Does chronic itching set the brain up for depression?

People who suffer from chronic itching in the form of atopic dermatitis are seven times more likely to develop a major depressive disorder.

This link is well-established, but the “why” remains elusive.

Are the depressive symptoms simply due to inflammation, sleep disruption, and the psychological distress of living with chronic illness? Or is it possible that atopic dermatitis (AD) could be somehow changing the brain itself?

In a new opinion piece, Santosh Mishra, associate professor of molecular biomedical sciences at North Carolina State University, proposes the latter: that AD-associated chronic itch signaling from lesional skin not only causes inflammation, stress, and distress; it drives neuroplastic changes in the brain’s sensory, emotional, and cognitive control circuits, which can lead to depression.

Here, Mishra talks about the piece, which appears in JAMA Psychiatry:

The post Does chronic itching set the brain up for depression? appeared first on Futurity.