Asthma: wheezing, woes, and worries.

We examine the associations between asthma and mood and anxiety disorders and between asthma and trauma in childhood and adulthood. Our findings indicate that there is a higher-than-expected prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders among asthmatics as well as a higher frequency of asthma among the traumatized. There are a number of potential confounds in these data, but we close with a proposed risk model.This ongoing column is dedicated to the challenging clinical interface between psychiatry and primary care-two fields that are inexorably linked.