I laughed so hard it felt like I’d get an attack it really surprised me! This is because your body’s response to different emotions changes the way that you breathe. Which again brings up the topic of breathing, something which is crucial in your approach to living with asthma without having to rely on inhalers. More on that later.