How Important Is Indoor Air Quality To Your Mental Health?

Research increasingly illustrates the impact that dirty air has on mental illness. Some studies show that even brief,?temporary air pollution exposure may be linked to an increased risk for mental disorders like depression and schizophrenia, with damage starting as early as childhood.

• In studies done on mice, PM2.5 exposure may make it harder to learn tasks and lead to symptoms of depression, such as giving up quickly and losing interest in simple pleasures.
• Air pollution exposure can increase the severity of anxiety and depression symptoms or cause them to appear in children who previously had no risk factors for mental health conditions.
• Even relatively low PM2.5 and NO2?exposure in childhood may increase the risk of major depressive disorders and conduct disorders by age 18.
• Mental health symptoms left untreated in childhood could permanently alter brain activity and lead to the development of anxiety, depression, and attention disorders.
• Long periods of increased air pollution may be linked to a 17% rise in cases of bipolar disorder, a 6% increase in depression diagnoses, and a 20% increase in personality disorder diagnoses.

Indoor air quality is critical to our health and well being.?Have you ever wondered how important is indoor air quality to your health??We Americans spend on average?90%?of our time indoors, with the majority of that time being spent inside our homes.?Shockingly, the air we breathe inside of our homes and offices can in fact be more polluted than the air we breathe outside.?The US Environmental Protection Agency has found that certain harmful pollutants are 2x to 5x more concentrated inside when compared to the air outdoors.

Given we are spending so much time indoors, it is important to look at indoor air quality and examine the impact it is having our health, comfort and bank accounts.

How Important Is Indoor Air Quality To Your Health?

When we say indoor air quality, we are talking about the quality and condition of the air inside of a building, for example our homes, offices and schools.?The quality of the indoor?air has a direct impact on the satisfaction and well-being of those that live or work inside of that building. Not only does good quality air provide positive health benefits, but?in an office, it can also create a better, more productive work environment. Conversely when you have poor quality indoor air, it can start a cycle of health issues that can negatively affect those living and working in the building.

As most people spend much of their time inside, and with increasing concentrations of pollutants found indoors, you may be familiar with some of symptoms. Even short-term exposure can lead to negative side effects. Some pollutants can cause cold- and flu-like symptoms including fatigue, headaches, irritated eyes, and coughing. You may even notice that when you leave the building, your symptoms disappear or lessen.?This was certainly the case for me when I was living in a mold and mildew filled college dorm many years ago.?I began to realize that my persistent cold-like symptoms would disappear when I went home for winter and summer breaks.

Other pollutants can have a more serious impact with longer term exposure.?This can include respiratory diseases, cancer and lung disease.?Everyone reacts differently to indoor air pollutants, so it is important to make sure that you have good air quality at work and at home to help reduce your risk of health issues.

The World Health Organization estimates that over 90 percent of children around the world breathe polluted air at levels considered dangerous?to health and development.3

Since children’s brains and behavior are still developing up to their late teens and early adulthood, air pollution—especially?PM2.5—may have an outsized impact on their mental and emotional development, with effects on cognitive and behavioral outcomes as well.

One proposed link between?PM2.5?and cases of mental health disturbances in young children suggests that extreme cases of mental health symptoms resulting from air pollution exposure are serious enough to send children to the emergency room for psychiatric evaluation.

A 2019 study in?Environmental Health Perspectives?studied short-term exposure to PM2.5 in over 6,800 children up to 18 years old sent to an emergency department at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in?Cincinnati,?Ohio?for symptoms considered psychiatric emergencies, including:4,5,6?

1. suicidal thoughts or behavior
2. adjustment disorder (intense stress, sadness, and anxiety triggered by a major life event)

The study concluded that even a small, short-term increase in PM2.5 of 10 microns per cubic meter may be responsible for a significant increase in the number of children brought to the hospital for severe psychiatric symptoms.

Conclusion

Breathing cleaner air is a significant step toward reducing some environmental triggers of mental health symptoms. Clean air also has a host of other positive effects, including improved cognitive function and greater longevity.

Mental health treatment and management is a total effort?– there’s no single solution for everyone’s mental health symptoms. Talk to a physician or mental health provider to help decide how to manage symptoms in the long term.?