Seasonal Allergies & Stress
*this post contains amazon-associated links for purchase as well as links to free resources
It can sometimes feel like it’s always that time of year when you’re battling something in terms of health- whether it’s viruses like the cold & flu or seasonal allergies like many seem to have been battling this spring and summer so far. This blog will talk about some of the ways your stress can be impacting those physical symptoms.
We can be surrounded by airborne allergens like dust, pollen, spores, mold, dander, atmospheric smog, and more and yet be unaware of their impact on our body until the first symptoms of an allergic response begin creeping in. These symptoms can be sinus pressure, headaches, sneezing, itchy eyes, runny nose, and more. When those symptoms feel chronic or intense, it can cause an increase in our stress levels and a reduction in our quality of life. It makes sense that trying to manage continued pain or discomfort would make us more stressed, but what we don’t realize is that the increased stress can also increase our allergy symptoms.
Stress, especially chronic stress, can cause a lot of negative impacts on our body. Our stress response is designed to kick on or flare up at the time of a stressor and then shut back down once it’s over. Chronic stress though, either from our thoughts or from actual experiences, keeps that stress response on and elevated. When our stress responses stay on too long, it can cause core changes in our body.
Another one of those impacts is an increased and exaggerated immune response to allergens, which can increase your actual physical allergy symptoms. These increased symptoms can then further impact your sleep, motivation, exercise ability, and diet which continues the cycle and reduces your overall feelings of well-being.
Another way this occurs is psychological, through our perceptions of our health. The more stressed we are, the more likely we are to engage in negative thinking styles (or cognitive distortions) and the more heightened our emotional responses can be. This means we can sit in our negative or defeated thoughts longer and interpret our symptoms as worse than they may feel on a less stressful day.
What Can You Do?
You want to target your allergy symptoms in the typical ways- through nasal sprays, antihistamines, or naturopathic remedies, but also you want to work to reduce your chronic stress levels for the best overall and long-term improvements. You can check out some of my others blogs for some strategies to reduce life stress.
Reducing Chronic Stress
When it comes to reducing your chronic stress, your traditional coping strategies like deep breathing, grounding, exercise, nutritional adjustments, and more are good, but it’s necessary to address the actual root causes of that stress as well. Is there a situation or conversation that you have been avoiding? Are there life circumstances that you are having difficulty changing or accepting? Are there mental or physical health needs that you are not treating?
If you continue to stay in the same stressful environments of your life (or mind) you may find yourself in the same continuous cycle of these physical symptoms.
“Before you heal someone, ask him if he’s willing to give up the things that make him sick”
