Anxiety and depression
Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be very stressful. It can also make a person feel sad or frightened. For these reasons and many others, people with COPD often have:
Depression
Anxiety
People who have depression feel sad all of the time. They may lose interest in activities that they used to enjoy doing. Depression can affect all of a person’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. It can also cause:
Over time, people with COPD might develop depression because they cannot take part in everyday activities. They may feel isolated, alone, and helpless. Smokers who have COPD might also feel depressed if they are unable to quit smoking.
On the other hand, feeling breathless and having COPD attacks can be scary and upsetting as well. People with COPD may also be worried about how the disease will affect their lives in the future. This can lead to feeling anxious and fearful much of the time. Some medicines for COPD like bronchodilators and corticosteroids can also cause certain people to develop anxiety
It is very important for COPD patients to seek help if they feel depressed or anxious on a regular basis or for more than a day or two at a time.
Depression and anxiety can make it difficult for a patient to follow the COPD treatment plan. This can make the patient’s COPD symptoms worse, and might even make the disease progress more quickly.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an umbrella term used to describe progressive lung diseases including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Major symptoms are shortness of breath, anxiety and depression, cyanosis, infections, chest pain, chest tightness, barrel chest, dizziness, loss of balance, morning headaches, weight loss, wheezing, swelling of leg and ankles, chronic cough, fever and hemoptysis. It is not curable completely but symptoms can be controlled with medication and lifestyle changes. Visit your doctor immediately in case you observe any of the above-mentioned symptoms in your body.