A new study shows that asthma, hay fever, and eczema are connected to an increased possibility of developing mental health issues. If you have been suffering from mental health issues and allergies, you might be interested in learning about this connection.
Unexpected Links Established
At first glance, you would not think that mental health and allergies have any connection. After all, what connection would there be between itchy skin, wheezing, runny nose and emotional problems? The interesting link between mental health and allergies does not offer any ideas that might explain the connection.
Conducted in Taiwan, the study was done over a period of 15 years on 186,588 individuals. Among these people, 46,647 of them had allergies. Although the cherry blossoms in Taiwan are very beautiful during spring, they make the lives of people with pollen allergies much more difficult. The study focused on a variety of allergies, including atopic dermatitis and bronchial asthma.
Atopic dermatitis is also known as eczema and bronchial asthma refers to the chronic inflammation of a person’s airways. Eczema can be made worse by stress. For these allergic reactions, it is important to note that pollen is not the only allergen that triggers them – air pollution and laundry detergents can also cause them to flare up.
According to the study, having allergies is not what counts, it is the combination of allergies that affect mental health. Persons who had eczema and hay fever combined or just eczema were not at an increased risk of developing a mental disorder. However, a combination of asthma and eczema, hay fever, asthma, and hay fever or just asthma and hay fever on their own makes a person more prone to developing mental disorders.
In total 10.8 percent of allergic people had psychiatric disorders in comparison to just 6.7 of non-allergic persons. This difference is sizeable, considering that the people without allergies were almost three times the number of people with allergies.
allergies
What Causes the Connection?
The study did not dive into any details; it only established that there was a link. However, one possible reason for the mental issues in allergic people could be that some allergies are pretty stressful.
For instance, rhinitis and eczema are physically unpleasant conditions and their treatments are also stressful. According to a sinusitis Dallas based professional, if you are looking to treat conditions that result from allergies, you might have to fork out quite a bit of money for a based procedure. You should contact professionals for a rhinoplasty Dallas has to offer to help you with this problem. Moreover, if you are sensitive to environmental allergens such as air pollution and pollen, you might end up locking yourself in the house, which is definitely not good for your mental health.
Another potential explanation is inflammation, which is how the body responds to threats. An allergy causes your body’s tissues to become inflamed and this inflammation has been connected to mood disorders. A study that was conducted in 2017 showed that persons with depression have higher levels of inflammation.
Therefore, it is possible that individuals with allergies have higher inflammation levels that cause mood changes. However, you should note that a relationship does not mean cause. Just because people with allergies have mental disorders does not mean that one condition causes the other; there might be other factors that we know nothing of yet.
Psychological problems have, in the past, been connected to the immune system. This means that the puzzle has not yet been solved. But if you are feeling depressed after having an itching frenzy, you should consider that it might not just be frustration.
Conclusion
The 15-year study clearly shows a connection between mental illness and allergies but does not offer in-depth explanations.
