Anxiety, Depression and Allergies

Unfortunately, some researchers are still using the term "neuroticism" when most of us understand that to mean "anxiety." It's a throwback to the time when Freud believed, probably rightly so, that this disorder was largely based on problems in the nervous system. Freud, you see, was a neurologist who was responsible for formulating one of the most important nerve tissue stains still used today. This was prior to his rise to fame for his theory of psychoanalysis.

A recent study, published in Psychosomatic Medicine (68:94-98, 2006), of 3,032 adults age 25-74, found that there may be a link between major depression, anxiety and childhood allergies. Both males and females appeared to show this association with anxiety. Just how this link works is still something to be studied.

This association would seem to strengthen, in my opinion, the idea that there is a connection between childhood illnesses, food allergies and other, perhaps unknown, environmental factors.


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