Asthma is a dangerous disease of the chronic type. The disease is associated with the appearance of bronchial spasms and the occurrence of edema of the mucous membranes, resulting in short-term attacks of suffocation.
It occurs in patients of different sex and age, but women get sick twice as often as men.
There can be several reasons for the onset of the disease – it is genetically determined or is the result of exposure to environmental factors.
Theories, according to which the disease is of a psychosomatic nature, do not lose popularity . According to Louise Hay , asthma is the result of harsh suppression of one’s feelings, difficulties in realizing life goals.
The traditional view of the causes of asthma
Experts argue about the etiology of the disease, but they note that the reason can be both heredity and the effect of external stimuli.
Moreover, these factors do not exclude each other and can act simultaneously. The key causes of asthma are:
- genetic predisposition;
- the action of factors of allergic origin;
- overweight ;
- disruptions in metabolic processes.
Among the many allergens that can trigger asthma attacks are the following:
- dandruff and pet hair;
- dust particles;
- household chemicals used for cleaning premises or washing clothes;
- products containing sulfites and their derivatives;
- mold, fungi in the house;
- cigarette smoke ;
- medicines or substances that are part of them;
- infectious or viral diseases.
Often, the disease is a consequence of:
- inflammatory processes in the bronchi;
- acute infectious diseases;
- frequent and long-term use of aspirin, as well as medications containing it;
- weakening of immunity.
Signs and main classification
Asthma symptoms are quite pronounced. At the first stage of the development of the disease, manifestations are observed in the form of:
- Dry or wet cough.
- Difficulty breathing – shortness of breath;
- Retraction of the intercostal spaces during inhalation.
- Shallow breathing.
- Deterioration after exercise.
- A debilitating dry cough that comes on for no reason.
The disease progresses over time, attacks may become more frequent. In this case, the following symptoms appear:
- pain in the chest;
- breathing becomes very rapid;
- the patient begins to sweat profusely;
- veins swell on the neck;
- BP becomes unstable;
- the patient feels a squeeze in the chest, begins to wheeze;
- general well-being worsens, lethargy and drowsiness appear, consciousness can be confused;
- in some cases, respiratory arrest is observed for a short time.
Experts divide asthma into two main types – bronchial, infectious or non-infectious, and cardiac. They differ depending on the etiology and symptomatic manifestations.
The most common type of asthma is bronchial, which is subdivided into:
- exercise asthma;
- cough;
- professional;
- night;
- aspirin .
Louise Hay’s psychosomatic theory
Psychologist Louise Hay believes that asthmatics tend to suppress their own feelings and feelings. The disease arises due to the fact that a potential patient does not have the ability and desire to let go of love.
He seeks to devote himself and his own life to others, suppressing his need to live for himself. The person also loses the ability to express their emotions, for example, he does not cry.
The psychosomatic causes of many ailments are discussed in detail in the medical literature. Bronchial asthma is no exception. The psychosomatics of asthma and the emotional state of an asthmatic are interconnected.
This is expressed in some of the symptoms – patients complain of sleep problems, frequent and prolonged apathy or excessive excitability.
Asthma sufferers lose the ability to concentrate. The psychosomatic features of asthma allow us to speak about the typicality of the patient’s main traits:
- Love for loneliness and the need for self-realization. As the disease progresses, the desire for hermitism increases.
- Constant whims and excessive demands on other people. The patient’s pedantry annoys others. The belief that the environment should correspond to his preferences and requirements leads to the fact that in the event of a mismatch between desires and reality, a person withdraws into himself and begins to worry about his problem.
- Unwillingness to take responsibility for oneself, and therefore decisions are taken for a very long time. But at the same time, the asthmatic is inclined to adhere to his point of view. True, often for the sake of appearance he can agree with someone else’s opinion.
- Stressful situations are detrimental to the asthma patient. He cannot cope with the psycho-emotional stress. Tension builds up constantly, leading to suffocation.
- A characteristic feature is excessive resentment, which borders on nervousness. Such people speak fluently, but indistinctly. In disputes, they tend to express negative emotions.
Childhood asthma is triggered by a fear of life and an unwillingness to be in a specific place right now. Parents’ dislike or excessive manifestation of their love becomes the cause of the disease from the first years of life.
Disease Factors by Louise Hay
Louise Hay considers the physical and psycho-emotional characteristics of a person as factors associated with specific ailments:
- outwardly sad people are distinguished by sad thoughts, which is associated with mental causes of ailments;
- problems with the human nervous system indicate the complexity of his life;
- hair is our protective belt, and psycho-emotional stress leads to the death of hair follicles;
- ear pains indicate a painful reaction to incoming information;
- deafness speaks of a long-term unwillingness to perceive information;
- vision problems reflect a person’s unwillingness to see what is happening with a person, his life and the world around him;
- headaches are the result of feelings of inferiority;
- lung pains appear due to unwillingness or inability to live a full life;
- back discomfort reflects the inability to find support in other people;
- a stomach problem due to fears of everything new;
- the ulcer is caused by feelings of inferiority, etc.
Louise Hay believes that asthma patients have a psychological attitude about the inadmissibility of spontaneous breathing. Young patients are distinguished by a very developed conscience, and therefore tend to take the blame and responsibility for all events only on themselves.
In a sense, changing their place of residence will be a way out for them. Moreover, the absence of the rest of the family members in the new home will be effective, which leads to recovery. Change of school, change of lifestyle have a beneficial effect.
Other theories about the causes of the disease
There are other theories that can guide your search for asthma treatments. According to V. Zhikarentsev , the disease manifests itself due to the suppression of love, since many people tend not to give vent to their feelings and feelings.
At the same time, they forbid themselves to live as they like.
It is in asthmatics that situations are frequent when they psychologically create barriers to expressing emotions. Therefore, you can get rid of the disease if you start a free life and take full responsibility for it.
Liz Burbo, while researching the causes of asthma, distinguishes three types of blockage:
- Physical, when breathing becomes difficult, the inhalation is quick, but the exhalation is strained. A whistle is heard in the chest. After the end of the attack, breathing is restored.
- Emotional blockage – difficulties arise with exhalation, since the person has excessive requirements. This is a signal that a lot is taken from others, but nothing is given. Patients are often convinced of their omnipotence, clearly overestimating their strengths, for example, in love. A painful whistle is a signal of an irrational desire of an asthmatic to meet his requirements and criteria. The disease confirms that the belief in power is overestimated.
- Within the framework of mental blocking, an attack is seen as a symbol of the subconscious strangulation of the body. This is a reason to refuse to manipulate other people, the desire to gain power over them and the unwillingness to remember their weak points.
Theories of Sinelnikov, Lazarev, Viilma
V. Sinelnikov speaks about the inability of asthmatics to show emotions – they do not want to release tears. Therefore, asthma is a form of manifestation of sobbing in a suppressed form. At the same time, the role of a strong bond between the child and the mother is noted.
From this point of view, the manifestation of asthma plays the role of self-expression. Illness is associated with suppression of emotions, and an attack of suffocation is a psychological attempt to seek help.
Asthmatics have a conviction that they have no right to enjoy the benefits and enjoy life.
The karmic causes of the disease are described in the works of N. Lazarev. He considers the cause of illness to be lack or complete absence of love as one of the components of the soul.
Replacing love for God with love for money, material wealth, fame, power, pleasures, a person takes a completely different path, which is associated with diseases and troubles. These phenomena are signals of errors.
But expert Luule Viilma speaks of suppressed fear as the cause of asthma. A person is afraid of negativity towards himself, is not inclined to show courage in order to live, he is ashamed of manifestations of feelings. Children suppress love, are afraid of life.
How to get rid of asthma
The disease cannot be completely cured. Official medicine speaks about it. It is important to strive to prolong remission as much as possible, as well as to reduce the frequency and intensity of manifestations of an attack of suffocation.
This requires observing the correct lifestyle and adhering to the recommendations of specialists. It is necessary to identify the psychological cause of asthma and eliminate it.
In the drug therapy of bronchial asthma, two groups of drugs are used:
- anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce the frequency of attacks;
- bronchodilators , which facilitate the course of an attack of suffocation.
Louise Hay also speaks of the difficulty of completely getting rid of the disease . She focuses on reducing the number of attacks. To do this, you must first develop the skills to release emotions.
This means having to cry when desired and being able to share feelings and experiences with others.
Then you need to balance the desires to take from others and give them something material or spiritual. If you only take, accumulating it and not giving it to anyone, then soon you will have difficulty breathing.
Energy exchange should be two-way, when the equality of return and reception is observed.
To recover from asthma, you need to acknowledge your fears, understand the reasons for your insecurity and insecurity. It is advisable to seek a solution to this problem with the help of experienced specialists in the field of psychoanalysis.
Finally
Asthma is a complex disease, in the development of which psychosomatics plays an important role. The causes of the disease can be heredity or manifestations of allergies. However, experts often talk about more complex metaphysical factors.
These include the reasons of the mental, emotional, psychosomatic, subconscious type. Therefore, drug therapy may be ineffective without an integrated approach to treatment and the involvement of a psychologist.
By learning to take responsibility for ourselves, letting our emotions get out and loving ourselves, we can prevent the development of asthma.