Is Your Food Allergy Anxiety Unhelpful?

"Anxiety ... we can't live with it, but we also can't live without it since there's no delete button for emotions. For families managing food allergies, anxiety can feel especially intense because it's tied to real risks. Yet, research shows that while food allergy anxiety is common, it's how we respond to it-not its presence-that most affects family functioning and quality of life."

"We're all built with an internal threat-detection system designed to help us recognize risks and restore safety. When living with food allergies, many situations-and even thoughts-can trigger this system, making it easy to assume that the presence of anxiety automatically signals danger. The helpful versus unhelpful anxiety framework offers a way to distinguish when food allergy anxiety is serving as a useful tool versus when it becomes a fear-aligned compass that guides us away from learning how to live safely and fully."

Anxiety is unavoidable and can feel especially intense for families managing food allergies because it is tied to real risk. The presence of food allergy anxiety is common, but family functioning and quality of life are more affected by how people respond to that anxiety than by its mere existence. A helpful-versus-unhelpful framework distinguishes vigilance that supports safe living and motivates risk-reduction behaviors from fear that prevents engagement and learning. Helpful anxiety remains manageable and prompts actions like reading labels, communicating with restaurant staff, and reviewing emergency plans. Unhelpful anxiety can mislead, reacting when actual risk is low or absent.

Read at Psychology Today