Bronchitis is a widespread disease, and most of it is characteristic of children. It should be noted that not every patient develops bronchitis after suffering a cold or viral illness. It happens that in his appearance there is a clear psychological pattern.
In this article, we will discuss the psychosomatic causes of bronchitis.
General information
Bronchitis is an inflammatory disease in which the membranes of the bronchi are drawn. Most often, the inflammatory process begins in the upper respiratory tract - in the throat or nasopharynx, and gradually goes down to the bronchi. The task of the bronchi in the body is to conduct air to the lungs, which is already sufficiently warm and humidified so as not to damage the lung tissue. When the lining of the bronchi becomes inflamed, their conduction is disturbed, breathing becomes difficult, there is even a risk of pneumonia if the infection goes even lower - into the lungs themselves.
Bronchitis has characteristic clinical symptoms: first, a child or an adult develops a dry cough, then it changes its character to a wet one, the temperature rises, breathing becomes difficult, shortness of breath appears, the patient experiences severe general weakness, he has a headache and sleep disturbances. In children, against the background of a painful cough, the gag reflex is often activated.
Bronchitis can be acute or chronic. The acute form (catarrhal) with timely and correct therapy recedes in a couple of weeks, the bronchi are restored in about a month. In the chronic form of the disease, inflammation is constantly present, periods of remission are replaced by periods of exacerbation. Bronchitis is considered chronic if it lasts more than three months. Gradually, not only the functional work of the bronchi suffers, but also their structure.
Obstructive bronchitis is a separate topic. It is associated with bronchial edema and severe respiratory distress, often with phlegm blocking some of the bronchi.
In traditional medicine, the main causes of bronchitis are infections that are associated with a viral disease (for example, with ARVI), bacterial infection of the respiratory tract.
It is believed that the disease is favored by certain hereditary factors, weakness of the immune system, smoking, living in regions with very polluted air.
Psychosomatic causes
Psychosomatics respects the official medical explanations of the causes of bronchitis in children and adults, but looks at the problem somewhat more broadly - not only taking into account anatomy and physiology, but also taking into account the mental state of a person.
To understand why a person has bronchitis, and why he is difficult to treat with traditional medications, you need to clearly know what exactly the bronchi are doing - they are the pathways for air transport to the lungs. Along the way, the inhaled air is humidified and warmed. The bronchi can also regulate how much air enters the lungs due to their natural ability to expand and contract.
It is this unique ability of the bronchi that is regulated in the body by the parasympathetic nervous system, and it is closely related to the mental and emotional state of a person. The bronchi in psychosomatics symbolize vitality.
If a person is depressed and passive in life, his bronchi relax and also begin to work only half of their strength. Breathing loses depth, becomes more superficial, the lumens of the bronchi are in a narrowed state, the likelihood of inflammation of the bronchial mucosa increases.
The bronchi, according to psychosomatics, act as “mediators” between the personal world of a person, as he sees it, and the world around him, which he is in essence. Any problems in the interaction of the two worlds immediately affect the health of the respiratory system. If a person with a positive and benevolently accepts the world and people in it, events, then usually he has no problems with breathing.
People who are morbidly related to the outside world, who do not trust it, who see it as a threat to themselves, themselves limit breathing to full breasts, at the psychological level, they cause narrowing of the bronchi, violation of their lumen, blockage, and, as a result, bronchitis.
Psychotherapists have long noticed that people who do not want to be open to the world are more likely to suffer from respiratory diseases. They self-isolate, close, make sure that no one and nothing from the outside can violate these personal boundaries they have built. The parasympathetic system, receiving a signal that it is dangerous outside, restricts the lumen of the bronchi, which increases the likelihood of illness. Obstructive bronchitis is most often associated with a person's constant almost panic fear for their own safety.
That is why adolescents and children suffer from bronchitis more often than others, among adults in the group of patients vulnerable and impressionable people prevail, inclined to dramatize the events and actions of other people, as well as their own experiences.
With bronchitis, a child may react to the need to get used to a new society - at the beginning of a visit to kindergarten or school. At first, the baby may feel discomfort or even resentment against the parents for being sent to someone else's team, which at the physical level will manifest itself as an accumulation of sputum, which the child can get rid of in only one way - by coughing.
If the grievances are great, and the difficulties with communicating with the outside world are also impressive, then the volume of sputum begins to exceed the child's ability to excrete it, and an inflammatory process develops in the bronchi.
In adults, bronchitis is often the result of selfishness, laziness, unwillingness to accept the demands of society. Adults with chronic bronchitis are usually very leisurely people with high self-esteem and a desire to relieve themselves of responsibility for any important decisions. They are comfortable when others make decisions, because if they fail, the responsibility can be blamed on those others.
The very thought of taking control and doing whatever you want scares these people and makes them reject. They accept everything new with great difficulty - be it a new boss at work or new technical progress. They breathe only half the volume of their lungs, their breathing is usually very shallow, shallow, which is what the therapist states at the reception, where a person comes with enviable regularity on the occasion of another exacerbation of chronic bronchitis.
Researchers' opinion
Psychologist and researcher in the field of psychosomatics Louise Hay argued that the main cause of bronchitis lies in the family - quarrels and loud frequent scandals and disputes create a difficult environment and force a child who grows up in such circumstances to close from the world, which leads to protracted and chronic diseases. including bronchitis.
Canadian writer and psychologist Liz Burbo emphasizes the close connection of the psychosomatic significance of the bronchi with family, relatives, family tree (bronchi outwardly resemble a tree). She is sure that childhood bronchitis is always based on the child's experiences about what is happening in the family. As for adults, chronic or acute bronchitis is characteristic of those who cannot put up with what is happening in the family, but at the same time does not have the opportunity (strength, courage) to enter into an open confrontation, express their opinion, indicate their position, and rebel against.
Psychotherapist Valery Sinelnikov sees the main reason for childhood bronchitis in the excessive authoritarianism of his parents, while the child's personality is actually suppressed by his loved ones, and he cannot formulate and express his own opinion. Negative words that mature in the child's head, a protest speech in this case is formed, but not expressed, and comes out of it with a cough. The psychology of the disease implies the reversibility of the processes - the elimination of the root cause relieves the symptoms and leads to a complete recovery.
Treatment
There is no big difference who has bronchitis (an adult or a baby), an adult will still have to work on eliminating the causes. Children's bronchitis is a clear signal for parents to reconsider their relationships, to change their communication style. If this is impossible and the confrontation has reached its climax, it is possible that the best way out will be a peaceful and calm divorce.
History knows many cases when a child who is a chronic patient with bronchitis recovered after the situation in the family was discharged after the departure of one of the parents, when the scandals stopped. But if it is possible to save the marriage, it is better to do so.
Parents are strongly encouraged to stop making high demands on the child, which is very difficult for him to meet. No one in the world should meet anyone's expectations. If adults understand this, give the baby the opportunity to be himself, then bronchitis can be dealt with as soon as possible.
Similarly, you should not make increased demands on the rest of the household, adults.
An adult with bronchitis needs to learn to trust others more, and first of all, his family members. Only openness, honesty and sincerity will help you start breathing deeply, getting pleasure from communication, and then you can forget about bronchitis.
