Studies have found that asthmatic children suffering from psychological distress need higher doses of medication and spend more time in the hospital than other children with asthma. Almost invariably, he notes, the attacks go hand in hand with stressful events or emotional distress. In 1999 researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study that, for the first time, provided strong evidence that depression and anxiety can actually help cause the respiratory disease. Investigators gave psychological tests to more than 5,000 asthma-free people aged 25 to 74 and then checked their health records 13 years later. After adjusting for age, sex, race, and other factors, the researchers found that severe depression and anxiety more than doubled a nonsmoker's risk of developing asthma.
Nobody knows exactly why asthma seems to thrive on psychological distress.
Both anxiety and depression disturb the body's normal balance of hormones and brain chemicals, and this disruption might somehow set the stage for the disease. Once a person has asthma, feelings of sadness or distress can cause subtle physiological changes that may help fuel attacks. The Extraterrestrial to a group of children with asthma. Depression can also contribute to the likelihood of asthma attacks by hampering the immune system. People suffering from emotional distress often have trouble fending off the viruses that cause bronchitis and other respiratory infections.