by Shooshan Danagoulian,The Conversation

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Seasonal allergies—triggered by pollen—appear to make deaths by suicide more likely. Our findings, published in theJournal of Health Economics, show that minor physical health conditions like mild seasonal allergies, previously thought not to be an immediate trigger of suicide, are indeed a risk factor.

To evaluate the link betweenseasonal allergiesand suicide, my co-authors and I combined dailypollenmeasurements with daily suicide counts across 34 U.S. metropolitan areas.

Because both pollen andsuicide are sensitive to weather conditions, we carefully accounted for temperature, rainfall and wind. We also controlled for differences in local climate and plant life, since pollen levels vary by region, and for seasonal averages that might otherwise obscure results. This allowed us to compare suicide counts on days with unexpectedly high pollen to days with little or none in the same county.

The results were striking. Relative to days with no or low levels of pollen, we found that deaths by suicide rose by 5.5% when pollen levels are moderate and 7.4% when levels are high. The increase was even larger among people with a known history of mental health conditions or treatment. We also showed that on high-pollen days, residents of affected areas experience moredepressive symptomsand exhaustion.

Our analysis suggests that allergies exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, pushing some people toward crisis. We suspect thatsleep disruptionis the link between allergies and suicide rates.

More than80 million Americans experience seasonal allergieseach year.

Symptoms include sneezing, congestion, itchy eyes and scratchy throat. Most people experiencing these symptoms feel sluggish during the day and sleep poorly at night. Allergy sufferers might not realize, however, that thesesymptoms reduce alertness and cognitive functioning—some of the factors thatcan worsen mental healthand increase vulnerability to suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Suicide rates have been growing steadily in the past two decades,by 37% between 2000 and 2018. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than49,000 Americans died by suicide in 2022, and over 616,000 visited emergency departments for self-harm injuries.

Although socioeconomic and demographic factors are themost important predictors of suicide, much less is known about its short-term triggers. Our study adds togrowing evidence that the environment—including something as natural as pollen—caninfluence mental health risks.

This issue is likely to become more urgent as the climate changes. Rising temperatureslengthen pollen seasons and increase pollen volume. Over the past two decades, pollen seasonshave grown in both intensity and duration, and projections suggest they willcontinue to worsen.

That means more people will experience stronger allergy symptoms, with ripple effects not only for physical health but also for sleep, mood and mental well-being.

Despite the scale of the problem, there are no national systems in the U.S. to consistently measure and communicate pollen levels. Most communities lack reliable forecasts and alert systems that would allow vulnerable people to take precautions. This gap limits both prevention and research.

Our study focused onmetropolitan areaswhere pollen and death counts were available, but we cannot yet generalize to rural areas. That is a concern becauserural communitiesoftenface greater shortages in mental health careandpharmacy access—and have seenrising suicide rates over the past decade.

For people who are already receivingmental health care, recognizing and treating seasonal allergies is a key part of self-care.

Over-the-counter medications can behighly effective at reducing symptoms.

More broadly, people should be aware that during peak allergy season, reduced alertness, sleep disruptions and mood fluctuations may place an increased burden on their mental health, in addition to the allergy symptoms.

In terms of policy, improving pollen monitoring andpublic communicationcould help people anticipate high-risk days. Such infrastructure would also support further research, particularly inrural areaswhere data is currently lacking. Our next step, supported by theAmerican Foundation for Suicide Prevention, is to examine the impact of pollen on rural communities.

This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.

More information: Joelle Abramowitz et al, Seasonal allergies and mental health: Do small health shocks affect suicidality?, Journal of Health Economics (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2025.103069 Journal information: Journal of Health Economics

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