When Jess Farmery goes into work, she starts sneezing and her skin itches uncontrollably. His colleagues joke that he is allergic to the office.
“I thought it was hay fever or something at first, and then winter came, so it couldn’t have been hay fever,” Farmery, 31, tells SELF. Farmery, who works as a communications and PR professional in the health technology industry, also noticed that fluorescent lighting triggered headaches and exhaustion.
When you leave the building, your symptoms subside almost immediately.
Farming is not alone. What you’re experiencing is often referred to as “sick building syndrome”—a term used to describe a range of symptoms which appear to be in a particular building for a long time. According to research, this sudden, unexplained disease affects women more often than men.
According to EPA reportsick building syndrome describes “acute health and comfort effects that appear to be associated with time spent in a building,” including brain fog, nausea, dizziness, migraines, rashes, and other symptoms.
There are many possible triggers for these symptoms, including airborne particles such as molds, dust, and certain chemicals. But other symptoms, including headaches, eye strain, and fatigue, can be triggered by more physical features of the office building, such as bright strip lighting, a lack of windows, or the smell of carpets.
Lizzie, 30, who works at a nonprofit, tells SELF that the symptoms of sick building syndrome at her current office are “unmanageable.” He asked not to be identified because he feared repercussions at work.
Lizzie has been with the company for about eight years and had no problem working in a different building for the first five years of her job. Lizzie had never experienced stress at work before, but when the company moved to a new purpose-built office in January 2024, she felt really bad when she was working.
“I was like, oh my God, these lights are really affecting my brain,” she says of the first time I experienced them. “I started to be migraine symptoms. I felt sick and dizzy. And that was only after I had been in the building for about 10 minutes.
As a result, his work suffered because he could not concentrate. When she approached her employer, Lizzie says she was told she could voluntarily reduce her hours if she couldn’t come into the office full time or risk being fired. He agreed, but even a part-time presence makes him feel sick.
