How To Write An Asthmatic Character(As Written By An Asthmatic)

Hi, I'm Bethany, I'm an asthmatic, and I'm here to    e d u c a t e  y o u


So the inaccurate way asthmatic people are portrayed in stories really bugs me. They shouldn't be taking their inhalers for nothing, and certainly not every thirty seconds. I would dearly love to see a realistic asthmatic character, one that I can identify with and laugh with.

I would love that.

So. Your education on asthma begins now.

What is asthma?
Good question, I'm glad you asked.

From Mayo Clinic:

Asthma is a condition in which your airways narrow and swell and produce extra mucus. This can make breathing difficult and trigger coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.

So basically, my airways have less room to breathe in than yours, so I'm constantly at risk of having them suddenly close up or fill with mucus, therefore causing: an asthma attack.

An asthma attack happens when either my tubes produce too much mucus(filling the airways) or when my tubes constrict too much(making the tubes smaller). When either one of these happens, surprise! Suddenly I can't breathe. To solve this I will need my inhaler, or if the inhaler isn't helping and the attack is getting into the life-threatening zone, I would have to go to the hospital and probably get steroids so I don't turn blue. 😊

Things you should know when writing an asthmatic character

1. First of all, you should know all the information above. Very important stuff, and it's good to be educated on the topic if you're going to have a character who suffers with it. But moving on from there...

2. Something normally has to trigger you to cause an asthma attack. True, sometimes I'm just sitting on the couch, minding my own business, and my lungs decide we need a routine test of our equipment today, but normally one has to be triggered in order to appear. Characters who just show up and randomly take a puff are just dumb. Don't go with that. Here's a list of things that could trigger your character's asthma:

• Allergens. If your character is allergic to pollen or dust(or both, like me 😜), having a lot of either in an area can cause the lungs to act up. Animal hair could also be a trigger. Inhaler recommended.
• Exertion. Very active exercises like cardio, dancing, or sometimes running can trigger off asthma. I've had to sit out of a few dances sometimes because I started pushing myself too hard and my heartbeat decided to migrate to my throat.
• Climate. Humidity and extreme cold are big things that can aggravate my asthma, and if I decide to partake in some heavy exercise like mentioned above in such conditions, lol I'm looking to stop breathing.
• Food allergies. Now, this is rarer, but if your character has steroids-taking extreme asthma, they might want to avoid certain food allergies of theirs if they want to avoid asthma attacks. Bear in mind though! Not everyone with asthma has issues with food making their asthma act up.
• Stress. Again, not so common, but if you're under some extremely heavy stress, your lungs might just decide they're done with you and close up.

3. The inhaler isn't the only medication. So here's the deal: The inhaler is for instant relief. If you're having an attack then and there, you'll want a puff of the inhaler. But if your character needs to take fourteen puffs in two days(I'm looking at you, Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy), they should probably be on some strong pills in addition to the inhaler.

4. Inhalers are a pain in the neck. First of all, they're small, so they're kind of easy to lose. You set them down in the wrong place and won't find them again, and then where will you be when you have an attack? Second of all, have you ever taken an inhaler? Jk, I know you haven't or you wouldn't be here. One puff is fine, but if you take two puffs, you're headed to jitter city. Your hands will shake, nay, vibrate, and furthermore you can't focus, you become hyper, and until the medication kicks in, you still can't breathe! Yeah, no, that character isn't going to want to be puffing on that thing constantly.

And have I mentioned the fact that sometimes the inhaler doesn't work?? Yeah, slacker, sometimes it doesn't do its job. If the inhaler doesn't work after the second puff, you're going to drink some water or better yet some milk, and you're going to go lie down for a while and hope it goes away. Yeah. That very educated piece of medical advice is the best I can give you.

Here's a diagram of how to use an inhaler for you:

There's also a thing called a chamber that's technically supposed to go between your inhaler and your mouth so that they know for sure you inhale all the medication or something like that, but it's huge and only for wimps. Or people with big pockets. So almost no one uses one.

5. If you're asthmatic, people will probably baby you. Le sigh. I can't say this enough. If someone is asthmatic, don't stop to ask them every ten seconds of the run if they're okay. If they're not okay, they'll ask for a break, or they'll just take a break on their own. Most of us don't even like to take our inhalers in front of people because you suddenly get the 'oh you're asthmatic? That must be so hard. Do you want me to carry that very light item for you so you're not overworked?' Yeah no. Nobody likes to be coddled, so please just let us live. But the coddling might be something interesting to add to a side character maybe, idk.

6. Asthma can get better. My mom's asthma has gotten better over the years, and mine has lessened over the years as well. I had a near-death experience when I was really small, but now my attacks are few and far between. I don't know if it's possible to get rid of asthma entirely, but it's likely that your character had it a lot worse when they were younger or are looking forward to it being better in the future.

I hope your asthma character turns out great! I hope that you will link your book for me so that I can read about your asthmatic character! I would love to see more asthmatics portrayed in fiction, especially if they're accurate portrayals!

And I'll see you later this week with another post! I hope you'll check out my Twitter and Instagram using the buttons on the sidebar, and drop me a hello there! Bye!