Link to actual study : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629625001043 I don't have allergies as bad as some other people, but I can easily imagine how having your body...
Exemplary
A new University of Michigan study found a 7.4% jump in deaths, suggesting the physical discomfort of allergies may trigger a deeper, more dangerous despair, an overlooked factor in suicide prevention.
The study indicates that allergies’ physiological effects, such as poor sleep and mental distress, may contribute to this increased risk.
Published in the Journal of Health Economics, the study also found that individuals with a known mental health condition or who had received prior mental health treatment had an 8.6% higher incidence of suicide on days with the highest pollen levels. White men strongly drive the effect, but the study also found an unexpectedly high vulnerability among Black individuals.
I don't have allergies as bad as some other people, but I can easily imagine how having your body basically revolt against you for months at a time can wear on a person's mental health enough to tip them over the edge.
This part in particular was notable/concerning:
The authors predict that as climate change extends and intensifies the pollen season, the impact of allergies on suicide rates could more than double by the end of the century.
This makes a lot of sense but I hadn't considered it before. We think a lot about chronic pain and suicidality but less so about the chronic illness - which allergies often are - especially when...
This makes a lot of sense but I hadn't considered it before. We think a lot about chronic pain and suicidality but less so about the chronic illness - which allergies often are - especially when untreated.
I'm going to read through this whole article later. Great find @omnicrola
Glad you found it interesting! I get a lot of work emails with weird studies and projects UM is doing, this one stood out as worth sharing in particular.
Glad you found it interesting! I get a lot of work emails with weird studies and projects UM is doing, this one stood out as worth sharing in particular.
I have a lot of different pollen allergies and I never even considered this, but it makes so much sense. Anecdotally, I can't say I remember any times that it's been the main driver for any type...
I don't have allergies as bad as some other people, but I can easily imagine how having your body basically revolt against you for months at a time can wear on a person's mental health enough to tip them over the edge.
I have a lot of different pollen allergies and I never even considered this, but it makes so much sense. Anecdotally, I can't say I remember any times that it's been the main driver for any type of over-the-edge feelings, but every year for months on end it definitely impacts my quality of life.
The cold grey dark winter is finally about to be over, it's a relief.. but then it's only a month or so of enjoying the good weather outside before either birch or grass pollen season begins (these 2 are the worst for me), at which point I check an app every day for the pollen count: chances are that even if I wanted to go out, I can't, and I have to stay indoors or at least in urban areas with no parks etc.
Once these two's pollen season is over, I get about another month of being able to go outside in the good weather beginning August. And Denmark has pretty short summers, it's only reliably above 20C (68F) from June to August, maybe a little more. Even a warm summer like this year I still sort of "miss out" on at least over half of it. Because going anywhere near green areas is going to mean suffering.
Go outside, walk in the woods, get some sun in the park, smell the flowers.. Pretty common advice for things that are good for you but with allergies you absolutely cannot. And so yeah, in hindsight it's absolutely obvious how detrimental it is for one's mental health! Somehow never thought about it this way.
It may be an all year round thing too...after a lifetime of chronic allergies, which got even worse when I moved to a new state, I finally got tested and found out that I'm allergic to (among...
It may be an all year round thing too...after a lifetime of chronic allergies, which got even worse when I moved to a new state, I finally got tested and found out that I'm allergic to (among other things): basically every tree pollen, ragweed and dust mites. Ragweed and tree pollen are on opposite sides of the year, seasonally, and dust mites are inescapable.
Constant exposure to allergens can also cause other complications, like I have Eustachian tube dysfunction (inner ear pressure issues) from perpetual sinus inflammation, and also issues with eye irritation.
Even if you have the means to pursue treatment, it can easily take a year to get in to see an allergy specialist in many areas. And that will still require knowing treatment is an option and advocating for it.
I'm finally doing allergy shots, which isn't the most pleasant process (and you need to have an EpiPen, because each shot has a non-zero chance of causing anaphylaxis) but has a strong likelihood of not only reducing the allergic reactions, but doing so permanently after a few years of treatment.
Me too. I’m also allergic to rats and cockroaches apparently. I got this diagnosed during the pandemic so it was not recommended that I do allergy shots since it would weaken the immune system....
I finally got tested and found out that I'm allergic to (among other things): basically every tree pollen, ragweed and dust mites. Ragweed and tree pollen are on opposite sides of the year, seasonally, and dust mites are inescapable.
Me too. I’m also allergic to rats and cockroaches apparently. I got this diagnosed during the pandemic so it was not recommended that I do allergy shots since it would weaken the immune system. And because I was morbidly obese at the time I was already a high risk patient.
Actually my allergy doctor was originally my dermatologist who I saw because of my stress induced dermatographia (skin writing) that had to be treated with anti-histamines. Something I still use nightly. I remember as a teen only needing one loratadine pill and be fine for the whole day. Now I have to take Montelukast, Levocetrizine, eye drops (both an anti-histamine and artificial tears), and occasionally a nasal spray although I try not to use that one a lot since if I use it too often I get nasal drip. Oh and of course my nightly intake of hydroxyzine.
I've got to include pet dander in my list too, but as a household with two cats and two dogs, there's also only so much that can be done. (They are banned from the bedroom, and I have a HEPA...
I've got to include pet dander in my list too, but as a household with two cats and two dogs, there's also only so much that can be done. (They are banned from the bedroom, and I have a HEPA filter in the living room.)
I do twice daily sprays of Flonase and Astepro, and a nightly Xyzal. On and leading up to allergy shot days it's montelukast and cetirizine instead of the Xyzal. Artificial tears for eye drops. The allergy doctor wants me to use Pataday, but I've had some issues with it.
I deal with allergies year round. So I can definitely understand what a lower quality of life you can have with them especially if medication doesn’t fully help. I also deal with eye floaters...
I deal with allergies year round. So I can definitely understand what a lower quality of life you can have with them especially if medication doesn’t fully help. I also deal with eye floaters meaning I see the world like this. I’m mostly fine with them now but from 14 to 18 when I first had them I really could not handle it. And I remember seeing posts on Reddit from people dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts from seeing the world like this. It is depressing that you can see a landscape and the people around you are talking about how beautiful it is but all you can focus on is the floaters in the bright blue sky.
No joke: I just started allergy shots last week. Have my second round tomorrow. I had my first round of allergy testing right before COVID hit. When the nurse went to look at the results of the...
No joke: I just started allergy shots last week. Have my second round tomorrow.
I had my first round of allergy testing right before COVID hit. When the nurse went to look at the results of the patch tests on my back, her word-for-word response was “Whoa. Let me get my supervisor.”
COVID, of course, derailed all of that. I only recently got treatment for my allergies back up and running, and in order to qualify for allergy shots, I had to have current allergy testing, so I had to have it done again.
This time, with the prick tests, I had so many positives they had to check to make sure I wasn’t allergic to the plastic used by the tests.
The doctor also said that they look for a 3mm diameter on a reaction to determine a positive, and one of mine was 35mm(!).
One of my siblings is way more allergic to things than I am (which is genuinely hard to believe). They did allergy shots and said “it brought my allergies down to the level of what most other people would consider ‘allergies’”.
That sounds like heaven to me. Last spring I almost had to pull my car off the highway one morning on my way to work. I was crying and sneezing so much that I was literally unable to see where I was going. That is: my allergies were so bad that it was unsafe for me to drive.
The shots take five to six months to take effect, so this coming spring will be the perfect test to see if they’re working.
I've had seasonal allergies my whole life to ragweed, but I've never had allergies so bad as when I moved to Texas. Here in DFW it's just a constant bombardment, almost fully year round. For years...
I've had seasonal allergies my whole life to ragweed, but I've never had allergies so bad as when I moved to Texas. Here in DFW it's just a constant bombardment, almost fully year round. For years I took a generic Clairitin before I stopped and swapped to generic Zyrtec about almost exactly a year ago. Frankly the Zyrtec has been much more useful. I'm still suffering this year, but nowhere near as much. And that's improved my overall health and mental well-being more than anything else.
Zyrtec and Xyzal are among the better over the counter antihistamines right now, so that was a good trade up. It's worth noting that you can pair oral antihistamines with medications that have a...
Zyrtec and Xyzal are among the better over the counter antihistamines right now, so that was a good trade up. It's worth noting that you can pair oral antihistamines with medications that have a different path of action and will likely see a major improvement.
Flonase is a steroid nasal spray. It's definitely worth giving it a try, as a pair with the Zyrtec, when your allergies are in a period where they're worse, like ragweed season.
You can also probably get a prescription for montelukast (Singulair) if those are still not sufficient. It's another path of action, widely used for asthma, but also works as a secondary allergy medication.
I'll definitely have to keep those in mind, thanks! The ragweed has been falling off just in time for Juniper (something I'm not technically allergic to, but which is so proliferate here that it's...
I'll definitely have to keep those in mind, thanks! The ragweed has been falling off just in time for Juniper (something I'm not technically allergic to, but which is so proliferate here that it's impossible not to be affected by it) to start up in earnest. I always feel like I'm wheezing when Juniper's airborne no matter my physical condition.
Link to actual study : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629625001043
I don't have allergies as bad as some other people, but I can easily imagine how having your body basically revolt against you for months at a time can wear on a person's mental health enough to tip them over the edge.
This part in particular was notable/concerning:
This makes a lot of sense but I hadn't considered it before. We think a lot about chronic pain and suicidality but less so about the chronic illness - which allergies often are - especially when untreated.
I'm going to read through this whole article later. Great find @omnicrola
Glad you found it interesting! I get a lot of work emails with weird studies and projects UM is doing, this one stood out as worth sharing in particular.
I have a lot of different pollen allergies and I never even considered this, but it makes so much sense. Anecdotally, I can't say I remember any times that it's been the main driver for any type of over-the-edge feelings, but every year for months on end it definitely impacts my quality of life.
The cold grey dark winter is finally about to be over, it's a relief.. but then it's only a month or so of enjoying the good weather outside before either birch or grass pollen season begins (these 2 are the worst for me), at which point I check an app every day for the pollen count: chances are that even if I wanted to go out, I can't, and I have to stay indoors or at least in urban areas with no parks etc.
Once these two's pollen season is over, I get about another month of being able to go outside in the good weather beginning August. And Denmark has pretty short summers, it's only reliably above 20C (68F) from June to August, maybe a little more. Even a warm summer like this year I still sort of "miss out" on at least over half of it. Because going anywhere near green areas is going to mean suffering.
Go outside, walk in the woods, get some sun in the park, smell the flowers.. Pretty common advice for things that are good for you but with allergies you absolutely cannot. And so yeah, in hindsight it's absolutely obvious how detrimental it is for one's mental health! Somehow never thought about it this way.
It may be an all year round thing too...after a lifetime of chronic allergies, which got even worse when I moved to a new state, I finally got tested and found out that I'm allergic to (among other things): basically every tree pollen, ragweed and dust mites. Ragweed and tree pollen are on opposite sides of the year, seasonally, and dust mites are inescapable.
Constant exposure to allergens can also cause other complications, like I have Eustachian tube dysfunction (inner ear pressure issues) from perpetual sinus inflammation, and also issues with eye irritation.
Even if you have the means to pursue treatment, it can easily take a year to get in to see an allergy specialist in many areas. And that will still require knowing treatment is an option and advocating for it.
I'm finally doing allergy shots, which isn't the most pleasant process (and you need to have an EpiPen, because each shot has a non-zero chance of causing anaphylaxis) but has a strong likelihood of not only reducing the allergic reactions, but doing so permanently after a few years of treatment.
Me too. I’m also allergic to rats and cockroaches apparently. I got this diagnosed during the pandemic so it was not recommended that I do allergy shots since it would weaken the immune system. And because I was morbidly obese at the time I was already a high risk patient.
Actually my allergy doctor was originally my dermatologist who I saw because of my stress induced dermatographia (skin writing) that had to be treated with anti-histamines. Something I still use nightly. I remember as a teen only needing one loratadine pill and be fine for the whole day. Now I have to take Montelukast, Levocetrizine, eye drops (both an anti-histamine and artificial tears), and occasionally a nasal spray although I try not to use that one a lot since if I use it too often I get nasal drip. Oh and of course my nightly intake of hydroxyzine.
I've got to include pet dander in my list too, but as a household with two cats and two dogs, there's also only so much that can be done. (They are banned from the bedroom, and I have a HEPA filter in the living room.)
I do twice daily sprays of Flonase and Astepro, and a nightly Xyzal. On and leading up to allergy shot days it's montelukast and cetirizine instead of the Xyzal. Artificial tears for eye drops. The allergy doctor wants me to use Pataday, but I've had some issues with it.
Would moving somewhere arid resolve your problems? I expect there's not much tree pollen in Las Vegas or Palm Springs.
I deal with allergies year round. So I can definitely understand what a lower quality of life you can have with them especially if medication doesn’t fully help. I also deal with eye floaters meaning I see the world like this. I’m mostly fine with them now but from 14 to 18 when I first had them I really could not handle it. And I remember seeing posts on Reddit from people dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts from seeing the world like this. It is depressing that you can see a landscape and the people around you are talking about how beautiful it is but all you can focus on is the floaters in the bright blue sky.
No joke: I just started allergy shots last week. Have my second round tomorrow.
I had my first round of allergy testing right before COVID hit. When the nurse went to look at the results of the patch tests on my back, her word-for-word response was “Whoa. Let me get my supervisor.”
COVID, of course, derailed all of that. I only recently got treatment for my allergies back up and running, and in order to qualify for allergy shots, I had to have current allergy testing, so I had to have it done again.
This time, with the prick tests, I had so many positives they had to check to make sure I wasn’t allergic to the plastic used by the tests.
The doctor also said that they look for a 3mm diameter on a reaction to determine a positive, and one of mine was 35mm(!).
One of my siblings is way more allergic to things than I am (which is genuinely hard to believe). They did allergy shots and said “it brought my allergies down to the level of what most other people would consider ‘allergies’”.
That sounds like heaven to me. Last spring I almost had to pull my car off the highway one morning on my way to work. I was crying and sneezing so much that I was literally unable to see where I was going. That is: my allergies were so bad that it was unsafe for me to drive.
The shots take five to six months to take effect, so this coming spring will be the perfect test to see if they’re working.
I've had seasonal allergies my whole life to ragweed, but I've never had allergies so bad as when I moved to Texas. Here in DFW it's just a constant bombardment, almost fully year round. For years I took a generic Clairitin before I stopped and swapped to generic Zyrtec about almost exactly a year ago. Frankly the Zyrtec has been much more useful. I'm still suffering this year, but nowhere near as much. And that's improved my overall health and mental well-being more than anything else.
Zyrtec and Xyzal are among the better over the counter antihistamines right now, so that was a good trade up. It's worth noting that you can pair oral antihistamines with medications that have a different path of action and will likely see a major improvement.
Flonase is a steroid nasal spray. It's definitely worth giving it a try, as a pair with the Zyrtec, when your allergies are in a period where they're worse, like ragweed season.
You can also probably get a prescription for montelukast (Singulair) if those are still not sufficient. It's another path of action, widely used for asthma, but also works as a secondary allergy medication.
I'll definitely have to keep those in mind, thanks! The ragweed has been falling off just in time for Juniper (something I'm not technically allergic to, but which is so proliferate here that it's impossible not to be affected by it) to start up in earnest. I always feel like I'm wheezing when Juniper's airborne no matter my physical condition.