RELIEF OF PARTICULAR SYMPTOMS FOR SELF-MANAGEMENT OF ANXIETY: ASTHMA
The history of medicine shows us very clearly that there is a recurring tendency for different forms of treatment to become fashionable and to be used overenthusiastically, often to the exclusion of simpler and more effective means of treatment. It would seem to me to be beyond doubt that this is the case with the present-day emphasis on allergy in the treatment of asthma. The basis for my conviction that other methods of treatment can relieve this affliction is simply that I have seen many people completely relieved of asthma following treatment by relaxation and regression. I have seen many others who, although not completely relieved, have vastly improved. Although allergic responses are an important factor in the cause of asthma, it would seem beyond all doubt that the treatment of the allergy by desensitization is not an essential part in the successful relief of the condition.
I really believe that if you suffer from asthma, you cannot afford not to take treatment by the relaxing mental exercises. But remember: Do not expect too much too quickly, and remember the course of improvement is at first subject to ups and downs. But in all probability you will soon find that the attacks become less severe and less frequent.
It is important to practise the relaxing mental exercises conscientiously in the periods between the attacks when your breathing is relatively free and easy. Do not wait until you get an attack to do the exercises. It is then often difficult to attain the relaxation and regression. The greatest benefit comes from doing the exercises when you are free of asthma.
Possible future attacks are warded off and reduced in severity. If you should suffer an attack after starting the exercises, do not be discouraged by this. The relief of the asthma is usually a gradual process rather than an abrupt cessation of symptoms.
The relaxing mental exercises are effective in two ways. Asthma is usually associated with nervous tension. In fact, it is largely a psychosomatic expression of anxiety in a person who is predisposed to show symptoms in his chest on account of his inherent allergic condition. The exercises reduce the level of anxiety, and reduce the tendency to overreact to stress. We can also use the exercises in a more direct way. As we do them, we let the idea of ease come to our mind—ease of our body, ease of our breathing.
Relaxed.
All my muscles relaxed.
Feel the relaxation and the ease.
The ease of it all through me.
The ease of it in my face, in my mind, in my breathing.
Ease in my breathing.
Breathing easily.
When starting the exercises, it is wise to continue with your usual medication. Only reduce your medication when you have got into the way of doing the exercises easily and effectively. Then reduce it slowly. This is best done in co-operation with your local doctor.
A fifteen-year-old schoolgirl had suffered from severe asthma for most of her life. Any effort seemed to produce an attack. She had to be driven to and from school although it was within easy walking distance of her home. Even the effort of carrying her schoolbag of books would be too much for her. After starting the relaxing exercises she had quite a severe attack of asthma, and I concluded that I had been little help to her. However, her mother called at my office some eighteen months later, just to let me know that the girl had continued to do the exercises, and was dramatically improved since her visits to me.
A twelve-year-old schoolboy was becoming dwarfed by the continual use of cortisone to control his asthma. He was very sensitive about this, and also about the obesity and changed expression of his face which the drug had induced. The exercises made it possible for him to discontinue the cortisone. He resumed growing, lost most of his fat and the moonlike expression of his face; and his occasional attacks are now quite easily controlled by orthodox medication.
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