Healing Metaphors A-Z - Emphysema

Emphysema
Emphysema is a chronic disease of the lungs. It is characterized by an increase in the size of air spaces in the lungs as a result of destruction of the lung walls. Symptoms may include breathlessness, particularly on exertion, and aggravation to our lungs on exposure to pollution and cigarette smoke. If we have emphysema, it means that we are giving up on life, and have been doing so for some time. We are caught up in self-attack and feel as if we don’t have the right to live. The root of the problem is a key conflict with a parental figure, which has resulted in feelings of being unloved. This is then, typically, transferred to our closest relationship now. We are using our illness to point the finger and are trying to prove something to our mother. This has somehow become more important than living itself.

Chuck Spezzano and Janie Ticehurst, Healing the Body Through Mind and Metaphor