Allergies – signals of the body and soul

The nose is stuffy, it is hard to breathe, there are red spots on the skin … We accept allergies as a necessary evil and resign ourselves to the fact that it will accompany us all our lives. Or maybe this body is giving us a distress signal?

Allergy is recognized as a global health problem. According to RAAKI (Russian Association of Allergists and Clinical Immunologists), approximately one in four people in Russia is allergic. In European countries, the situation is even more dramatic: according to scientists, allergy sufferers will soon make up half of the population of Europe. What are the causes of this modern scourge?

Geneticists have identified approximately 20 genes responsible for a predisposition to asthma, allergic rhinitis or dermatitis, and concluded that allergies are inherited. “But this does not mean at all that children with allergies are doomed,” says allergist-immunologist Lyudmila Luss, “the disease may not develop if favorable conditions are not created for it.”

The main thing in this blacklist is the state of the environment. On the streets we breathe exhaust fumes, indoors we breathe cigarette smoke and unhealthy recycled air. What can we say about the richest assortment of chemicals with which we have literally been soaked through and through. Cosmetics, household chemicals, pesticides and herbicides – in the modern world, more and more potential allergens are being discovered.

Identification system

More recently, a hypothesis has emerged that the spread of allergies is directly related to the extermination of many infections that once roamed freely around the world: vaccines and antibiotics stopped their triumphal march. Our immune system, having lost a huge part of the work, is looking for other targets.

“This hypothesis of “reducing the infectious burden” has been confirmed in further studies,” comments Ludmila Luss. “It turns out that children born and growing up in conditions far from sterile have much stronger immunity and do not suffer from allergies.”

An allergic reaction is a “phobia” of the immune system, hypervigilant protection, inadequate to the degree of threat. “In order to teach the body to perceive allergens as completely safe substances again, injections of the same allergens are used – in microdoses,” continues Ludmila Luss.

Contact reaction

Allergies always affect the organs through which we contact the outside world: nose, bronchi, skin. Recall the expressions: “I can’t stand this”, “She won’t let me breathe freely”, “I’m allergic to him”. We use these phrases to express our unwillingness to communicate, to face someone or something.

“Skin, mucous membranes, bronchi, lymphatic system are the body’s defense echelons,” says psychotherapist Margarita Zhamkochyan. “In a psychoanalytic interpretation, an allergic reaction means a refusal to contact or a fear of confrontation with the environment.”

“In the third grade, I was terribly tortured by a neighbor in my desk, once we even got into a fight,” says 28-year-old Ella. “At the same time, I developed an itchy rash. Relief came if I happened to be ill or during the holidays. Then my parents found out about the school conflict, and my enemy had a “man’s conversation” with my father. Since then, the strange urticaria has gone by itself.”

Some situations we feel with our skin: “They literally irritate – on the skin. This body experiences stress at the same time as the soul, ”explains psychologist Yulia Fedotova. The fact that allergic reactions are directly related to emotions is also confirmed by doctors: “Even if stress is not the root cause of allergies, then, without a doubt, it exacerbates its symptoms many times over,” says dermatologist Elena Fuflygina. “Then, in addition to the usual means, you have to prescribe general sedatives.”

“Nevertheless, one should not think that a psychological problem lies at the heart of any allergic reaction,” emphasizes Margarita Zhamkochyan. – But, if the allergy has psycho-emotional roots, it is difficult to treat conventionally. This is a signal: perhaps it is worth resorting to psychotherapy.

breathe freely

The situation is different with asthma: this disease has long been recognized as psychosomatic. We say “breathless” or “breathtaking” when we want to convey the tension of the moment – a state of anxiety or delight. For an asthmatic, these expressions take on a literal meaning: a joyful or sad event can cause an asthma attack.

This also happens from contact with the allergen. But more often than not, both occur—physiologists call this “stimulus stacking”: difficulty in breathing due to an allergen immediately causes an asthmatic to fear an attack, which, in turn, leads to spasm of the bronchioles.

Psychoanalysts believe that this disease is based on fear, a sense of helplessness and dependence on the mother. This idea was first expressed by Freud’s follower Edward Weiss in his book Psychosomatic Medicine. An asthma attack, in his opinion, is a child’s repressed crying to his mother. Many asthmatics have found it difficult to cry.

On the other hand, “if a person manages to burst into tears, to give vent to his feelings, there is a high probability that the asthma attack will stop,” says Yulia Fedotova.

The lack of attention of the mother or, on the contrary, her vigilant control and excessive authority ultimately lead to one result – the inability to breathe. The asthmatic suffers, but by doing so he involuntarily achieves his goal: to remain protected, guarded, dependent.

According to Margarita Zhamkochyan, this is like a vicious circle: “Asthmatics find themselves in such an atmosphere of overprotection, which only supports their dependence on the family. Unconsciously, he seems to provoke seizures in order to receive much-needed attention from others.

Attacks are so dramatic and so scary for the asthmatic and his loved ones that they only strengthen the general fear of the disease and the mutual dependence of family members. The goal of psychotherapy is to get rid of the feeling of helplessness and fear of reality, to strengthen self-confidence, and to develop the personality. Sometimes psychotherapy may be required for other family members, but as a result, the patient has a chance for a complete recovery.

Body Language

So, an allergic reaction is a kind of message that our body broadcasts, although science has not yet been able to fully decipher its language in order to translate its content with absolute accuracy. But some researchers believe that they have already found the key to this cipher.

“There are two concepts in homeopathy: psore (skin irritation) and sychose (tumor), says French otolaryngologist Richard Verisel. – Anxious, fearful people tend to the first type. They are more likely to have allergic rhinitis, skin irritations – in this way, their emotions seem to “leave” the body. The second type is introverts, who tend to keep their emotional experiences inside. They are more likely to have problems with internal organs, such as stomach ulcers or even tumors.”

According to a study by the French laboratory Marion Merrel Dow, the relationship between the type of allergy and the characteristics of a person’s mental make-up seems to really exist: for example, people prone to allergic rhinitis are more likely to have an independent character. Asthmatics, on the contrary, are rather dependent, looking for care and love. Allergic rashes on the skin indicate a narcissistic warehouse of a person’s personality and his special attention to his own appearance.

Apparently, allergic predisposition and emotional sensitivity are indeed linked. How exactly? The question of this is still open.