Greetings:
I'm Cathryn. I usually hang out just in the Alternachicks groups because my being a Pagan has made others uncomfortable in other boards I've been on. But recently I've gotten to a place where I can honestly look at a serious problem I have. I think I have a phobia to exercise. It brings up tons of overpowering, negative feelings for me, and I dread it far more than is normal.
Having asthma doesn't help, but I don't believe it's the whole story, either. I'm sure it contributes. Losing one's breath easily is scary. Certainly to get over this, I will need to have the asthma in mind.
I do not believe this is a recognized or well-understood phobia. The one idea I got from a lengthy Google search is that if exercise makes you anxious, go about your fitness program in baby steps (that's also recommended for asthmatics in several sources I've seen). But I find it hard to believe that I am the only person who experiences this, and I would love to talk to others about it.
I am groping with working through it, partly through my paper journal. At the moment, I am just trying to see it as clearly as possible. I have come to recognize the panic as a kind of hallucination. It will be interesting to see if that realization results in any changes when I'm able to exercise again (I'm currently recovering from a bout of bronchitis and sinusitis).
Well, maybe it IS just me, but if not, I'd like to hear about it.