Is There a Link Between Emotions and Allergies?

As human beings, we are also very emotional creatures. We are always dealing with some kind of emotion - whether it be a pleasant or unpleasant one. This can undoubtedly cause a lot of stress to both our minds and bodies. And while stress doesn’t necessarily cause allergies, it can certainly make them worse. This includes both “good” and “bad” stress, too.

Suppressing emotions makes my allergies worse

My whole life, I’ve struggled with emotions and processing them. Being a young child in a war zone and moving to another country at a young age was rough, to say the least. I pretty much had to be in survival mode every single day – and this continued into my adult life. I didn’t exactly have a “normal” childhood. It was always unsafe for me to express myself and truly feel my emotions without judgment, or in my case, quite literally fear of being killed.

I learned to suppress my emotions and hide them instead. To this day, I have to constantly be mindful of this. In particular, I have to be mindful of the resistance I feel to, well, feeling. In our society in general, most of us are brought up to resist emotions and shut them down, or at the very least, we aren’t taught how to even process them. We are typically told crying is weak, being angry is “bad”, etc. In my case, this affects my allergy symptoms, along with other health conditions.

Emotions are a normal part of being human

The truth is - every emotion we experience is neutral. I always try to remember that it is just energy in motion. It is simply energy that wants to move through me. And the more I try to resist and push it down and suppress it, the more it continues to manifest in my body as symptoms of allergies and health issues. Emotions are meant to be felt, and when we resist them, it can wreak havoc on our bodies. When we just judge them as being good or bad, this creates resistance and makes them even stronger and “louder”.

Accepting my vulnerability and sensitivity

It’s taken me a long time to start to embrace this and truly work on it within. I’ve had to accept that at times, I am much more sensitive than other people, both emotionally and physically. There are many days I still want to push this away from me and not be this way, in all honesty. But slowly, over time (and with a lot of therapy and inner work), I’ve been learning to embrace this part of myself and not reject it.

This also means being more vulnerable and open with myself and others, and that’s not always easy. In fact, if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that vulnerability is truly a strength, and is harder than putting on a “mask”. Unfortunately, not everyone can handle this or meet us at this level, so it’s oftentimes difficult to find connections in which it is safe to be fully vulnerable and open. But the rare ones we do find that accept us just as we are, are absolutely worth it.

Listening to our emotions and our bodies

Over time, despite how difficult it is at times, I’ve learned that I have to embrace and truly process my emotions - the “good” And the “bad”. Now, instead of seeing them as an “enemy” or something to just get rid of, I try to see them as messengers and friends of sorts. Otherwise, they manifest as skin rashes, a runny nose, headache, hives, and other health symptoms for me. This has been an incredibly healing journey for me and has reduced my allergy symptoms as well.

Managing emotions and allergies

Our bodies are an incredibly intuitive and magical part of nature, and they speak to us in many ways. And if we don’t express or process something going on within, our bodies will do it for us instead.