Food Allergies & Our Mental Health

Food experiences are embedded in our everyday lives. Whether it’s traveling to taste foreign cuisine, sharing recipes at neighborhood potlucks, or just going out with friends to grab a bite, food experiences affect us in many ways. However, because food experiences are so intertwined with everyday life, if food allergies start limiting them, they can also begin to dictate the rest of their lives. The National Library of Medicine addresses the mental, emotional, and social aspects of food allergies. They mention the anxiety and isolation that come with food allergies. When this stress and anxiety get out of hand, stemming from fear and trauma, they start to control everything. However, there are methods to support and build confidence in those with these struggles.

Two years ago, I traveled to Turkiye to visit my relatives and to connect to the place that feels almost like a second home. I have severe peanut and tree nut allergies, and in Turkiye, where tree nuts find their way into everything, you have to be hyper-aware. While traveling on the European side of Istanbul, I experienced anaphylaxis. Even though we confirmed with the waiter, a tree nut sneaked its way into my meal and landed me in the hospital. I’ve had anaphylaxis before; however, this time it took me a full two years to get over it. The experience itself started with the familiar tingling in my ears and heat rising into my face. I made the mistake of waiting thirty minutes, hoping it would subside, and that's when my reaction took full effect. Hives covered my body, and my breathing became harder and harder. My Mom injected me with the EpiPen. Calling a taxi, we sped through the Istanbul streets, epi’d again in the taxi, honking at everyone in our way. At that point, my mind left my body and I had doubts of me even surviving. Around 225 people in the US die from anaphylaxis per year. And over half of all adults with food allergies have experienced anaphylaxis.

After that experience, I became increasingly avoidant of all restaurants. I stopped trusting the food handlers I’d trusted for years. This led me to miss out on shared social experiences out of my fear of going out to eat. I began to snack more and more on the remaining items I trusted because of the worry that I wouldn’t find food anywhere else. These habits started to take a negative toll on my life, and it felt like my world was becoming smaller and smaller. These experiences aren’t unique, and many people struggle with getting out in the world after traumatic events like anaphylaxis. Stigma around food allergies can lead to unhealthy limitations and avoidance. However, obeying these limitations and increasing avoidance just leads to more avoidance, and life gets smaller and smaller.

Last year, my world grew unhealthily small, and my parents and I collectively made the decision to pursue therapy. In therapy, I was diagnosed with PTSD. After anaphylaxis, 41.4% of people are diagnosed with PTSD. This led me into my first step to recovery: the narrative. The narrative is a method used for getting over trauma. The therapist typically guides the patient by having them write down their version of the traumatic event. Each week, I would come in and expand more on my writing until it was complete. The more I wrote, the more I realized how much I remembered. The next step of the narrative was to read it out. There would be points where my senses were clouded by the events of my writing, my ears would feel fuzzy, and I would have to let out my anxiety in deep breaths. The goal of this process is to familiarize the patient with the traumatic event more and more until it stops being so stigmatized in the patient’s mind. The final step of the narrative was reading it out to my parents. With traumatic moments, it’s important to remember that it isn’t just you, and talking to my parents reminded me of that. A 2024 survey analysis published in the World Allergy Organization Journal includes how those around individuals with food allergies are also affected by anxiety and fear around food allergies. Some caregivers seek therapy to confront their worries about their children or patients with food allergies.

Outside of my therapy appointments, I made the effort to go to restaurants. I wasn’t forced to eat, but being surrounded by my family eating and just participating in conversation started to build my confidence. No results were immediate, but over time, I started to take back the restaurants I had strayed from. In my mind, I had set barriers over things that reminded me of the event, so I was encouraged to “take back” the places, the clothes, and the feelings associated with that. One aspect of my fear of eating out was not trusting myself. So I practiced over and over again on asserting myself. I set expectations for restaurants. I would voice my concerns and rate their answer based on whether it met my needs. I learned that I could never completely trust others, but I can trust myself. Now, my world has grown so much bigger and continues to grow. There are, of course, times when my stomach flips and I dread going out into the world, but I give myself a pep talk. Through this past year, I’ve gained the skills to calm my mind, but otherwise nothing has changed. All I’ve had to do is trust myself again and know that I am capable of handling whatever happens.

So, through addressing what I’ve been avoiding and by tackling what keeps stopping me from going out with friends, I’ve been able to return to myself with even more skills than before.

The Allergy and Asthma Network highlights the impact of allergies on children as they transition into teenagers and then adults. As they grow into adults, they become even more surrounded by food experiences because of their prominence in our culture and life. Food allergy anxiety can increase at any point along this journey due to trauma or built-up stress. Food allergies are tough on their own; however, the mental health component of food allergies is also real, and if untreated, can become just as disruptive as the food allergies themselves.