Behavioral and psychological management of allergic asthma

The etiology of asthma is very complex, it is affected by genetic factors, environmental factors, individual body sensitivity, viral infections and other multiple factors, it is gratifying that the treatment effect of asthma, with the development of medicine in the continuous improvement of the cure rate is also constantly improving, we now have safer medications, respiratory aids, asthma symptom control, prevention of recurrence of asthma have improved significantly, with the continuous development of medicine, the current difficulty of asthma treatment has changed from the technical level to the psychological level, the relationship between asthma and psychological and behavioral is increasingly being emphasized. With the continuous development of medicine, the difficulty of asthma treatment has now shifted from the technical level to the psychological level, and the relationship between recurrent asthma attacks, and psychology and behavior has received more and more attention. Many studies have shown that psychological factors, as an endogenous stimulus, and exogenous stimuli (e.g. mold, dust, etc.), are equally capable of triggering or aggravating asthma attacks, and the prolongation of asthma affects children’s psychological and behavioral, resulting in an adverse cycle between the physical and psychological, causing a great deal of trouble to the recovery. First, the recurrence of asthma symptoms, will bring three different degrees of psychological impact on the child: 1, acute attack of the child will appear chest tightness, shortness of breath, violent coughing, and in severe cases of breath holding, dyspnea, so that the child feels nervous and fear; 2, asthma recurrence of the attack, and constantly strengthened the physical memory of the symptoms in the absence of an attack of the intermittent period is still tense, worried about another attack; 3, the parents of the child’s anxiety and Depression (also the most influential factor). Children, especially young children, are very sensitive to the emotions of those who take care of them, so the psychological state of the affected child is, to a large extent, affected by the psychological impact of the parents, due to the long-term in the worry about the child’s health, the parents of asthmatic children than the parents of children in general show more anxiety and pessimism, especially the mothers of the children, the study shows that the caregiver’s state of anxiety and depression, which directly affects the child’s mental state and causing deeper tension and fear. These stresses can have many negative effects on children, who are at an important stage of their psychological development, because of the worry about their bodies and the realization that they are different from their young friends, and are prone to frustration, irritability, social tension, and low self-esteem, which directly affects the child’s experience of interacting with his or her young friends, and is prone to distress, feelings of inferiority, and loneliness. Some studies have found that among asthmatic children, boys are prone to develop an introverted personality and girls are prone to develop a masked mentality. Younger children with asthma have limited ability to express themselves verbally, and very often his fear, frustration and pain are not expressed verbally, but through some behaviors, such as timidity, crying, over-dependence, irritability and hostility. When these behaviors occur, parents should pay attention and give more patience and attention. Behavioral problems are more significant in children with severe asthma, which can easily be manifested as social withdrawal and not fitting in. Some scholars believe that the psychological harm caused by severe asthma to children is much more than the physical impact of the disease, so parents should pay special attention to the psychological and behavioral state of the children. Therefore, the treatment of asthma in children should take a variety of ways to combine methods, and should be flexible according to the characteristics of the child, pay attention to drug therapy at the same time, to pay attention to psychological health care and guidance. Second, parents are the best teacher of the child, how to face the disease, the parents’ attitude is very important: 1, parents should do their homework, learn the relevant medical knowledge of asthma, treatment and management methods, appropriate understanding of the treatment of cutting-edge information, to avoid unnecessary pessimism and panic. For example, some parents do not understand hormone therapy, excessive worry about its side effects, in fact, after learning can know: “the medical community recognized that inhaled glucocorticosteroids used to treat asthma is safe, baby can be used for a long time.” 2. Appropriate management to avoid overprotection, resulting in social withdrawal. For example, appropriate exercise can enhance the child’s immunity, improve sleep, pleasant mood, increase the sense of collective participation, etc., is very beneficial to the child’s body and mind. There has been a study done, a clinical comparison survey of 264 asthmatic children and 250 non-affected children found that asthmatic children generally have less exercise, and the difference is significant. A big reason for this phenomenon is that parents and school teachers do not understand asthma, overprotective psychology, fear of sports will trigger asthma attacks, but also makes the child to produce low self-esteem, self-limitation, unwilling to participate in sports activities. 3, the parents’ emotional management (1) positive response: positive and optimistic parents can use their own behavior to educate their children to face the disease positively, so parents should pay special attention to behavior in front of the child. (2) Expressing emotions: Parents’ emotions also need to be paid attention to and need to be expressed and ventilated moderately. Some mothers of affected children tend to develop a lasting sense of guilt after their children’s diagnosis, blaming themselves for not taking good care of their children, coming into contact with allergens, and triggering asthma attacks, resulting in great psychological stress and low mood. This feeling of guilt is very damaging to the mother’s psyche and requires love and support. In fact, we all know that there is a certain degree of chance in the exposure to allergens, sometimes it is not humanly controllable, and parents do not need to blame themselves. (3) pay attention to their own quality of life: many parents in the child diagnosis, put all the attention on the child, meticulous care, that is the most important, often ignoring their own or spouse’s feelings, do not know, such a prolonged period of tension, easy to lead to their own vegetative nervous system disorders, insomnia, loss of appetite, interest in loss of interest, etc., if you can not adjust in time, the negative emotions If not adjusted in time, negative emotions slowly accumulate, there will be happy, emotionally fragile, or irritable, a little on the spot, difficult to control. Poor adjustment will affect the couple’s relationship. Some parents who are emotionally out of control say afterwards, “I know I shouldn’t, but I just can’t control my emotions…”. In fact, this is the result of long-term repression. The parents’ own good state could have created a kind of therapy. With good husband and wife relationship, family harmony and joy, the child will feel safe and the psychological state will naturally be good. Therefore, it is recommended that parents take good care of their children and at the same time run their own quality of life. In Europe and the United States, great importance is attached to the supporting role of asthma children’s treatment groups, where parents can experience understanding and a sense of belonging, share treatment experience and experience, share the latest information on diagnosis and treatment, help and encourage each other, and increase the confidence and courage to recover.