Allergies are common, affecting millions all around the world. While some people suffer from sniffles here, and others suffer from life-threatening symptoms when exposed to certain allergens.
Allergies keep piling up as scientists discover new allergies over time goes. Rising allergy levels can cause developing or triggering anxiety and depression. The stress alone of knowing something could cause your death upon consumption, touch, or even smell, can cause a lot of stress for most people.
Can allergies cause depression or anxiety?
Allergies can contribute to depression and anxiety. However, this doesn’t indicate that everyone with allergies suffers from anxiety and depression. Alternatively, people suffering from anxiety and depression also don’t need to suffer from allergies.
The correlation between allergies, anxiety, and depression doesn’t happen to everyone. The relationship between these conditions is unique and not clearly understood by scientists.
It’s also important to note that anxiety can affect food-intolerant people. So, it’s not just tied to allergies alone. Food intolerance makes one feel under the weather for periods. So, if the food you’re intolerant to is a staple in your diet, it may lead to you feeling down for a long time and damage your mood.
When you suffer from food intolerance or allergy symptoms while still feeling mood changes so often, it means that your food allergy or intolerance leads to depression and anxiety, which needs your action.
According to research, food allergy is a risk factor for depression and anxiety, depending on how many allergens one reacts to {1}. When allergies are causing you to have mood disorders like anxiety and depression, it’s important to get an Allergy Test to determine which foods you need to remove from your diet to reduce stress in your body.
Relationship between anxiety and allergies
Even though researchers don’t fully understand the relationship between allergies and anxiety, it still has a lot of evidence to back it up. Several theories try to explain this relationship.
- Living with allergies can cause stress and discomfort, leading to anxiety.
- Specific allergies can cause changes in the body and brain, resulting in anxiety.
- Even though allergies don’t cause anxiety, they worsen it.
- As much allergies do not affect anxiety, the same cannot be said for the latter. Anxiety makes allergies worse.
- Even though allergies and anxiety aren’t dependent on each other, both could result from a common factor: a weak immune system.
According to researchers, any of the above could be true, and each holds to some extent.
The connection between allergies and anxiety
Allergies aren’t the main cause of anxiety or depression; however, they enhance these mood disorders making them severe. Low moods during allergy season could be due to hay fever symptoms or the medication one needs to use for allergies.
Studies indicate that allergies and intolerances affect one’s performance at work or school. When one suffers physically and at work or school, it could sink them further into anxiety or depression.
Allergies, especially hay fever, tend to cause sleep disturbances which could cause anxiety to worsen due to lack of sufficient sleep. Even though allergies don’t cause anxiety, they make them worse.
Even though most people use antihistamines when they have an allergic reaction, it can sometimes lead to grogginess and lack of sleep. More people get intense depression and anxiety during hay fever season because they’re fatigued as allergies wear them down.
If you have children with allergies, you’ll notice they get vast mood swings and behaviours because their bodies are more sensitive. If antihistamines affect you the most during allergy season, you can use other methods, such as neti pot, to deal with your allergies.
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How to stop anxiety and allergies
Allergies worsen anxiety by causing a poorer quality of life and physical symptoms that further causes intense anxiety attacks. On the other hand, anxiety also worsens allergy reactions because the body releases cytokines that severely affect your allergy attacks.
Because these two somehow trigger each other, they can cause a never-ending cycle if not properly handled and treated by a professional. To stop this cycle, anxiety and allergies need to be addressed separately.
Once you know your allergies by taking an Allergy Test, you can avoid your triggers and not get allergy symptoms. However, if you have allergies like hay fever, it can be hard to avoid triggers completely, and your doctor will recommend something to help you deal with your allergies.
In reference to anxiety, everyone has different ways to manage it. Some people require only a few exercises like meditation and exercise, and they’re soon doing well enough. However, others experience too intense anxiety and need a therapist to sort them out with medication or advice on how to proceed.
When suffering from allergic reactions, taking medicine should be your last resort, and it would be helpful for your doctor to find other ways to help you, especially if you’re prone to allergies. If you depend on medication, you’ll always be under medication most of the time.
Final thoughts
Allergies and anxiety correlate, with none being the root cause of the other. They both enhance each other’s symptoms making everything worse. If you suffer from what you suspect to be allergies, ensure you take an Allergy Test to be sure, then avoid those triggers.
In case of an escalation of anxiety symptoms due to allergies, please speak with your therapist or doctor about it so they can help. Separately taking care of each issue helps manage them quite well.
References
- Hidese, S., Nogawa, S., Saito, K., & Kunugi, H. (2019). Food allergy is associated with depression and psychological distress: A web-based study in 11,876 Japanese. Journal of affective disorders, 245, 213–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.10.119
