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Impact of Mold on Thoughts, Emotion, & Personality
How Mold Affects the Body
We know that mold affects health. Mold exposure can cause sickness, allergy symptoms, blurred vision, nausea, etc etc.
But did you know, that by being exposed to mold, your emotional and cognitive sides are also affected?
According to James Schaller, M.D., CMR and Gary Rosen, PhD, CIE, in there book Mold Illness and Mold Remediation Made Simple, Mold chemicals can affect cognition, emotions, and personality!
They’ve made a list of all the different affects mold can have :
Mold Affects Emotions, Cognition, & Personality
- mood swings
- mania
- irritability
- impulsivity
- increased risk taking
- decreased speech smoothness
- poor stress coping
- increased verbal fighting
- lateness
- poor empathy
- poor boundary awareness
- immaturity
- spacey
- rigidity
- poor insight
- decreased productivity
- unable to process trauma or pain
- increased narcissism
- forgetfulness
- poorly or obsessively organized
- dead creativity
- depression
- anxiety
- panic attacks
- decreased attention
- eccentric personality
- delay in child develpment
- increased drug or alcohol consumption
Mold Illness
Of course mold is not the only cause of these mental issues, but it can be a direct source as well as worsen the prognosis further.
Further Recommended Reading :
Joslyn from the MoldBlogger Team
Source: Schaller, James and Rosen, Gary. “Mold Illness and Mold Remediation Made Simple.” 30.
Like this post? Pass it along!
Other than not being able to breathe, which no one, not even emergency, cared about, panic attacks and anxiety were my first symptoms of the huge fungal infection growing in my chest, courtesy of the moldy Cedar Hills Rec Center in Beaverton, Oregon. When my nephew started having panic attacks after moving into a new duplex, I said mold. It was in the bathroom walls, and they got out of there before he got really sick. Sadly, due to lousy laws, the lousy landlord painted over it and rented to the next victim. And the rec center is still moldy and still infecting people. Nice, huh?
Veronica on March 26th, 2009for years ive had this bathroom mold problem and I told my landlord about it and all they did was spray and wipe it off and paint over it but it just keep coming back with a worse and worse oder and now im feeling light headed, depressed, i forget things, i feel real spaced out and im wondering if this is directly to the mold situation. Im not feeling good and my eyes are watery, i now have sinus and trouble breathing and when i went to my doctor she told me the reason i have allergies is because of mold and roaches in my apartment. What can I do to get better and not be sick anymore and get out of this living hell ?
dwayne daniels on July 25th, 2009=====yours truely Dwayne Daniels
i find myself more irritated and emotionally drain, fatigue, depressed, spaced out and out of control because of this mold in my bathroom that my landlord just wipes down and paints over. this has been going on for years. what can i do? so one help me please , im dying ! and no one cares !!!!!
dwayne daniels on July 25th, 2009===dwayne daniels
917-286-0418
as recent as March 5, i had a miscarriage while at work. I recently had a skin test that showed i am allergic to several molds. at least three of these are the same molds that were confirmed at my workplace. could my exposre for three years have caused my miscarriage? Oh, by the way, I was the second person that week to have had a miscarriage at my work.
marlene on March 21st, 2010Marlene- Mold can indeed cause miscarriages, and stillbirths and infertility and endometriosis and fibroids and all sorts of hormonal disruption. Since mold in your workplace has been identified, you actually have recourse by contacting OSHA. And please do, as your health and the health of your co-workers may be in danger. Mold is not something to sneeze at (yes folks, that’s a joke. Mold can make you sneeze, but it can also cause cancer and other serious diseases.)
Dwayne, honey, I hope you’re still hanging in there. I hope that you MOVED! If nothing else, keep the windows open as much as you can for ventilation.And see if there are any agencies, state, city, county, that can help you. I assume you cannot afford to move or you would have, but you should be able to report the landlord for this sub-standard and hazardous living situation.Contact the media, if nothing else. Sometimes bad publicity is the only way bad people will take the right action. Find a doctor who understands the dangers of mold (I know, not easy; it took me two years, and yes, a lot of money and stress.) Mold exposure can be treated,and let me tell you, it is so worth it to feel like myself again. Keep fighting for yourself- you deserve it!
Alexis on June 2nd, 2010I recently found black mold in my Sleep Number Bed, but I got the bed after my symptoms started. With a blacklight, I found bright spots all over the seams and corners of my walls and ceiling, many are round spots, they definitely appear to be mold. I get burning itchy eyes here and there, but rarely watery, never have a sore throat or runny nose, but I have been sneezing a lot, having itchy skin, and have been going to the doctor constantly for every emotional issue imaginable, also headaches, extreme fatigue, brain fog, etc. No coughing or chest pain either. Breathing seems normal. Is this atypical to be lacking the most common symptoms?
Mike on August 11th, 2011