Anxiety And Phantom Smells Symptoms (2024)

Causes

When phantom smells are caused by stress, including anxiety-caused stress, there can be many reasons why it occurs, including:

1. The stress response

Anxious behavior, such as worry, activates the stress response, causing many body-wide changes that prepare the body for emergency action – to either fight or flee.[1][2]

Visit our “Stress Response” article for more information about its many changes.

Part of the stress response changes include slowing saliva production and heightening the body’s senses, including the chemosensory system that includes the sense of smell. The body does this so that we are more able to quickly detect a threat should one be present. These changes are beneficial when in real danger.

Since smells come from two pathways – the nostrils, and a channel that connects the roof of the throat to the nose – reduced saliva and an altered sense of smell can cause odd and phantom smells when the stress response is active.

Moreover, research has found that stress can modulate sweet and salt thresholds,[3][4] such as via the endocannabinoid system (which plays an important role in appetite and taste),[5] creating odd tastes and smells.

The higher the degree of the stress response, the more dramatic the changes.

Since stress responses push the body beyond its balance point, stress responses stress the body. As such, anxiety stresses the body.

Many anxious people notice odd smells when a stress response has been activated.

An active stress response is a common cause of odd smells.

2. Hyperstimulation (chronic stress)

When stress responses occur infrequently, the body can quickly recover from the many stress response changes.

However, the body can't completely recover when stress responses occur too frequently, such as from overly apprehensive behavior.

Incomplete recovery can leave the body in a state of semi-stress response readiness, which we call “stress-response hyperstimulation” since stress hormones are powerful stimulants.

Hyperstimulation is also often referred to as “hyperarousal,” “HPA axis dysfunction,” or “nervous system dysregulation.”[6][7]

Visit our “Hyperstimulation” article for more information about the many ways hyperstimulation can affect the body and how we feel.

Hyperstimulation chronically stresses the body, causing chronic stress response changes, including those that affect the chemosensory system (chemical senses).

Having phantom smells is a common indication of hyperstimulation (chronic stress) and how it can affect olfactory processing.

3. A reduction in saliva can cause harmful bacteria to flourish in the mouth, causing odd smells in the nose

As mentioned, the stress response suppresses saliva production. Consequently, hyperstimulation can cause persistent saliva suppression.

A chronic reduction in saliva can allow harmful bacteria to build up in the mouth. The buildup of harmful bacteria can alter the flora in your mouth, which can lead to having a bad tastes and smells from the growth of bacteria.

4. The stress response affects the stomach and digestive system

The stress response also affects the stomach and digestive system.[8] For example, the stress response suppresses digestion so that all the body’s resources are available for emergency action. These changes can be helpful when in real danger but can cause problems when the stress response is activated too often.

When the body becomes hyperstimulated due to the chronic activation of the stress response, such as from overly apprehensive behavior, we can experience many stomach and digestive system problems. These problems can cause gas, bloating, stomach upset, and fermenting food, which can affect the taste in the mouth and smells in the nose.

5. Stress adversely affects the nervous system

Even though the stress response is beneficial when we’re in real danger, the stress response has a dramatic effect on the nervous system. When the nervous system becomes hyperstimulated, it can cause many nerve and nervous system anomalies, including affecting the olfactory sensory cells that are responsible for the sense of smell.[9]

Moreover, hyperstimulation can cause the nervous system to behave erratically, which can cause the “misreporting” of sensory information, such as smell.[10] Many anxious people get phantom smells due to hyperstimulation and how that affects the body’s nervous system and chemosensory system, including the olfactory cells.

6. Hyperstimulation can suppress the body’s immune system making the body more vulnerable to intruders

The stress response also suppresses the body’s immune system.[8] While short-term immune system suppression isn’t harmful, chronic suppression, such as that caused by hyperstimulation, can allow intruders to take hold.

Sinus infections can cause bad, unusual, and phantom smells in the nose.

7. Hyperstimulation can cause an increase in Candida.

Candida albicans is a pathogenic yeast that is a natural microflora found in the GI tract, mouth, and vagin*. Most of the time, it causes no issues.[11]

However, stress, which suppresses the immune system and causes an increase in blood sugar, can cause Candida to flourish. An overgrowth of Candida in the mouth can cause a bad taste and odd smells.

Any one or combination of stress and anxiety factors, can cause phantom smells, which can be intermittent or persist for as long as the body is hyperstimulated.

8. Side effect of anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications, especially when withdrawing.

Many medications, including anti-anxiety and antidepressants, can cause phantom smells as a side effect,[12] especially when withdrawing.

Phantom smells can also be a side effect of other mood-altering and gastric medications.

Other Factors

Other factors can create stress and cause anxiety-like symptoms, as well as aggravate existing anxiety symptoms, including:

• Recreational drugs
• Stimulants
• Sleep deprivation
• Fatigue
• Hyper and hypoventilation
• Low blood sugar
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Dehydration
• Hormone changes
• Pain

Select the relevant link for more information.