Most if not all folks who suffer with moderate and advanced COPD know disease-specific fears, like fear of shortness of breath and fear of physical activity which contributes to their disability. With fear comes a sense of powerlessness that cripples our ability to function.
Trying to cope, people can get lost in denial trying to go about their lives as if the threat didn't exist fueling a downward spiral of avoidance of physical activity, subsequent deconditioning, and greater shortness of breath at even lower activity levels, resulting in significant reductions in health-related quality of life.
Scientists have discovered that this fear can actually change the structure of your brain. Patients with COPD showed decreased gray matter volume in the anterior, mid, and posterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. The levels of degeneration in some brain areas were also impacted by longer disease duration. Those individuals showed a greater fear of breathlessness and fear of physical activity, which can affect the course of the disease.
There is a way out of this squirrel cage – Self Empowerment!
We all know that exercise helps COPD but if you are so short of breath that you fear the very thing that can help you, how do you work through your fear?
Pulmonary Rehab can show you how to physically do it but first you have to change your state of mind. Here are some mental exercises you can do to help you get there:
(1) List all the possible obstacles that you can think of on your present environment and your life including the ones you’re most concerned about today.
(2) Identify your greatest fear.
(3) Investigate in your mind what are your greatest hopes and dreams – what you’d really like to see in your life in response to your COPD reality.
(4) Explore what is your life purpose.
There are solutions, simple solutions that you probably already have been told:
(1) QUIT SMOKING! And once you're quit - protect your quit with all you have!
(2) Follow good nutrition.
(3) Cardio-exercise at least 30 minutes a day every day If you can't even do 5 minutes right now, then set 30 minutes as your goal by increasing your treadmill time by 5 minutes every time you can stay above 90% oxygen saturation. “I Can't” is not in your vocabulary.
(4) Avoid all second hand smoke, pollution, and other triggers to your shortness of breath including wind, cold, and humidity.
(5) Get your vaccinations including flu shots every year and pneumonia shots every 5 years.
(6) Take your prescription medications as directed regularly.
It's your Life not only Length of Life but Quality and you can become empowered to take the reins back! I follow the research closely and there are new and exciting technologies coming out at amazing rates! Our hope lies in keeping our health as long as possible and allowing R&D to catch up to us and become available. I honestly believe this is possible.
