Anxiety and allergy symptoms: what link does stress determine?

By Cristiano Antonino On Mar 1, 2023

Among allergic persons, anxiety disorders are significantly more present than in the rest of the population, with a ratio of 1:1.41

According to some studies, the development of atopic dermatitis and allergic urticaria is related to anxiety disorders, the presence of which would be a predictor of the number and frequency of respiratory crises in asthmatic subjects.

Stress and anxiety would influence the allergic response in predisposed subjects

An experiment measured the Skin Prick Test (SPT) response of subjects subjected to a stressful situation, showing that those who were more anxious and stressed presented more significant results on the SPT (larger diameter of the pimples) not only immediately after exposure to stress, but also the following day.

The impact of stress provoked strong reactions in the allergic subject even several hours later (the next day), particularly in subjects who had higher scores on anxiety tests performed before the experiment.

Anxiety and stress: what physical reactions?

Brooding and worrying, typical of the anxious person, lead to stress-related psychophysical activation and anxious people tend to consider stressful factors as less controllable and more harmful than non-anxious people, reacting less favourably to them: allergens and contact with them are certainly among the factors that cause stress in the allergic subject, who consequently may develop more intense allergic symptoms than those who do not suffer from an anxiety disorder.

Treating anxiety could have a positive effect on not only immediate allergic symptoms (e.g. sneezing on contact with the allergen), but also on more severe and chronic symptoms (asthma, atopic dermatitis, chronic rhinitis), and this aspect should not be underestimated, also according to the authors of the experiment: in their opinion, the assessment of anxiety and depression should be carried out in conjunction with allergy tests because identifying which patients need psychological intervention can allow the allergist to direct them to the treatment of their psychological disorders, with a presumably positive impact on the quality and effectiveness of the treatment.

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