Ms. Sangara is a 34-year-old high school teacher with a passion for softball, who happens to have a mild case of asthma. Fortunately, Ms. Sangara only needs to use her inhaler during softball season and in the wet winter months.
However, she worries about her asthma most days, especially when she is physically active and throughout the winter. As a result, she goes to her doctor almost monthly, and Ms. Sangara’s fiancé is convinced that her worry actually causes at least some of her asthma attacks. Since she was young, Ms. Sangara’s parents provided her with ongoing reassurance that her body is strong enough to cope, and that should her respiratory system weaken, help will be available. Yet her worry has only increased. Ms. Sangara is hyper-focused on vague sensations and pain she claims to feel in her lungs and throat. She constantly asks her fiancé for his opinion about her sensations, and she carries multiple inhalers with her at all times. She refuses to participate in any sports aside form softball despite her teammates encouraging her to try other sports as she clearly has an athletic gift, as she is fearful that unnecessary exertion will compromise her health. Although Ms. Sangara agrees that some of her safety measures might be a bit “over the top”, she is reluctant to give up anything, convinced that were she to do so it might be the very thing that could have saved her life.