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Managing Allergy-Related Stress

1/3/2023

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As we welcome 2023, let's set some mindful intentions for the year. Let's focus on finding practical ways to effectively manage the stress and anxiety we may feel related to living with food allergies and allergic diseases. And The Food Allergy Counselor is here to help you do just that with all of its resources!
Food Allergy Stress
Image by 1388843 from Pixabay

What Exactly is Stress?
According to the American Psychological Association, “Stress is a normal reaction to everyday pressures, but can become unhealthy when it upsets your day-to-day functioning. Stress involves changes affecting nearly every system of the body, influencing how people feel and behave.”

Simply put, stress is how we feel and/or react when under pressure or threatened. It’s an emotional and physical response to a thought, feeling or situation, and with it often comes tension and a feeling that we don’t have the ability to manage the stress (or stressor causing the stress).

All the way back to the cavemen days, humans have experienced this automatic response to help the body/mind kick into gear to act quickly while seeking out safety/protection. (That's the fight-flight-freeze response). But the typical daily threats we experience today, such as bills and deadlines, don't require such a strong stress response. Therefore, our body's natural "alarm system" sometimes over-functions, leading us to stay stuck in the stress cycle.

Physically, stress can show up by causing headaches, digestive issues, high blood pressure, fatigue, problems with sleep, etc. Emotionally, it can give way to irritability, anger, worry, increased anxiety and depression, and even panic.
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Am I Feeling Stress or Anxiety? 
It's common to confuse stress and anxiety. After all, both are emotional responses, and they often show up hand-in-hand! But here are the differences to help you determine when you're experiencing stress and when you're experiencing anxiety.

Stress:
  • Stress is typically triggered by something external

  • Stress can be acute/brief/situational or ongoing/chronic, and when ongoing, can lead you to feeling stuck

  • Stress responses can lead people into an anxiety cycle

  • Stress can also be a motivating force, pushing you to achieve

  • Examples of short-term stress triggers: a fight with a friend, a work/school deadline, an upcoming event

  • Examples of long-term/ongoing stress triggers: chronic illness, inability to work/attend school, discrimination, basic needs not getting met

Anxiety:
  • Future-focused, anticipatory worry and thoughts; they often show up like racing thoughts

  • Persistent and/or excessive worry that is still present even when the stressor isn't

  • Anxiety can be useful, helping us prepare and make safe choices

  • Can physically and emotionally show up similar to stress, but the stressor/trigger can help differentiate between them
    ​
Managing Food Allergy Stress
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

What Can We Do About Stress? 
The truth is we've all felt stress - we navigate through it each day! Paying the bills, making tough daily decisions, navigating childcare, etc. Some stress we're better at managing, while some feels like a constant struggle to regain balance from.

Therefore, it's helpful to recognize the stress triggers you're not navigating well. Becoming aware of them and acknowledging the need for more effective strategies is a great place to start!

The key is finding workable ways to manage stress when it does impact your functioning. Therefore, whatever works to help you release the emotional and physical tension should be a tool in your stress management toolkit!

This may include physical releases such as movement, walking and exercise. It could include feel-good things such as laughing and connecting with others/friends. Deep breathing, stretching and mindfulness exercises can be useful, too. It’s also helpful to regulate sleeping and eating patterns, as our mind and body are better able to handle stress when rested and fueled.

How Can We Manage the Ongoing Stress of Food Allergy?
For many, food allergy and allergic diseases likely fit into the category of an ongoing stressor, causing chronic stress. While that may be the case, we can still approach the stress in a way that makes it feel more manageable.

Here are some tips for making allergy-related stress more manageable: 
  • Stay in the here-and-now; by being too future-focused, we are likely to increase anxiety, which doesn't help with stress management

  • Focus on what you CAN do to navigate each day well with your allergy

  • Focus on how you can INFLUENCE outcomes in stressful situations (rather than trying to control all possible outcomes)

  • Preparing for stressful scenarios and practicing allergy management skills can help decrease how stressful things feel

  • Break allergy management tasks into chunks and/or delegate tasks to others to help you manage the ongoing stress more effectively

  • Take good physical/emotional care of yourself so that when allergy-related stressors do happen, you're better able to handle them

  • Mindset matters! Yes, the allergy isn't likely to go away, but we don't need to navigate each day with a doom-and-gloom mindset either. It's absolutely possible to live a full and meaningful life - even with allergies and the stress they cause!

  • Positive self-talk helps! We're often judgmental of ourselves and supportive of others. So develop empowerment-based phrases you can say to yourself when feeling stressed, such as: "I'm brave!" and "This feels hard, but I can get through it!" and "I don't like this, but I'll feel better soon!"


Final Thoughts....
Stress is part of life, so learning how to effectively navigate it and manage it well is crucial. Living with food allergy and allergic diseases does add more stress, but even so, we can still find workable ways to deal with it.

Start by taking inventory of your biggest stressors, and an honest look at the stress management tools you use (or don't use, but likely should be using). Commit to trying one new approach to managing your stress over the next week, and then reflect on how it impacted your physical and emotional stress levels. You can do this!
​

want more empowering allergy life tips like this emailed directly to you? subscribe to receive "food allergy counselor corner" emails!


And don't forget about ALL of The FAC resources here to support you!
  • Allergy counseling information for  patients, therapists, allergists
  • Find an allergy-informed therapy provider - most offering telehealth
  • Listen to podcast episodes offering practical and relatable guidance
  • Watch (and listen to) webinars and podcast interviews
  • Explore allergy-focused behavioral health resources
  • Learn mindset strategies from allergy-specific therapeutic worksheets
  • Connect with other allergy-informed therapy providers!
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Navigating Tense Allergy Discussions During the Holidays

11/28/2022

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'Tis the season for holiday gatherings....and maybe increased stress, too? 

The holiday season can feel like a stressful time for many managing food allergy and allergic conditions. The safe food preparation and planning. The logistics of ensuring your child doesn't eat foods that aren't safe. 
​

The potentially not-so-supportive and stressful conversations with family members who just don't get it?
My hope is that all of you have incredibly supportive and understanding families, who are willing to make safe adjustments to recipes and navigate inclusion without skipping a beat!

But the reality is that even in supportive families, there still may be tough conversations about the management of food allergies and allergic conditions.

Therefore, here are practical tips for navigating (3) tense allergy-related discussions at (or while preparing for) holiday family gatherings:
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​"Can't you (or your child) just have a little bite? I'm sure it will be fine!" 

Especially true for older generations, your family members may not be well-versed in IgE-mediated food allergies and allergic conditions if they don't live with them. And while comments like this can be frustrating, it's helpful to remember that in most cases, the comment comes from a place of love. 

Use these practical approaches to navigate this scenario in a workable way: 
  • Don't engage in debate. Instead, use it as an opportunity to educate the person. Focus on one or two specific aspects of food allergy management rather than trying to educate on everything. 

  • Lead with facts, not emotions. This can be tough, but share factual data to illustrate your point whenever possible. Others may be more willing to change their perspective when you share data from allergy advocacy and allergy/immunology medical organizations. ​​

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​"I recently read about (insert treatment or trial) and that it can cure allergies! Why aren't you doing that?"

With so many clickbait headlines circulating online, your well-intentioned family members may ask if you know the latest food allergy news they recently read about. Again, this is most likely coming from a place of love, but it's easy to experience this as judgement on how you're managing your allergy. Additionally, the information they share may not be accurate or understood accurately. 

Use these practical approaches to navigate this scenario in a workable way: 
  • Simply thank them. Even if your family member is mis-informed, you can still thank them for thinking of you and/or your child's well-being. Let them know you appreciate their sharing the information, and gently transition to another topic. 

  • Engage and explore mindfully. Consider if it's worth an in-depth discussion. If you do decide to engage in this conversation, be mindful of your goals for doing so. What outcome are you hoping to achieve, and is that realistic? Is this family member open-minded and truly willing to hear what you have to say? What's the benefit to you for engaging in this discussion, and is it worth your energy? 

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​Your family, your in-laws, or partner's family just don't get allergies, which causes friction - and the possibility of not attending
This may be one of the more likely scenarios people navigate during holiday gatherings. Whatever the specifics are in your situation, it can be frustrating and exhausting to deal with this, especially if this is the experience for every holiday gathering.

As referenced in this FAC blog post on this topic, here are practical approaches to navigate this scenario in a workable way: 
  • Build a united front first. If you and your partner don't see eye-to-eye on allergy management, it makes this task much harder. Therefore, before approaching this conversation with family, focus on establishing acceptable solutions you both can agree upon, and commit to dealing with this situation together as a team. 

  • Speaker of the house. You certainly can approach this conversation together with your family member, but whoever's family it is you're addressing this with should take the lead. They're the person who knows their family best. 

  • Focus on facts. This is another situation where facts may yield more results than emotions. It may be hard to do so, but calmly explain your allergy safety protocols and potential outcomes if not followed, using facts from your allergist or reputable sources. Encourage the family member to visit reputable sources online to read these facts and stats for themselves. 

  • Be solution-focused. It's easy to let emotions take over when navigating this situation, but as much as possible, stay focused on developing a workable solution. While it may seem easy to just avoid the family gathering, and that may end up being the final decision, aim to find a solution that allows for safety AND connection with family. 

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​Final Thoughts....
Remember that whatever the stressful conversation topics may be, you have choices. You don't have to discuss things you don't want to. You don't have to justify your allergy management protocols. You can choose to kindly, but firmly change topics!

Prepare some canned responses before the family gathering, and try your best to stay connected to the reason for the holiday season over the next couple of months! ​

want more empowering allergy life tips like this emailed directly to you? subscribe to receive "food allergy counselor corner" emails!


And don't forget about ALL of the FAC resources there to support you!
  • Allergy counseling information for  patients, therapists, allergists
  • Find an allergy-informed therapy provider - most offering telehealth
  • Listen to podcast episodes offering practical and relatable guidance
  • Watch (and listen to) webinars and podcast interviews
  • Explore allergy-focused behavioral health resources
  • Learn mindset strategies from allergy-specific therapeutic worksheets
  • Connect with other allergy-informed therapy providers!
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Fear-Based Messages About Food Allergy Mistakes

8/7/2022

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[This is one of those articles that may stir up feelings of anxiety. But remember - anxiety isn't the bad guy (even though it makes us feel uncomfortable) - and it can actually push us towards meaningful change. So harness any anxious feelings you may feel as you read this, and focus on exploring why they're there and how the information presented may help you create a more workable approach to anxiety].

Scrolling through allergy social media accounts, you may have come across posts with the following kinds of messages: 
  • You can't make any mistakes when managing food allergies
  • There are no do-overs if you DO make mistakes 
  • Be careful - don't make wrong choices because results will be catastrophic
  • You need to be 100% on the mark every moment of every day​​
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[Image Source: AmberMB on Pixabay]

Do these messages raise your anxiety levels? Do they flip on the pressure to be perfect? Or make you want to curl up in a ball and hide (so you don't have to deal with the possibilities of making mistakes)?

These are normal emotional responses to those kind of statements. 

​While messages with these themes mean well - encouraging people to exercise caution and take food allergies seriously - the reality is that they may do more harm than good.

​Let's explore (3) reasons why these fear-based messages may not be the best approach to relaying the seriousness of food allergies, particularly within the food allergy community itself.  
​

1. They Can Lead To Excessive Anxiety & Worry

Increased anxiety has already been noted, but let's expand on the potential "allergy anxiety domino effect" that fear-based allergy messaging may give way to.

​Excessive anxiety and worry can lead to avoidance of experiences in order to seek safety. Avoidance of experiences can then lead to even more anxiety due to a lack of confidence in one's ability to manage their allergy without avoiding things. This then reinforces the narrative that life with food allergies is too scary to navigate. And, you guessed it - that tends to translate to even more avoidance. 


Experiencing some anxiety can actually be useful, often motivating us towards action and change. However, when it becomes excessive, our stress levels rise and our confidence in our ability to manage situations decreases. This is when we tend to feel scared, stuck, and without any control or impact on situations and their outcomes. 

​Therefore, when messages use extreme language and themes, they're likely overshooting their target, leading readers to feel less empowered and more trapped by allergy fears.  
​

2. They Can Lead To Setting Unrealistic Expectations

Simply put, no one is perfect! That means that mistakes WILL happen. I know that's a scary thought when managing life-threatening food allergies, but it's a thought that is better addressed than avoided. With that said, not every mistake leads to a reaction or anaphylaxis, and that's an important thing to remind yourself.

When messages lead us to believe that every mistake ends in catastrophe, our brain interprets that as a threat - we must keep ourselves and/or our child from having an allergic reaction at all costs (including costs to our own well-being). This then triggers a feeling of panic and fight/flight/freeze response. And understandably, that primes us to seek safety by creating an unrealistic safety bubble for fear of making mistakes. 

That's why fear-based messaging does more harm than good. When we're in fight/flight/freeze mode, our focus is safety, not learning to live with food allergies. If we stay in that mode, we will expect ourselves (and others) to be perfect, never making a mistake - telling ourselves that this an achievable goal. And if a reaction does happen, we may then deal with intense guilt that is fed by this unachievable goal. 


Yes, our overall goal is to prevent reactions, but it's unhelpful to believe that this is achieved through perfection. It's more useful to accept that there will likely be mistakes - maybe even made by ourselves - and focus on learning how to navigate reactions, should they happen. 
​

3. They Can Lead To Overparenting Behaviors

While parenting a food allergic child does require additional stressors that non-allergy parents don't deal with, it's still possible to overparent an allergic child. 

Overparenting is paved with good intentions, but can result in a child experiencing increased anxiety, inadequate life skills, and a lack of resilience. There's data exploring how 
maternal distress is an identified risk factor for psychosocial difficulties in youth with food allergy, and restrictive parenting practices can lead to poorer health-related quality of life in this population. And even with allergic children, parents' goals are still to work themselves out of a job. This means that allergy parents should focus on helping themselves grow through each stage of an allergic child's development in order to raise a self-sufficient allergic young adult. 

Connecting this with the first two points, fear-based messaging tends to lead to the exact opposite by opening the door to excessive anxiety, which then sets the stage for avoidance of experiences, aiming for unrealistic perfection, and overparenting children in order to achieve safety - none of which is helpful. 

So then how can people express the seriousness of food allergies with less fear-based messaging? 

Below are (2) helpful tips for developing messages that evoke action and empowerment rather than paralyzing worry and fear: 

Focus The Message on Building Confidence​:

  • Encouraging allergic individuals to build confidence in their ability to manage an allergic reaction is a more useful message, as it motivates people towards action. In order to grow confidence, we must first build competence through practice. Yes, that means that you'll be stepping outside of your comfort zone, but you can do so at your own pace. Without practicing allergy management skills and preparing for the possibility of anaphylaxis, competence and confidence will not develop - and instead, anxiety and fear may continue to be the main drivers in your decision-making. Therefore, encouraging action towards building confidence helps people feel more capable of managing food allergies and less like they have no control at all. 

Strike a Balance Within The Message:

  • When living with food allergies, we do need to take them serious. But overly-focusing on the seriousness of allergies can lead to the belief that every aspect of allergy life will be hard, if not impossible, to navigate. Therefore, it's helpful to aim to strike a balance between the seriousness and workability of the message. Yes, we want to encourage people to take allergies seriously and make mindful choices, but it's equally important to encourage finding workable ways to live life with allergies that isn't rooted in daily fear. 

Tips For Navigating Fear-Based Messages: 

If you haven't already, you'll likely come across fear-based allergy messaging online, because, let's face it - food allergies can feel scary! But don't let these kinds of narratives have the power to make you feel inadequate about how you're navigating life with allergies. 

Here are helpful reminders as you come across fear-based messaging: 
  • Look beyond the words & interpret what the message is trying encourage
  • Notice what it triggers & focus on actions that help address the worries
  • Set realistic expectations of self and others - no one can be perfect!
  • Be selective in who/what accounts you follow online - if they often leave you feeling triggered, they aren't useful for you

[It's important to note that if you and/or your child has experienced an allergic reaction, it may feel harder to disengage from these fear-based messages. Monitor how you're coping after reactions, and if you find it hard to regain daily functioning, discuss this with your allergist and consider reaching out for therapeutic support]. 

Remember, support is there if you need it! Don't forget to check out the Food Allergy Counselor Directory, the Exploring Food Allergy Families podcast, the Food Allergy Behavioral Health Resource section, and the allergy-specific therapeutic worksheets. And if you're an allergy-informed therapy provider, then visit the Provider page!

Don't be shy - reach out and say hi! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this post and other FAC content.
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