"When I say I have COPD, I am immediately asked if I smoked."
"I was foolish enough to smoke, so I have to blame myself for getting sick."
"For a very long time, I kept my diagnosis a secret... it was so much easier to just tell people that I have asthma, rather than explaining that I actually have COPD too."
The fact that patients with COPD feel ashamed and the disease has a low status is a significant obstacle to effective COPD care. Unfortunately, both the healthcare system and many patients lack adequate knowledge about the disease. For patients, this means it is difficult to advocate for themselves, and for caregivers, it means that without the right conditionsresources, it is challenging to provide goodproper care.
While smoking is a common cause of COPD, it’s far from the only one. Occupational, environmental, and genetic factors can also lead to COPD, but due to the stigma associated with smoking, many people with COPD suffer in silence. We believe this is wrong, patient that has smoked in the past still deserves adequate and compassionate care. In the past, we didn’t discuss or understand the health risks of smoking as we do today. Blaming someone for their past smoking habit is unproductive and unfair. The important thing is to quit smoking as soon as possible, and the healthcare system can help with that.
So, regardless of the cause of your COPD, there is no reason to feel ashamed or believe you are less deserving of help. There is a lack of education about COPD as a whole due to the stigma, and it’s up to all of us to start the dialogue and transform the image of the disease. Let's do it together!
