“Like breathing through a straw”: Anxiety faced with COPD
The average person inhales 12 to 20 times per minute, and rarely gives it a second thought. But when you labour for your breath, it's at the forefront of your mind.
Bob Huget, a retired Hamilton resident, knows all too well the effect of struggling for air. He suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a progressive lung disease characterized by increasing breathlessness.
"Having COPD is like breathing through a straw while going up flights of stairs," Bob explains.
Bob is far from alone in his feelings. A survey by St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Quality Department found 38 per cent of COPD patients – about four out of every 10 COPD patients - struggle with fear, panic attacks, as well as severe anxiety and/or depression.
"I'm not at all surprised at that statistic when you have difficulty breathing – there is a natural reaction of fear when you can't breathe" says Bob.
About one-in-nine Ontario adults live with COPD, which is a leading cause of hospitalization and acute care use, according to the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. There are many contributing factors that can lead to COPD including long-term smoking, genetic issues, and environmental issues. For Bob, his COPD was diagnosed in the 1990s when he was experiencing symptoms of emphysema. Years of smoking and other underlying health conditions led to a lung surgery in 2010. During this period of time recovering, Bob experienced a lot of anxiety and fear around wondering if he would get through each day.
Dealing with that anxiety is an important component of recovery – and knowing it's there can help healthcare professionals provide the right kind of support. For example, many COPD patients return to the emergency department when the fear and anxiety of being short of breath becomes too much.
Providing support outside of emergency departments and inpatient hospital care can help alleviate some of these fears. St. Joseph's Health System's Integrated Comprehensive Care (ICC) program, a model of care integrating hospital and community services, has been an important support system for many with COPD. A new study conducted by St. Joe's researchers reveals that the ICC program has contributed to a decrease in length of stay and potential for a decrease in hospitalization after discharge for ICC COPD patients; allowing patients to remain independent in their homes.
To help COPD patients cope with their daily struggles, St. Joe's offers respiratory rehabilitation classes to help people navigate the disease and reduce fear and anxiety. It was in those classes that Bob found ways to manage fear and anxiety, and also made him determined to help others deal with the daily challenges of COPD.
"The respiratory rehab education classes helped me to understand how COPD affects not only your lungs, but also your emotions and way of thinking. I also learned new and better coping strategies to manage these effects. " says Bob.
It was a natural progression for Bob to then join St. Joseph's COPD Working Group as a patient advisor to assist in creating greater engagement of the stakeholders and facilitate great improvements.
As a member of the COPD working group, it is important for Bob to let other individuals struggling with COPD know that there are positive coping strategies that can really improve quality of life. Employing these strategies, along with a physical exercise program, can make a really difference in helping to manage COPD.
"Dealing with fear and anxiety is a reality with people who have COPD," says Bob. "It is an overall chronic disease without a cure, but it can be managed with the right support and resources. We can't eliminate all fear and anxiety but we can learn ways to make sure that it doesn't get the better of us, we get the better of it."