Psychological Aspect of Mouth Breathing

[dayeangphurr]

I stumbled across this interesting blog post (link provided below) pertaining to the individual's social peeve towards 'mouth-breathers'; and felt compelled to share it with my fellow mouth-breathers in this forum. It would make a great discussion, no?

http://randystyles.wordpress.com/2008/0 ... breathers/

I would've thought that I'd be offended by their graceful choice of words - but I'm not. However, the ignorance and misperception of a serious health issue is why it causes additional emotional and mental problem for the ones who are actually experiencing it, such as myself.

Thoughts and experiences?

[bracedfaced]

Probably the most disturbing thing about the post was that a woman would write in such a vulgar way. She is ranting about how offensive and disgusting she finds mouth breathers, but every word out of her vulgar mouth shows that she is ignorant and disgusting herself. I wouldn't expext someone like her to understand.

[Carla]

Mouth breathing is a serious problem. It has many detrimental effects on the development of the brain, respiratory system and nervous system in children. It also causes problems involving infections of the ear, nose, throat and lungs. It’s all around bad practice, makes you look stupid and can actually cause you to function physically and mentally at a lower level than the average human being. And the coming close to death comment, you can thank modern medicine for sparing you from natural selection, but somehow I doubt the people who engineered your breathing apparatus were mouth breathers.

This is really awful

[dayeangphurr]

It is indeed awful Carla.

And I definitely agree bracedface. However, what disturbs me is that it seems as if the 'general public' expresses a similar (indirect), insensitive and nonchalant attitude about 'mouth breathers' in a casual manner; yet it remains as offensive as the severity of the particular blogger's rant.

[treevernal]

Thanks for the link Ed,

Yeah, it's a shame this person feels this way. I too have struggled with mouth breathing and I remember my mom and dad (of all people!) making fun of me for it. I would sit in front of the tv as a kid not realizing my mouth was wide open and my mom would come over and grab my lower jaw and shut in (in front of company!). Not to mention how mouth breathing caused my jaws to develop abnormally and lend to my retrognathic profile and people telling me I looked like a turtle.

Ugh, people can be so mean sometimes. We can't help it. I am doing my best to get coverage for jaw surgery along with a septoplasty but we'll see how it goes.

That person who wrote that is ignorant but sadly, a lot of people (indirectly) feel this way too in the way they treat people with slack-jaws thinking they're unintelligent or a pushover.

At least we know the truth! Hehe, hang in there guys and thanks for sharing.

Dan

[dayeangphurr]

treevernal, those seemingly casual, 'innocent' teases are quite deathly huh? My mother would mock me.

I've always wondered if the social and psychological issues pertaining to 'retrognathia and mouth breathing' is the new 'obesity'? It seems as if the medical condition is in a current, naive state among the (psychological) profession and field; as it's not an 'apparent' issue to the public opposed to obesity and its body image - which everyone maintains consciously sensitive to.

On another note, here's a great forum post discussion (link below) by ahand123 with some rather valuable information that eased my emotional struggles (kudos to rosy22).

(viewtopic.php?f=15&t=26405)

I've particularly related to Brendan's emotional reaction/response (within the forum post above) as he discovered the notorious, mouth breathing truth - entailing how life of a mouth breather is significantly affected, inhibited and compromised by an 'unrecognizable epidemic' in today's society and a struggle to ones' quality of life and well-being. (Below is one of his responses contained in the link above; located on the first page, bottom post)

http://www.sarkissiandds.com/articles/1009.html
http://www.capitolent.net/mouth.htm
http://www.atlantadentist.com/Mouth_Breathing.html

Wow. I cant believe this!!! Every single problem ive ever had is related to mouth breathing:

- As a child I had horrible ear infections OFTEN.
- I have developed bags under my eyes since a young child
- I have forward neck/head posture and neck/upper and lower back pain
- I had the most extreme sore throat problem, which led to 3 peritonsular abscesses and finally had my tonsils removed @ 19/20
- Dry mouth and bad breath
- Swallowing / eating problems. Gasping for air while eating, which made me eat extremely fast. I still eat fast as hell for some reason and cant stop it.
- Got sick all the time growing up [weakened immune system]
- Crowded teeth growing up, had to wear appliances throughout childhood, then braces in high school
- ALWAYS so damn tired, yawning 100 times a day since i was 13, thought i had chronic fatigue syndrome.. fatigue.. etc
- the articles didnt say it, but it did mention overweight, and i have to do about 5-6 days of cardio a week to keep myself in check. I gain weight so damn easy its not even funny. my metabolism is horrible

and last but not least:

- Small /receded chin, receded lower jaw, recessed upper jaw


I cannot believe this. Makes me so angry that my parents didnt notice this sesame when i was a kid! I mean god damn, you think the DOCTORS would have said something. I must have had at least 20 'stage 4' ear infections as a child.

I want to go bash my head in a wall im so angry:(

[Carla]

My parents would tease me too, about being a mouth breather.
Its very sad when you feel like you don't have the support of your own parents. Sometimes I felt even bullied at home, so you have an idea, how extreme the situation was. They would threat me like I was stupid, even though I had good grades (always had, much thanks to my teachers).

The low point, was one day when some kids were throwing stones at me. My father was near by and saw, and all he did was calmly say «oh don't do that..». When I reached him, he was smiling. Still can't believe his posture.

You have to be strong, when you're a mouth breather..

[dayeangphurr]

Carla, it's blatantly baffling and obscene how humans behave in such a malicious and inhumane manner toward another; especially among adolescents when adult supervision isn't present. Unfortunately, foul play remains perpetually existent in this grim, social world - it all seems saturated actually.

Thanks for sharing Carla, I sincerely appreciate it.

[treevernal]

I agree Ed! In a way though, we're stronger for this struggle and more sensitive to other's feelings as adults. I think that can be a good thing.

[trossi]

wow I really hate people who write stuff like this with no knowledge of the actual cause.

[K]

This person has some serious issues.

I wouldn't take her seriously. This is the kind of info that you should NOT digest for one, and criticize for two.

For a simple reason, she will never ever be a participant in an intelligent discussion where you either enjoy or benefit from that discussion.

So, man up and brush it off.

[RMF7825]

That is some pretty hateful stuff. The best you can do with that is is keep on walking. No way to address that type of thing.

[dayeangphurr]

Thank you for your contributions - treevernal, trossi, K and RMF7825.

I present another interesting read (http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/ ... _breather/). The term 'mouth-breather' have been socially defined and unconsciously perceived as a 'dense individual' among the general public – a stereotypical portrayal in the media is actor Todd Bosley in 'Lloyd' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO9CblL4MKM) and actress Heather Matarazzo in 'Welcome to the Dollhouse' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JwJtq40-Wk) whom are both casted as undesireable individuals in society; causing immature 'mouth-breathers' to experience a minor form of discrimination while developing low self-esteem and an abundance of other emotional issues prior to reaching the social age. Therefore, general awareness and early detections are significantly critical and should be recognized as an indication of a serious health hazard; requiring professional, medical monitoring and treatment to prevent any progressive, physical and psychological issues in the future.

However, despite the psychological struggles one encounters, indeed, mouth-breathers acquire emotional strength along the way.