Other

Psychogenic cough in a child. Coughing due to “nerves”: symptoms and treatment of neurological cough in a child

03.09.2016 120330

It is primarily considered a sign of a respiratory disease, but it also has other causes. An unusual but important diagnostic symptom may be a nervous cough. It is psychosomatic in nature and is almost resistant to drug therapy.

Body-Brain Connection

“All diseases come from nerves” is a fair statement. This problem is studied by the science of psychosomatics - a study at the intersection of medicine and psychology. The occurrence and course of some somatic diseases is closely related to psychological factors and the functioning of the nervous system. Particularly in-depth research is looking for connections between bodily ailments and deep-seated mental and spiritual problems.

The psychosomatic cause of asthma, migraines, and autonomic disorders manifested by panic attacks has been studied. Nervous cough in adults and children is a symptom of mental disorders.

Manifestation of neurological cough

Psychosomatic cough in children and adults appears due to a disorder of mental activity. The immediate cause of the symptom is irritation of the “cough center” - the area of the cerebral cortex responsible for the coughing process. But if normally this mechanism is intended to cleanse the respiratory tract of foreign substances, foreign bodies, and pathogenic organisms, then a nervous cough in children and adults occurs without these reasons. There are no symptoms of respiratory disease.

Characteristic symptoms of psychogenic cough in adults and children:

Specific ringing sound and paroxysmal character. A nervous cough is compared to the cry of a goose or the barking of a dog.
A neurological cough is dry, because there is no inflammation and no sputum is produced.
It worsens in stressful situations, when mental activity is dominated by excitation processes. So, a nervous cough in a child begins due to serious study loads, in anticipation of exams, and a nervous cough in adults begins because of problems at work, quarrels.
At the same time, without worry, psychogenic manifestations recede, coughing does not appear in children and adults in a calm environment, in sleep.
There are no other mucous membranes, nasal congestion, or fever. Nervous cough has no physical cause.

Causes of psychogenic cough

Symptoms of nervous cough accompany mental disorders and disturbances in the mechanisms of impulse propagation along the nerves. It occurs in people who feel constant stress, excitement, and anxiety.

Similar symptoms can be caused by:

Stressful home or work environment;
Quarrels with loved ones, loneliness;
Waiting for exams;
Engaging in an activity that causes disgust;
“Mirror effect” when loved ones are ill.

Negative emotions provoke irritation of the cough center, but the manifestation of symptoms is also possible when experiencing powerful joyful sensations. The nervous system is equally activated in such situations, the excitement affects the cough center.

Thus, a nervous cough in children and adults “out of habit” is typical. It begins with somatic cough manifestations, as a symptom of severe lung disease, which reflexively becomes established during the course of the illness. The disease passed, but the symptoms remained.

Psychogenic cough attacks are sometimes a “bad habit”, with the help of which the patient evokes sympathy from others. Beginning as a conscious simulation, they eventually become reflexively fixed in the psyche.

Diagnostics

Neurological cough in a child or adult patient is diagnosed by excluding diseases of the respiratory system and taking a medical history. If the manifestation of a symptom worsens when the patient is excited and disappears in a calm environment, this indicates a psychogenic nature. Symptoms of a nervous cough disappear if a person gets carried away with an interesting activity, forgetting about his problems.

The diagnosis is carried out by a professional doctor. Only a qualified psychotherapist will take into account the symptoms and indicate how to treat nervousness. Self-medication aggravates the situation, masking the true causes of the disease, making it difficult to determine the etiology. An experienced doctor will discover in the conscious or unconscious layer of the patient’s psyche a pathological substrate that causes a cough reaction.

It is important to distinguish neurological symptoms and begin timely treatment of possible mental disorders.

Treatment of cough from nerves

Since this symptom is a superficial sign of a nervous disorder, in itself, it is practically not treated.

To influence the immediate cause of coughing attacks, medications are prescribed that affect the cough center in the medulla oblongata of the brain. Drugs of this type can only be prescribed by a doctor.

Sedatives and antidepressants are used.

It is necessary to create conditions for the recovery of the nervous system. The patient and his entourage can relieve and even cure a cough from nerves on their own. It is necessary to create a calm and friendly environment, to be distracted by positive activities that cause a surge of positive emotions.

A major role in stabilizing the functioning of the nervous system is played by the daily routine, which involves alternating periods of work and rest to avoid overexertion.

Folk remedies

Traditional medicine and herbal medicine are used in the treatment of nervous disorders, but this must be agreed with the doctor.

Aquatic, valerian officinalis, motherwort have a sedative, calming effect and strengthen the nerves. As a result, nervous symptoms, including cough, disappear.
Alcohol tinctures of medicinal herbs have a positive effect on the psyche, but use in children should be carefully dosed.
Relaxing baths with herbal infusions will put the nervous system in order.
Mastering relaxation techniques and meditation helps to gain control over nervous reactions.

An unconventional but effective treatment method is hypnosis. By immersing the patient in a hypnotic trance, the psychotherapist will discover the underlying cause of nervous disorders and eliminate it.

Children's nervous cough

A nervous cough in a child is not uncommon. is being formed, it has not yet settled down, it remains mobile. Children are emotional, react violently to events, dramatize, have a hard time withstanding criticism and stress, so they may develop a cough due to nervousness.

Cough can be caused by:

intense study;
conflicts in the family and with peers;
upcoming public speaking (matinees, educational conferences);
exams;
sudden fear (watching a horror movie).

Psychosomatic symptoms are expressed during puberty, when a serious restructuring of the child’s body and psyche occurs. When the psyche is formed, they disappear on their own.

During coughing attacks in children, it is important to correctly determine the cause of the disease so as not to miss a developing infection or nervous disorder.

Careful observation of the child and identification of the situations in which they arise will help diagnose nervous cough attacks. If there are no other symptoms of respiratory diseases and a restful night's sleep is not interrupted by attacks, this indicates a nervous cause.

Treatment of a neurotic cough in a child includes a visit to a child psychologist who will help cope with the problems. It is these problems that require the close attention of parents, and coughing attacks are a desperate signal for help.

It is impossible if he continues to cough. It is better not to focus on this fact.
Children with nervous system disorders (and healthy children too) benefit from moderate intensity physical activity - a sports section.
Reduce the time your child spends watching TV and in front of the computer.
Eliminate foods containing caffeine (chocolate, tea) from your diet. They will be replaced by magnesium-containing products - nuts, green vegetables.

Relieve the manifestation of nervous disorders with herbal preparations, herbal teas, and massage.

The human psyche and body are closely connected and influence each other. In the light of the development of psychosomatics, the Soviet slogan “A healthy mind in a healthy body” is being revived again, and vice versa, accordingly.

Sometimes the cause of a cough is not viruses and bacteria, but the development of psychosomatic disorders in the body. A psychogenic cough is very difficult to distinguish from a regular cough; it also causes a lot of discomfort, but is completely untreatable. You can identify it if you take a good look at the symptoms and features of the manifestation.

Features of cough

People whose bodies are subject to excessive mental and physical stress are especially susceptible to the development of psychogenic cough. Emotionally sensitive adults and children also suffer from this disorder. Experts point to the following reasons for the development of this condition of the human body:

unfavorable environment - tense relationships at work or in the family;
stress resulting from unacceptable activities - public speaking, communication with unpleasant people;
stressful situations – exams, conflicts;
pregnancy and childbirth;
reflex to cough of a person from a close environment.

This cough is a type of vocal tic when obsessive muscle contractions occur.

Manifestations of the disease

If we talk about psychogenic cough in children, then it appears in them starting from 3 years of age; this process is more often observed at 4-8 years of age. In this case, the cough is characterized as dry, constant, and intrusive. It does not change for a long time, disturbing the child again and again. The main distinguishing feature of psychogenic cough, which can be distinguished from other types of this reflex, is that it is observed only during the day and does not occur at night. As a rule, it intensifies in the evening, its aggravation occurs in the autumn and winter seasons.

A psychogenic cough is never accompanied by other symptoms that could indicate the development of respiratory diseases. A decrease in cough is observed when a person talks quickly, reads poetry, or sings. It is important to know that with this process sputum is never formed; this feature is also an important characteristic of a psychogenic cough. In addition, the manifestation of the reflex never increases during physical activity, which is unusual for respiratory diseases.

For many children, this process occurs every year, after which it goes away for a while. Usually, by the age of 18, children outgrow it and the psychogenic cough does not bother them.

How to carry out treatment

Determining that a person is developing a cough associated with psychosomatic disorders is not easy. Specialists are able to make such a diagnosis after a thorough examination of the whole body, during which no pathologies are detected.

To return the child to normal functioning, it is important to create favorable conditions for recovery. This refers to the child’s comfortable psychological stay in the family, kindergarten or school. For a while, parents are advised to forget that their child is constantly coughing; there is no need to focus attention on this, and especially not to scold and punish children for this. If a child is scolded for coughing, its manifestations can only intensify. The main thing is to carefully observe his behavior in order to understand and find the cause of this condition.

Of no small importance in eliminating this problem is the rationalization of the daily routine: the child should sleep both day and night, walk more on the street, spend a little time at the computer or TV, or completely eliminate such useless pastime. Moderate physical activity will be useful: physical therapy or visiting sports clubs.

It is important to review the diet of a child or an adult; you need to exclude products containing caffeine - tea, coffee, cocoa; eat more food rich in magnesium - green vegetables, nuts.

Sometimes the problem can be solved with the help of psychotherapy, however, this method of treatment is mostly used for adults. Psychologists conduct individual, behavioral, and family psychotherapy sessions with them. In the process of treating psychogenic cough in adults, it is recommended to use relaxation techniques, meditation, and speech therapy. When treating children and adolescents, distraction therapy can be used - electric shocks to the forearm, breathing through the mouth, holding a button between the lips. In more serious cases, the prescription of tranquilizers becomes inevitable.

NasmorkuNet.ru

Not everyone knows about the problem of nervous cough, so many people mistake it for a cold and begin treatment on their own. This is a completely wrong approach to this problem. In order to understand how to cope with this unpleasant phenomenon, you should know the reasons for its occurrence, as well as the main signs.

Nervous cough: treatment should be based on the cause

Before treating a nervous cough, you should know that it is initiated by the brain. If we do without complex terminology, we can say that it appears due to the command given by the cerebral cortex. This cough is always dry and paroxysmal. Unlike other diseases accompanied by this symptom, it does not occur at night, when an adult is sleeping or lying in a horizontal position. Seizures can occur at any time, but they are caused by a stressful situation. Let's give a simple example. Let's say a person who is afraid of public speaking has to read a report or give a speech in front of a large number of people. If in this case he begins to have a sore throat, lacks air and has a coughing attack, it means that we are talking about that same nervous cough.

It can appear not only due to fear, but also due to increased irritation, anger or aggression. The brain is responsible for all these emotions. It is this that provokes the occurrence of a nervous cough. It is worth noting that this sign is not a symptom of serious mental disorders. This means that long-term treatment or observation by a psychotherapist is not required.

Nervous cough in adults treatment

If you often have a nervous cough, its treatment should be agreed with a specialist. Contact your GP who will refer you to the right doctor. Remember that treatment of the symptom itself is not required in this case. Its elimination is carried out by influencing the nervous symptom. Fears, anxieties, stress and excessive irritability are treated with sedatives. You will not have to take any tranquilizers or strong drugs. As a rule, taking herbal medications is sufficient to eliminate this neurological symptom. In this regard, tinctures of valerian and motherwort and drugs such as Novopassit, Afobazol, Tenoten can help you. All of them are sold in pharmacies without a prescription.

Learn to control your nerves, overcome your fears and engage in self-improvement. And then, this unpleasant reflex act will pass very quickly and will never bother you again.

pro-kashel.ru

Psychogenic (habitual) cough

Most often, a cough of a psychogenic nature is described in patients of childhood and adolescence. Despite the limited number of publications on this problem, in adults, with the exception of a description of one case in the works of S. Freud, there is only one article that describes 4 clinical observations. In clinical practice, psychogenic cough is quite common. As a rule, it can also be one of the clinical manifestations of hyperventilation syndrome.

Psychogenic (habitual) cough - loud, dry, barking, often reminiscent of the cry of wild geese or the sound of a car siren. Due to its resistance to treatment and its duration (months, years), patients often lose their ability to work and social activity. As a rule, sleep is not disturbed. Such patients are usually diagnosed with chronic bronchitis with an asthmatic component, but the therapy provided, including the prescription of hormonal drugs, is ineffective. In some cases, the absence of changes in the lungs during a thorough clinical and paraclinical examination, the absence of a bronchospastic reaction to a test with methacholine, histamine, etc., force doctors to diagnose such patients with psychogenic asthma. It is necessary to take into account that many years of erroneous treatment of respiratory disorders, the prescription of hormones and other active drugs, bronchoscopic examinations and various types of inhalations can lead to iatrogenic consequences on the respiratory organs, seriously complicating clinical diagnosis.

The difficulty of diagnosing a cough of a psychogenic nature is associated with the need to establish a psychogenic illness, which often causes difficulties, especially in cases where the patient does not have any pathological disorders, and the understanding of his illness, as well as the concept of the attending physicians and the family environment, are oriented on a somatogenic basis.

A thorough clinical analysis usually makes it possible to identify hidden signs of conversion (hysterical) disorders in patients at the time of examination or in the past: transient somatosensory disorders, ataxic disorders, disappearance of the voice, the presence of signs of “beautiful indifference.”

The pathogenesis and some mechanisms of symptom formation of psychogenic cough have not yet been studied in detail. In general terms, it must be emphasized that the mechanisms of the conversion series can play a large role in the development of the disease, given that the cough phenomenon itself can be included in the repertoire of expressive means of nonverbal communication.

Treatment of psychogenic cough in adult patients consists of psychotherapy: individual, behavioral, family, etc. At the same time, the orientation of patients towards a psychosocial understanding of the foundations of their illness is of key importance, since the psychogenic interpretation of cough radically changes the principles of therapy. Relaxation techniques and speech therapy play an important role in the complex of therapeutic measures carried out. (speech therapy), mastering slow breathing techniques. Psychotropic drugs are indicated. The arsenal of therapeutic effects in childhood and adolescence describes such methods of treating psychogenic (habitual) cough as tightly wrapping sheets around the chest for 1-2 days, distraction therapy - electric (shock) shocks to the forearm, slow breathing through the height of the using a button between the lips, prescribing tranquilizers, etc.

ilive.com.ua

An adult has a dry cough: how to treat it?

Often, a dry cough in an adult occurs due to air pollution in large cities. This is a reaction of the bronchi to irritation by toxic reagents, in which physiologically the respiratory system turns on protective mechanisms, which manifests itself in the form of a cough. Penetrating into the bronchi, dust or any allergen irritates the receptors, and coughing in this case plays the role of removing harmful particles from the bronchial tree.

But most often, a prolonged dry cough can be a consequence of many somatic diseases. What diseases most often cause dry cough, what is the reason for its occurrence?

Causes of the symptom

Smoking may be the cause. Nicotine tars irritate the bronchioles and cause a dry cough.
The presence of a critical amount of dust in the air. If you are in a closed, dry room for a long time, then after a while you may feel a slight soreness in the larynx. It causes a dry cough.
The cause may be a foreign body entering the respiratory tract. We are talking about small particles, for example, it could be a fish bone. Foreign objects irritate the bronchial mucosa. As a result, a dry cough occurs.
The cause may be chronic respiratory diseases, such as bronchial asthma. The disease can be recognized by studying a complete medical history. Symptoms of bronchial asthma include pain in the peritoneum and chest area.
In pathological diseases of the upper respiratory tract (frontal sinusitis, sinusitis, sinusitis), a symptom such as a dry cough may be present. Nasal mucus can enter the throat cavity from the nose and then pass through the trachea and enter the bronchi.
With severe emotional shock or stress, a dry cough can also occur. Doctors define the causes of this cough as psychogenic.
Allergic reactions to animal pollen and inhalation of chemically polluted air fumes can also cause a painful cough.
The viral etiology of diseases and the bacterial environment provoke a debilitating cough. Such diseases can be influenza, ARVI. The infectious disease whooping cough is characterized by an obsessive, severe dry cough.
Often, the use of medications can cause a cough. This fact is often observed in patients with hypertension, since enalapril, a common drug for the treatment of this disease, has a dry cough among its side effects.
Oncological diseases also provoke this symptom. If you have accompanying symptoms (fever, sore throat), you should immediately consult a doctor. Such symptoms indicate possible malignant neoplasms of the throat, trachea, bronchi or lungs.
Somatic disorders in the functioning of the endocrine glands can provoke a severe cough. Most often, the symptom is characteristic of diffuse or nodular enlargement of the thyroid gland, which causes pressure on the trachea.
A persistent cough can occur with diseases of the cardiovascular system. It can be observed due to diseases of the heart muscle during physical activity. It is accompanied by shortness of breath, tachycardia (increased heartbeat), pain in the heart area. Sometimes it may be accompanied by mucous discharge interspersed with blood.
Pathological diseases of the intestines and stomach can provoke coughing. For example, with fistulas of the trachea and esophagus, it may appear after eating.
Dry cough dominates the symptoms of tuberculosis. Stress factors and vitamin deficiency often cause the development of tuberculosis. The body's defense mechanisms are reduced, and this leads to the activity of Koch's bacillus. Medical statistics record up to 70% of cases of the disease before the age of thirty.

Symptoms accompanying chronic dry cough

The clinical picture of a pathological dry cough consists of the following symptoms:

hoarseness and hoarseness;
nausea, even vomiting;
constant shortness of breath;
enlarged lymph nodes.

The clinical picture of a dry chronic cough may be accompanied by fever, headache or muscle pain. Less commonly, with a dry pathological cough, changes in stool, loss of appetite, bleeding gums and inflammation of the oral mucosa, and loss of body weight are observed.

Treatment of the disease

Before prescribing treatment, a diagnosis is carried out and the causes of such a symptom are found out. Symptomatic therapeutic treatment is prescribed, which stops the reflex formation of cough. Antitussive drugs are used for this. This treatment is also used for debilitating, prolonged, painful and severe cough due to ARVI, influenza or pneumonia. As a rule, with these diseases, a dry cough provokes muscle spasms and pain in the peritoneum and chest, vomiting, involuntary urination, and hemoptysis. Often, with a strong cough, hernias are diagnosed.

Therefore, relief with anti-inflammatory and antitussive drugs dominates approaches to therapeutic treatment. With this symptom, drinking plenty of fluids is indicated. It is better to use non-carbonated hydrocarbonate mineral water. The composition of such water helps to smooth the walls of the bronchial mucosa and thins phlegm.

After such treatment, relief should come, and the dry, debilitating cough becomes less severe and becomes wet. Next, you need to use expectorants; you can use traditional medicine recipes in treatment.

Solutions based on honey and butter are considered good expectorants in herbal medicine. To prepare the product, take a glass of boiled milk and add one tablespoon of honey and the same amount of butter. The product can be used throughout the day without restrictions. It is only important to add honey to warm, not hot milk, since at high temperatures the properties of honey lose their effect.

Another old recipe for treating dry cough is called eggnog. The yolk of one egg is ground with one tablespoon of sugar until white. Take 1 tbsp. spoon three times a day. Steam inhalations based on chamomile, wild rosemary and sage flowers are excellent for dry coughs. It is better to do this procedure using a special inhalation device. But you can use a simple method and breathe over a solution of medicinal herbs, covered with a blanket. For one liter of inhalation product, take 2 tbsp. all components. Inhalations based on soda solution and eucalyptus essential oil are effective. For one liter of inhalation solution, take 30-40 g of salt and 10 drops of eucalyptus oil. After inhalation, it is advisable to massage the chest and back.

For chronic forms of allergic dry cough, antihistamines are prescribed. The room must be constantly wet cleaned and the temperature maintained at 21 degrees.

If a patient smokes with a pathological cough, then he should get rid of this bad habit. Nicotine tars cause an increase in symptomatic dry cough. After getting rid of this bad habit, doctors prescribe medications that widen the airways. In other cases of chronic dry cough, symptomatic treatment is used, since it can be a symptom of other diseases.

It should be noted that before starting treatment, the cause of a dry cough must be diagnosed in a medical institution.

Self-medication in this situation is unacceptable.

Is your baby crying for no apparent reason? For every caring mother, this is a signal that something is wrong with the child’s health. How to understand the cause of such an unpleasant symptom, how to alleviate the child’s condition before being examined by a doctor? Read more...

Psychogenic cough occurs due to irritation of the area of the cerebral cortex responsible for the cough reflex. A child’s psychogenic cough appears during a stressful situation; in a calm state, the child does not have a cough!

As a rule, children suffering from this neurological disorder are smart, responsible, and they react emotionally to comments and criticism. People around them and close to them call them stubborn and proud.

The debut of psychogenic cough occurs at the age of 3-7 years.

Causes contributing to cough:

1.Unfavorable family environment. Often the parents of such children are very demanding. In case of failure, instead of support and encouragement, the child is criticized and condemned by the parents. Abuse is not uncommon in such families.

2. Stressful situations: conflict with peers, watching horror films, performing at a matinee, sports competition.

3.Presence of an authoritative person: a teacher, a teacher, or before a doctor’s examination. As a rule, children begin to actively cough before being examined by a doctor, and then the cough disappears on its own when the child understands that nothing terrible will be done to him.

4.To attract the attention of parents or relatives.

This could be copying a coughing relative with a chronic lung disease who is cared for and given a lot of attention.

Or the second option, when during a serious illness the baby was surrounded by excessive care of alarmed parents who focused attention on his special condition. Remembering attention and care at the time of illness, the child develops a cough reflex, which can persist for a long time and worsen during subsequent illnesses.

How to recognize a psychogenic cough?

1. Cough first appears at 3-4 years of age, without any apparent infectious cause.

2. Psychogenic cough is always dry, obsessive, and constant. The child never coughs up mucus. The nature of the cough does not change for a long time.

3. The child coughs only during the daytime; there is no cough during sleep.

4. The cough gets worse in the evening. Calms down in the summer.

5. The cough disappears or subsides when talking quickly or reading poetry.

6.Physical activity does not affect the intensity of cough in any way, unlike coughs due to respiratory diseases.

7. The cough does not change or disappear when taking medications traditionally prescribed for the treatment of cough.

8. The cough worsens in a stressful environment, with excitement.

A diagnosis of psychogenic cough can only be given to your child by a neurologist, after the pediatrician has ruled out other possible causes of the cough.

Treatment of this cough should include a set of measures:

1. Normalization of the daily routine. The child must get enough sleep. Goes to bed no later than 21.00 – 21.30. Sleep at least 10 hours a day.

2. Limit watching TV and computer games. Avoid watching horror films.

3. Create a psychologically comfortable environment at home. Give sufficient attention and care to the child from parents and relatives.

4. Don't focus on your cough. Do not scold or punish your child for coughing. Pay attention to what exactly triggers coughing and try to avoid repeated situations.

5. Spend enough time with your child in the fresh air as a family. Depending on the baby’s temperament, you can limit yourself to regular walking, or you can organize bike rides, jogging, outdoor games, scooter riding, and in winter, skating, skiing, or fun downhill rides on a cheesecake or sled.

6. Follow a diet. Eliminate carbonated drinks, chocolate, coffee and strong tea from your child’s diet. Include magnesium-rich foods (greens, nuts, peas) in your child's menu.

7. In some cases, you may need the help of a child psychologist.

Cough prevents foreign bodies from entering the lungs and promotes the elimination of pathological substances. This is the body’s protective reaction to irritation of bronchial receptors. However, against the background of neuropsychic disorders, a nervous cough appears, which occurs without irritation of the receptors on the bronchi.

Causes of development of nervous cough in adults

The symptom develops with various disorders of the nervous system, with hysteria. In people with unstable mental health, anxiety causes irritation of the cough center located in the medulla oblongata. A person, thus, unconsciously tries to attract the attention of others and arouse pity.

Psychogenic cough in adults appears in a turbulent environment, emotional disturbance, argument, or when a person finds himself in an unusual situation or in crowded places. An attack can be triggered by physical activity or emotional arousal. The pathology is also caused by childhood mental trauma and difficulty communicating with society. In this case, a nervous cough begins in childhood and remains untreated in adolescence and adulthood.

One of the causes of the pathology is long-term inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system. After recovery, a person coughs out of habit during an emotional disorder, when anticipating some event and when he finds himself in an awkward situation. This occurs due to the consolidation of a constant cough reflex at the nervous level.

Symptoms of psychogenic cough in adults

The psychogenic cough reflex is loud, resembling the sound of geese or a car siren. The attack is not accompanied by the release of bronchial secretions (dry), nasal discharge, or increased body temperature. It begins under the influence of the provoking factors described above and stops if an adult is distracted. Also, an attack of neuropsychiatric cough never develops during sleep.

With a severe mental disorder, the symptom develops frequently and is accompanied by other signs.