Behavioral and Psychological Approaches to Breathing Disorders

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxvii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Beverly H. Timmons

      Pages 1-13

3. Anatomy, Physiology, Physiopathology, and Psychology of the Respiratory System

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

      PDF

   2. Basic Anatomy and Physiology of the Respiratory System and the Autonomic Nervous System

      • Karen H. Naifeh

      Pages 17-45

   3. Nasopulmonary Physiology

      • Pat A. Barelli

      Pages 47-57

   4. Behavioral Perspectives on Abnormalities of Breathing during Sleep

      • Christian Guilleminault, Donald L. Bliwise

      Pages 59-66

   5. Control of Breathing and Its Disorders

      • Sheila Jennett

      Pages 67-80

   6. Breathing and the Psychology of Emotion, Cognition, and Behavior

      • Ronald Ley

      Pages 81-95

4. Hyperventilation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 97-97

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   2. Diagnosis and Organic Causes of Symptomatic Hyperventilation

      • William N. Gardner

      Pages 99-112

   3. Hyperventilation Syndromes

      • L. C. Lum

      Pages 113-123

   4. Psychiatric and Respiratory Aspects of Functional Cardiovascular Syndromes

      • Christopher Bass, William N. Gardner, Graham Jackson

      Pages 125-138

   5. Hyperventilation and Psychopathology

      • Herbert Fensterheim

      Pages 139-148

   6. Management of Patients with Hyperventilation-Related Disorders

      • Christopher Bass

      Pages 149-155

   7. The Role of the Physiotherapist in the Treatment of Hyperventilation

      • Elizabeth A. Holloway

      Pages 157-175

5. Other Therapeutic Approaches to Breathing Disorders

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 177-177

      PDF

   2. Breathing and Vocal Dysfunction

      • Daphne J. Pearce

      Pages 179-190

   3. Respiratory System Involvement in Western Relaxation and Self-Regulation

      • Paul M. Lehrer, Robert L. Woolfolk

      Pages 191-203

   4. Behavioral Management of Asthma

      • Jonathan H. Weiss

      Pages 205-219

   5. Respiratory Practices in Yoga

      • Frank A. Chandra

      Pages 221-232

We start life with a breath, and the process continues automatically for the rest of our lives. Because breathing continues on its own, without our awareness, it does not necessarily mean that it is always functioning for optimum mental and physical health. The opposite is true often. The problem with breathing is that it seems so easy and natural that we rarely give it a second thought. We breathe: we inhale, we exhale. What could be simpler? But behind that simple act lies a process that affects us profoundly. It affects the way we think and feel, the quality of what we create, and how we function in our daily life. Breathing affects our psychological and physiological states, while our psychological states affect the pattern of our breathing. For example, when anxious, we tend to hold our breath and speak at the end of inspiration in a high-pitched voice. Depressed people tend to sigh and speak at the end of expiration in a low-toned voice. A child having a temper tantrum holds his or her breath until blue in the face. Hyperven­ tilation causes not only anxiety but also such a variety of symptoms that patients can go from one specialty department to another until a wise clinician spots the abnormal breathing pattern and the patient is successfully trained to shift from maladaptive to normal breathing behavior.

• Asthma
• Lehrer
• Management
• Syndrom
• diagnosis
• psychology
• therapy

• St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, England

  Beverly H. Timmons

• The University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, USA

  Ronald Ley

Policies and ethics