What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a normal response to the challenges we face on a day-to-day basis. Anxiety is our body’s smoke alarm system to keep us safe from danger.
When you have a food allergy or live with the risk of anaphylaxis, your alarm system can be more sensitive because you’re living with a potentially life-threatening condition.
Like a smoke alarm it can be helpful.
For example, when you have a food allergy some level of anxiety can help motivate you to check food labels and remember to bring your adrenaline (epinephrine) injector (such as EpiPen® or Anapen®) with you!
Unfortunately, smoke alarms sometimes also go off when you have burnt toast. So it’s important to recognise a false alarm when it comes to anxiety!
So how do we recognise when our smoke alarm has gone off? The tricky thing about allergic reactions and anxiety is that they can feel very similar.
Signs of when anxiety is getting unhelpful
Thoughts
– Worried thoughts that are hard to shake off
– Unpleasant/distressing thoughts or images
– Stressful memories
Feelings
– Loss of confidence/feeling low
– Stress
– Panic
Behaviour
– Not going out
– Troubles with eating food (even safe foods)
– Spending lots of time checking
– Not doing the things you want to do or need to do
Spot the unhelpful anxiety!
1. Going to a restaurant and double checking your order wiht the waiter
2. Checking your school bag to make sure you have your EpiPen® or Anapen ® on you before you leave the house
3. A friend asks you out to a restaurant you haven’t been and you say ‘No’ in case they get your order wrong
4. Sleeping over at a friend’s place and choosing not to bring your EpiPen® or Anapen® in case they judge you
5. You’re dating someone new and purposely don’t tell them you have an allergy because you’re worried about what they’ll think
Answers: 1-2 helpful, 3-5 unhelpful
A handy exercise to tackle anxiety
A great way to press pause on anxiety is to focus our attention away from anxiety. We can use our senses to help us do this. Try the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise:
Notice 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you feel, 2 things you taste/smell, 1 deep breath.
This is a skill that takes practise, so try to find a moment each day to practise, so try to find a moment each day to pracise.
When to get help
If you notice that you can relate to some of the signs of anxiety, it can be helpful to reach out and get support. About 1 in 7 young people in Australia will experience anxiety at high levels, so needing help is a common!
Talking to your friendly neighbourhood psychologist can be a great place to get help! This could be your school counsellor, or you could see a psychologist by getting a referral from a GP.
A great way to find a psychologist is through:
- psychology.org.au/Find-a-Psychologist
- contact your local Headspace
If you prefer to chat online, here are some websites where you can chat to a professional online:
There are also some awesome organisations that can help:
- You can contact us here at Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia – we are a national support organisation for people managing allergies including the risk of anaphylaxis, and can chat to you online or call us on the National Allergy Helpline – click here
- Allergy 250K is an information hub for the 250,000 Australian teens and young adults with severe allergies.
