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Psychogenic cough | how a psychotherapist can help

A normal human cough is a protective reflex process that helps us get rid of obstructions in breathing. This is a simple and concrete phenomenon, well known to us. Psychogenic (or neurotic) cough is a much more complex phenomenon. Such a cough can occur with obsessive-compulsive neuroses or hysterical neuroses.

The main causes of psychogenic cough:

The first option is hypercontrol of your sensations, when you listen to yourself in search of any discomfort. And after listening, try to get rid of any discomfort as quickly as possible. The second option is associated with excess emotional stress (more often due to suppressed aggression, irritation, resentment). This can be either consciously suppressed emotions for the sake of “self-control” or unconsciously suppressed emotions. The third option is expressed in the unconscious attraction of attention, often accompanied by the behavior of a “victim” or “victim of circumstances.” In some cases, a psychogenic cough can manifest itself like dermatillomania with some pronounced masochistic pleasure.

The tasks of the psychotherapist in this case will be as follows:

The first task is to understand what the psychological nature of your cough is. Understand and present in such a way that it is clear that you can change your state only by changing (flexibly) your emotional behavior.

The second task is to bring the cough under conscious control so that you have the opportunity to consciously start it, change the intensity of the cough and, ultimately, turn it off quickly enough (when the next attack begins).

The third task is to experience emotions. First of all, we are talking about experiencing aggression, which implies a simultaneous analysis of the topic of psychological defenses, so that the expression of aggression occurs without the formation of fears of social evaluation.

The fourth task is the conscious use of emotions in interpersonal communication. That is, stimulating communication with others to be actively saturated with the entire palette of your emotions and experiences. And so that such communication is perceived not just as something natural, but also useful.

The fifth task is to set up the process of actively realizing your desires, primarily social desires. Which involves an active revision of the format of current communication with loved ones, colleagues, and friends. The main goal is to make the process of realizing your needs more open, more spontaneous.

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