Allergies, whether food or environmental, can be very serious. They can be life-threatening to the person living with them and when it affects children, it can be terrifying for parents. Parents have to become extra vigilant in watching what their children are eating or what they are around and always appear to be on edge. It is like they are just waiting for the moment their child has an allergic reaction, and they have to pull out the epi-pen. It is not easy to live a life like this, and that is why it has huge effects on mental health.
According to Health Day, parents who have children with severe food allergies are at risk for significant worry, anxiety and even posttraumatic stress, this was discovered in a study that was done by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust in the UK.
A study was done by looking at 105 parents who had children with food allergies that were medically diagnosed. When the study was completed, they found:
•81% of parents had significant worry
•39.1% of them had moderate to extreme anxiety
•When it came to posttraumatic stress, 42.3% of them met the criteria for the mental illness.
The authors highlighted the importance of awareness regarding mental health among parents who have children with allergies.
“It’s A Terrifying Experience”
According to Food Navigator, when a parent watches their child having a severe anaphylactic reaction to an allergen can be a “terrifying experience” and that is because they are watching their child die. This is what can leave parents to live in constant fear, fear that it is going to happen again, and countless “what if” thoughts. This is what is causing experts to say that families need more support so that they can lead “normal” lives, as much as possible.
It is also a problem that they are seeing grow, as more and more children are developing allergies. While care and education is put into the care of these children and their allergies, little attention is placed on the mental health of the parents. It is important to recognize that all the base of all the mental health concerns, a parent to a child with a severe allergy is afraid.
It’s Never Ending
According to Springer Link, these mental health challenges in parents does not always ease as the child gets older. When parenting a child without an allergy, a lot of the worry and anxiety eases as a child grows into a teenager and adult, being able to care for themselves and branch out in the world on their own. However, this is not true for parents who are dealing with a child with allergies.
As their child ages and starts to go out with their friends alone, or for sleepovers and eventually moves on to college or their own home, parents may worry even more. Parents get used to being careful and being able to monitor what their child is exposed to, but now the trust is put on the child that they know and understand their allergy enough to stay safe when they are on their own. This can cause heightened anxiety among parents who are constantly worried when their child is not with them.
Sources: Springer Link, Health Day, Food Navigator