Key points

Physical allergy symptoms can mimic more serious medical conditions.

Many allergy-related symptoms can cause an escalation of health anxiety in anxious individuals.

Understanding your body's response to seasonal allergies can reduce health-related anxiety flare-ups.

Learning to manage allergy discomfort can help to keep health-anxious thoughts at bay.

Fall is coming; for those of us who suffer from seasonal allergies, ‘tis the season for runny noses, itchy eyes, scratchy throats, and sinus congestion. But allergy season can cause more than just these physical annoyances—research indicates a link between allergic inflammation and anxiety (Postolache and colleagues, 2008). I can tell you from a personal perspective that when my allergies flare up, my anxiety often does as w

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