Anxiety and Panic Attacks In Emphysema ... - Mind Publications

Answer
First things first! First, we have to make sure that the person is in continuing care of
a physician/pulmonologist and medically stabilized and has been educated in the
signs of COPD exacerbation, color of sputum, force of coughing, or ongoing wheezing
etc. to determine if breathlessness and breathing distress is resulting from the lung
condition. If that is the case, call the doctor or go to the hospital E.R.
If that is not the case, then we look at the possibility of a panic attack. Whether it is
a panic attack, or dyspnea (breathing distress and breathlessness) resulting from the
COPD exacerbation or a combination of the both (that is, panic attack and COPD
exacerbation). In all the three possibilities, we still need to do the following:
1.Calm our anxiety
2. Say calming and self assuring words to ourselves (mental calming or 'talking down
to ourselves as you say)
3 Use Pursed Lip Breathing (PLB) and make sure we are doing abdominal breathing.
4. When we have done all that and symptoms have not come under control, we need
to call the doctor or in case of doctor not being available, go to the E.R.
In summing, what we as persons with COPD can do at our end is still the same in all
the three possibilities. We use mental calming and correct breathing techniques
mentioned above. But when the symptoms still continue, we check in the medical
facility.
Good news is that the panic attack articles we have posted and the information and
education health professionals can provide about panic and anxiety and COPD or
asthma exacerbations, the easier it will become for a person to differentiate between
a panic attack and a medically-caused exacerbation
Question 4
How can we control and manage our emotions in our everyday life? How do we
prevent our illness from taking over our life?
Answer
It is a vast subject so know that I am just giving a brief answer.
Emotional work, like any other part of self-care or medical care, requires us to
constantly work on it. For instance, one might be taking medicine "A" 3 times a day,
Medicine "B" twice a day and an "inhaler" as soon as one notices something coming
on. Likewise, we keep ourselves giving emotional medicine of several difference
kinds through out the day. Remember emotional work is never completed. You just
keep getting better at it if you constantly keep working at it.
Therefore, surround yourself with positive people, books, quotations, affirmations,
visualizations, pictures, objects, and above all, your own thoughts and emotions to
remind you all the time that you must spend as much time staying in the positive
mental attitude as possible.
Don't focus on what you have lost, but on what is left!
Find a positive meaning of your life and your disease!
When you experience troubling symptoms, see yourself getting past them and