Allergies, Asthma, and “Mental” Illness

When most people hear the word “allergies” they think of sneezing, drippy noses, red eyes, and maybe some wheezing and congestion. Some people may think of hives or maybe even an anaphylactic reaction to food or insect bite allergies. Some may also visualize allergic people feeling fatigued, and having slowed, fuzzy thinking. They feel sick and lethargic, and indeed may even get more frequent infections.

But most people do not connect “seasonal allergies” and even “asthma” to more severe brain symptoms such as Major Depressive Disorder, and children’s “raging” and prolonged tantrums. Yet that connection exists. Remember the scene in my book about Keri’s summer of allergies segueing into the deep dark depths of depression? After decades of observant parents noticing that connection, mainstream media is finally reporting on the research validating those observations.

Inflammation, Schizophrenia, and Bipolar Disorder

Inflammation can be contributing to symptoms manifesting as schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, as a Dutch study adding ASPIRIN to these patients' drug regimen showed.[1]

Much research has been done about the link between inflammation and brain symptoms that get diagnosed as “mental illness.” We discussed back in 2008 about the study showing inflammation in body and brain preceded the brain symptoms that got diagnosed as mental illness.[2,3]

Inflammation of Body and Brain

Many studies have linked inflammation, excessive oxidative stress, and autoimmune disorders with psychiatric and many other medical illnesses. Altered levels of inflammatory markers such as cytokines and immune cells keep cropping up in the literature.

There is increasing evidence that many illnesses categorized diagnostically in the DSM-IV and ICD-10 under “Mental and Behavioral Disorders” are actually systemic (body-wide) disorders. They are physical illnesses affecting the brain—i.e. biological disorders. This systemic effect is well-documented in autism.

Stress, Immune Response, and Illness

We often hear about the dangers of stress in our lives. We hear about stress contributing to a host of illnesses and also exacerbating existing illnesses.

But what exactly is “stress”?