<p>Some people when get anxious become itchy. I wonder how that itch is triggered and works. Does it start as a reaction of the peripheral nervous system to stress-related chemicals like cortisol? Or it starts right inside the brain? This is a short question from somebody without deep medical knowledge, so even a short answer would be appreciated.</p>
<p>So far, I have only found some general explanations like this on the web [1]:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Your brain is always communicating with nerve endings in your skin. When anxiety kicks in, your body’s stress response can go into overdrive. This can affect your nervous system and cause sensory symptoms like burning or itching of the skin, with or without visible signs.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I also found that some medicines like SSRI's and Hydroxyzine can be used to reduce this &quot;psychogenic itch&quot; [2].</p>
<p>Sadly I don't have enough time to read and understand a journal peer-reviewed paper on this, partially because there are terms which are unfamiliar to me and would need further research to understand them.</p>
<p>References:</p>
<p>[1] <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/anxiety-and-itching" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/anxiety-and-itching</a></p>
<p>[2] <a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/446055" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/446055</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-06T07:11:04.800Z
If you're having trouble with terminology I'm not sure how mechanism explanations would go with you. Those are generally more involved than medication effectiveness papers... Often these things aren't well established. Chances are there will be a bunch of different hypotheses. See e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5830411/#Sec8title
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-06T07:16:53.217Z
OR https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5845794/#S6title
got trolled too much this week
<stress>
Anxiety-induced itch: what is the mechanism?
apadana
# Anxiety-induced itch: what is the mechanism?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-09-05)

Some people when get anxious become itchy. I wonder how that itch is triggered and works. Does it start as a reaction of the peripheral nervous system to stress-related chemicals like cortisol? Or it starts right inside the brain? This is a short question from somebody without deep medical knowledge, so even a short answer would be appreciated.

So far, I have only found some general explanations like this on the web [1]:

> Your brain is always communicating with nerve endings in your skin. When anxiety kicks in, your body’s stress response can go into overdrive. This can affect your nervous system and cause sensory symptoms like burning or itching of the skin, with or without visible signs.

I also found that some medicines like SSRI's and Hydroxyzine can be used to reduce this "psychogenic itch" [2].

Sadly I don't have enough time to read and understand a journal peer-reviewed paper on this, partially because there are terms which are unfamiliar to me and would need further research to understand them.

References:

[1] <https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/anxiety-and-itching>

[2] <https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/446055>

**Tags:** stress

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: If you're having trouble with terminology I'm not sure how mechanism explanations would go with you. Those are generally more involved than medication effectiveness papers... Often these things aren't well established. Chances are there will be a bunch of different hypotheses. See e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5830411/#Sec8title  
> **username_1**: OR https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5845794/#S6title  

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## 0 answers

