Food Allergy Therapy
Is Anxiety About A Food Allergy Holding You Or Your Child Back?
Do you or your child have severe food allergies that create a sense of fear and anxiety in everyday situations? Are you concerned that this allergy prevents you or your child from trying new things or having new experiences? Have you found that family time, traditions, and shared meals are no longer enjoyable because of the allergen elephant in the room?
Perhaps neither of you has felt at ease ever since your child was diagnosed with a food allergy. You or your child may constantly be worried that they’ll be exposed to the allergen at school, at friends’ houses, while eating out, or even in your kitchen.
Because of this, you may be concerned that your child’s world is becoming smaller or that all the anxiety is interfering with your ability to parent. The hypervigilance related to your child’s food safety needs may have adversely impacted your partner or other children.
It could even be that a food allergy has significantly impacted your child’s social life. Maybe they no longer enjoy the activities that once made them happy or feel embarrassed about their allergy. It’s possible that your child has been bullied by other kids about their restrictions or that they feel left out of certain group activities.
Alternatively, you may be the one who has recently discovered or long struggled with a food allergy. This unexpected life stressor may have impacted your cooking routine or social life.
Or perhaps you have developed alpha-gal syndrome (an allergy to red meat and other mammalian food products) due to a tick bite. If this is the case, your diet has likely been suddenly and severely limited, and you may have trouble navigating life with this new condition.
Living with a food allergy can be disruptive and anxiety-inducing, but it doesn’t have to make life unbearable. In therapy for food allergy anxiety, you can learn to adjust your mindset and reduce your fear.
Food Allergies Continue To Be On The Rise
According to Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), one of every 13 children has a food allergy. And of that relatively large population, 40 percent are allergic to more than one food. Moreover, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in the span of about a decade—from 1997 to 2008—the instances of food allergies in children increased by 50 percent.
These numbers can be cause for great concern for parents. Upon discovering that our child has a serious food allergy, we’re likely to develop a sense of hypervigilance and chronic worry. Unfortunately, there are people in our families and/or communities at large who may not fully consider the dangers of food allergies. As a result, they don’t take precautions seriously or understand the stress we experience about the food that goes into our own or our children’s bodies.
It can be challenging to balance being safe and being so guarded that it could ultimately be detrimental to our child’s developmental progress. We want them to grow, have new experiences, and engage in life in a way that encourages independence. After all, they’re just children, and we want them to have the fun and carefree lifestyle of a kid.
But of course, food isn’t something we can avoid. Eating is such a massive part of our culture and social lives as human beings that it only adds to the stress when we think about how inescapable the implications of a food allergy can be. In many cases, the more we try to control the stress and anxiety connected to food ingredients, the worse and more chronic our worries become.
Yet, in therapy, you can voice your experiences with anxiety due to food allergies without fear of judgment or being misunderstood. With the tools you develop in treatment, you’ll be better equipped to navigate your or your child’s food allergy stress and anxiety.