Fear and anxiety, psychological wellbeing and prevention of psychological distress in chronic lung diseases
Symposium Chairs: T. Troosters (Leuven, Belgium), M. Delcroix (Leuven, Belgium)
Aims: To dentify fear and anxiety as important risk factors for poor treatment outcomes in asthma and COPD as well as differentiate between the role of fear versus anxiety; to explain the role of different behavioral treatment approaches in the treatment of asthma and COPD and explore the role of anxiety and fear in adaptive vs. non-adaptive trigger avoidance behaviors; to identify novel treatment approaches that focus on countering experiential and behavioral avoidance; to identify challenges to the implementation of behavioral health in asthma and COPD care and indicate how innovative treatment approaches (ehealth, mhealth, training respiratory nurses in cognitive behavioral therapy techniques) can help mitigate these challenges.