Does Fear Cause Bad Breath?

The question "Does fear cause bad breath?" is an interesting one. For many people who suffer from chronic halitosis, the condition can be absolutely debilitating. Some people exclude themselves from social situations and even become reclusive in fear of offending someone or being embarrassed. The idea of fear itself being a cause of bad breath isn't as outlandish as you might think. It is similar to asking if fear can cause excessive perspiration or a similar condition. As the root cause, it is unlikely that fear would cause bad breath, but the apprehension associated with bad breath can be so extreme, especially in teenagers who are already socially awkward by nature, fear could most definitely exasperate the condition significantly. Is it possible that one could fear offending someone so much that the entire cause of their bad breath is rooted in fear? Let's take a look.

We have all noticed at one time or another how the taste in our mouth changes when we are scared. Our patented fight or flight response is triggered when we become scared and our body dumps a huge amount of adrenaline into our blood stream to give our body the strength and intensity we need to either fight or run away. This overdose of adrenaline causes a coppery, metallic taste to flood our mouths. A healthy person only feels this way in certain circumstances, such as watching a scary movie or during a tense movie or sporting event. If you feel this way more frequently than normal due to any number of reasons, then it would be possible to have chronic bad breath that is connected to fear.

Most doctors will tell you, however, that if you constantly live in such a heightened state of fear, your breath should be the least of your concerns. This fight or flight response is only supposed to happen on rare occasions. Even though some people enjoy being scared in a controlled way, such as when you ride a roller coaster, no one could possibly enjoy being that scared so often that you develop chronic halitosis. You would likely be suffering from medical conditions, such as lack of sleep, chest pains and possibly dozens of other symptoms. If you feel that this is actually happening to you, seek medical attention immediately because the stress you are putting your body through is not healthy.

There are times in our life where we may be able to directly attribute fear to our bad breath. We have all been on first dates where we were a bit nervous, or even very nervous, and we might have needed a breath mint or piece of gum. The same goes for taking someone we care about to a scary movie. The idea, however, that one could develop chronic bad breath due to a constant influx of adrenaline into the blood stream is almost too incredible to believe. Does fear cause bad breath? It can, but if you are that scared, you should look for better things to think about than your breath.