The pain suffered in a personal tug-of-war with allergy is like the pain of any struggle – partly physical and partly psychological. Anxiety, depression and fatigue may be direct results of an allergic reaction somewhere in the body. Or they may result from the many aggravations of dealing with a chronic allergy: sticking to a restricted diet. Vigilance against airborne allergy triggers. The fear that no matter how careful you are, you’ll get zapped anyway. The sense of alienation from your non-allergic spouse, family or co-workers. Resentment over your bad luck. And above all, the desire to lead a normal life again.
Those are the ‘effects of the effect’, as one highly allergic person put it. And easing the psychological and emotional effects of being allergic goes a long way towards successful, drug-free relief from the allergies themselves. In the case of asthma, for instance, one doctor observed that people who have uncontrolled apprehension – panic over breathing problems, fear of recurring symptoms and so on – tend to over-use steroids and other asthma medication. And they’re more likely to be frequently hospitalized for their condition, adds Jerald F. Dirks, Psy. D, former chief of clinical psychology at the National Jewish Hospital and Research Centre and the National Asthma Centre in Denver.
Actually, a little anxiety over allergy is useful – it motivates an individual to do something about the problem, rather than just roll up his or her sleeve for an injection or swallow a pill. Too much anxiety, on the other hand, can lead to an unhealthy with the illness, to the point where you begin to neglect the other important aspects of life – family and friends, career goals, travel plans, hobbies. In the case of food allergies in particular, over-anxiety can lead to what one doctor calls ‘food neurosis’ – an all-consuming obsession with what you can and cannot eat, and paranoia about eating away from home.
‘Allergic people can easily slip into the me versus them attitude if they’re not careful,’ says Iris R. Bell, a psychiatrist in San Francisco. ‘Many people begin to look at their environment as their enemy. Soon, they feel that everything they eat or breathe might make them sick. And it’s a very difficult position not to get yourself into, because it’s true that certain things can make you sick,’ she acknowledges.
‘But too much worry over allergies can make allergies worse,’ Dr Bell continued. ‘That may explain why some people feel worse when they first begin to pay attention to their diet or environment. One theory is that they develop what psychologists call a “conditioned response”. After one or more symptom-causing encounters with an identified allergen, they may break out from simply looking at chocolate, or start to feel sick when someone nearby reaches for a cigarette.’
The secret to avoid ‘worrying yourself sick’ is to learn to cope with allergies realistically, rather than to let yourself slip into the role of a lonely exile. And coping is easier if you avoid focusing on being a ‘patient’. Granted, you may feel like a patient if you have to record every mouthful of food you eat or if you’re following a Rotary Diet. Nonetheless, says Dr Bell, you should try your best to shift away from the mindset of ‘I’m sick’ -towards ‘I’m getting well’.
‘Some people say, “I’m sick today, and until I’m well I can’t do this or that,” ‘ continued Dr Bell. ‘That attitude can lead to a terrible cycle in which you never do anything, and then you feel worse about yourself because you aren’t doing anything you enjoy.’
In other words, allergies can exact quite a toll in terms of damage to self-image – but only if you let them.
‘I don’t expect people to deny that they’re sick,’ says Dr Bell. ‘But on the other hand, I’ve seen people who focused so much on being allergic that it became their whole identity – and a way to avoid life’s stresses.’
*107/65/5*