The relationship between hives and depression is a complex, ironic one. In fact hives, known medically as urticaria, and depression may be directly related or a side effect of each other.
Let’s start off with the simplest relationship between the two. Hives is a common skin disorder experienced at least once by about 20 percent of the population. But there is an unfortunate minority of patients that develop chronic urticaria, and depression for those patients is an all too familiar companion. Not only are the hives bothersome in the way they constantly itch and interfere with daily activities, but the unsightly appearance of them makes people self-conscience to the point that they will start to isolate themselves to avoid being seen. With chronic hives, depression is fairly common as the patient sees no light at the end of the tunnel and can think of nothing else but their condition. There have been some cases where people have suffered for years with hives and depression becomes so severe that they become suicidal.
Urticaria and Depression May Be Related To Medication
There are many depression medications that cause hives in some patients as a side effect. So the relationship between hives and depression is sort of secondary, but emotionally destructive. The patient is already depressed so they begin a medication to help them overcome the depression. Hives appear as a side effect of the drug. Urticaria and depression in these instances can become a vicious cycle unless the patient realizes the relationship and stops or changes the medication immediately. Needless to say any positive effect the drug may have on the depression will be wiped out by the emotional toll caused by the hives. And depression will only feed on itself in these cases so recognition of the relationship is key to stopping this cycle of urticaria and depression making each condition worse.
Other Relationships between Hives and Depression
The cause of hives in over half the cases is never determined. Sometimes depression or emotional state can bring on an acute case of hives, or even chronic hives. But anxiety is a more common emotional trigger for urticaria and depression is pretty far down the list of causes.
More commonly, there are many medications that have hives and depression in their list of side effects. And these are not only anti-depressant drugs. Many drugs prescribed for all different conditions will trigger both hives and depression. The depression will not manifest right away, however, so take a look at the prescription insert patient information on any drug taken for more than a couple weeks to see if these symptoms appear as side effects.
If hives is causing the depression, the best way to break the cycle is to get to the root cause of the hives. In chronic cases, it will usually be related to an immune system problem of some sort.
