"In it, Seth asked him about his recent bout of shingles, an infection characterized by a painful rash and caused by the same virus that also brings us chickenpox. It typically occurs in people age 50 and older, which I happen to know Bill is not, and then Seth asked my question: How did that happen? It was his anxiety, Hader said, explaining funnily how his doctor delivered the news that stress can, in fact, cause shingles."
"I developed shingles at the ripe old age of 22, after an international trip caused my anxiety to skyrocket and I couldn't stop the flow of panic attacks (I know, boohoo poor little globetrotter, I said it to myself plenty). I booked an early flight home, and the very next day, a strange red rash appeared on my left side."
Bill Hader experienced shingles despite being younger than the typical affected age group. Severe anxiety and prolonged stress can suppress immune responses, allowing dormant varicella zoster virus in nerve cells to reactivate into shingles. Shingles classically affects people aged 50 and older, but younger adults can develop it after intense stressors such as panic attacks or travel-related anxiety. Urgent care clinicians have observed cases where psychological stress preceded rash onset. The causal relationship is not fully defined, but clinical opinion and anecdotal reports support a plausible link between stress-induced immune suppression and shingles reactivation.
Read at Scary Mommy
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