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For Jacob Lee, living with asthma isn’t easy. “I get mad sometimes because I have to take my medicine everyday and I have to go to the hospital a lot,” he says.
Jacob, just 11 years old, has had nearly 50 trips to the hospital. His last stay was a week ago. It’s beginning to take a toll.
“I mean, it’s the whole package. It’s not just one thing,” Andrea Allen Lee, Jacob’s mother explains. “It’s the medications; it’s the side effects of medications. He hates being away from school. He hates being away from his family.”
In a study of 11- to-17-year old asthmatics published in the Journal Pediatrics, 45 percent reported being depressed or nervous. Emotional symptoms, researchers say, are a fundamental part of this illness.
Experts say many kids are embarrassed about their illness and afraid of being different. So, they sometimes hide their symptoms and neglect their medications. Parents are advised to keep an eye out for signs of emotional trouble.
“If they’re withdrawing from you, if they’re fighting you when you’re asking to give their medicine, if they’re not taking their medicine or they’re upset,” details Robin Hyman, a certified asthma educator with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Emotional stress can actually trigger an attack and make the illness worse. Hyman says encourage your child to share their thoughts and feelings. Remind them “that you’re not by yourself. There are other people with asthma,” she says.
Jacob’s mother tries to keep his spirits high, especially when he’s feeling frustrated and discouraged. “I just try to encourage him with all the things that he can do and to foster that and to help develop those talents,” she says. “I just try to make him happy, try to make him smile.”
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