Breath Ray posted:

Following the success of my last e/n thread, Starving girl, I thought I'd turn my attention closer to home, to one of my flatmates, to ask for some more advice. I share a flat with a straight cisgendered couple, and one of them has a non-life threatening condition that some of you might be familiar with and - who knows? - able to make jokes about.

It's a nervous cough: hurk HURK hmmm hmm hm. So what starts out as a cough subsides into a dainty clearing of the throat. Personally, I find it a brisk, homely sort of sound, a kind of a vocal dusting of the hands that says, 'now, what's next?' However, my flatmate mentioned to me, unprompted, that it irritates him, so I though I'd ask here. As with Starving girl, it's broaching the subject in a non-judgemental way that he is having difficulties with.

The sufferer is not overweight and even quite attractive in that busty ovine sort of way peculiar to the people of northern France. She does have a stressful job (unlike her two flatmates). She and her boyfriend spend most of their time together although he likes to play football with me on Saturdays, and watch football with me on Champions League nights, and last week he spent £900 on a sick gaming rig so he can play Microsoft Flight Simulator, so if the cough is a cry for help I imagine it will only increase in timbre and intensity. She swims, and eats fairly well.

It is known that persistent cough impacts negatively on the individuals' quality of life. Patients with chronic cough suffer significant lifestyle and social restrictions and this may induce a psychological stress response. So what's a good way for my flatmate to encourage my other flatmate to seek help for this problem and know she is loved and supported?