June 30, 2024 • 34 mins
In our first episode, let's dive into the intricate connection between food allergy anxiety, trauma, and the autonomic nervous system. For those living with food allergies, the fear of accidental exposure and the potential for life-threatening reactions can create a pervasive sense of anxiety and trauma. But why does this happen, what makes it different from anxiety about other topics or other traumatic experiences, and what role does the autonomic nervous system play in these experiences?
Join Dr. Whitehouse to explore how the autonomic nervous system—responsible for regulating many involuntary functions in the body, including the fight-or-flight response—contributes to the heightened state of alertness and fear commonly experienced by individuals with food allergies. Using everyday language, Dr. Whitehouse helps you understand the science behind how our bodies react to perceived threats and how past traumatic events related to allergies can further exacerbate this response.
Understanding that the autonomic nervous system is deeply involved in our responses to allergens, we shift our focus to practical strategies for establishing a sense of safety and reducing anxiety. We emphasize the importance of creating a supportive environment, both physically and emotionally, to help calm the nervous system and mitigate the intense reactions it can trigger.
To wrap up the episode, you'll hear three actionable steps listeners can take immediately to begin applying what they have learned:
- Look for Glimmers
- Watch the movies Inside Out and Inside Out 2
- Subscribe to the Don't Feed the Fear podcast and/or Dr. Whitehouse's mailing list at www.DrAmandaWhitehouse.com
By understanding the connection between the autonomic nervous system and allergy anxiety, and by implementing these practical steps, listeners can begin to reclaim a sense of safety and well-being in their daily lives. Tune in to learn how to navigate the complexities of food allergy anxiety and trauma with knowledge, resilience, and confidence.
Join me for this empowering episode as we uncover the physiological roots of allergy anxiety and trauma and equip you with the tools to establish safety and peace of mind. Don't miss this opportunity to transform your approach to living with food allergies and take control of your emotional health.
Special thanks to Kyle Dine for permission to use his song The Doghouse for the podcast theme!
www.kyledine.com
Find Dr. Whitehouse:
-thefoodallergypsychologist.com
-Instagram: @thefoodallergypsychologist
-Facebook: Dr. Amanda Whitehouse, Food Allergy Anxiety Psychologist
-welcome@dramandawhitehouse.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
What makes anxiety about foodallergies different?
After my family's ownexperiences and working with so
many families in my privatepractice, things continue to
click into place over time tohelp me realize more and more
why anxiety about food allergiesis so intense and pervasive.
Why the approaches that wetypically use in therapy to
(00:22):
address anxiety Often don't workfor these kids and these parents
or if they do they work a littlebit like a band aid they might
solve one Little problem onescenario at school or this
Situation coming up at abirthday party, but they don't
relieve the anxiety overall So Iam diving right into the heart
of it here as I start my podcastand I'm going to explain to you
(00:44):
Exactly what I have found Seemsto be the reason that food
allergies are so differentWelcome to the Don't Feed the
Fear podcast, where we dive intothe complex world of food
allergy anxiety.
I'm your host, Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse, food allergyanxiety psychologist and food
allergy mom.
Whether you're dealing withallergies yourself or supporting
(01:05):
someone who is, join us for anempathetic and informative
journey toward food allergy calmand confidence.
Welcome to the first episode ofthe Don't Feed the Fear podcast.
This summer I'm going to befocusing on understanding food
allergy anxiety and trauma andtoday's episode will focus on
the very heart of that, at leastfrom my experience and my
(01:26):
private practice as a therapistworking with kids and families
with food allergies.
I do want to warn everyone,especially those who have
experiences with food allergiesand allergic reactions that what
we talk about today might beupsetting for you know where
you're at in your own journey interms of whether discussing the
(01:48):
danger of what's happening andthen the physical sensations
that go along with it is alittle bit too much for you
right now.
I would encourage you to pausethe episode at any time if it
feels like too much.
I do want to get the informationout there, but I also want to
acknowledge that for thosewho've experienced a trauma,
listening to someone talk aboutit can be very upsetting.
(02:09):
That said, it's also importantto know and understand, and
sometimes the knowledge can feellike the control we need to have
our experiences.
validated, to know that there'snot something wrong with us.
This is actually a reaction, notjust physically, but
emotionally, that makes sensegiven what we've experienced.
(02:31):
So first episode, I'm divingright in because I want to give
you what I feel like is the mostimportant piece of information
that you can have about food,allergy, anxiety.
This is something that I teachall of the clients that I work
with in my private practice.
This is something that I'llexplain later.
Is well documented, and I don'tunderstand why it's not more of
a widespread approach, Mostpeople can relate to the idea of
(02:56):
feeling scared or anxious aboutsomething.
So whenever I talk about foodallergy anxiety, I like to start
here.
Everybody can picture somethingthat they're afraid of.
And most people have somethingthat they're really afraid of.
I often ask people and of coursethey say things like spiders and
snakes, heights, and one of themost common ones that works
really well as an analogy isairplanes.
(03:21):
So if any of us pick that thingwe're afraid of, the thing we're
really afraid of, And imagineourselves doing that thing,
being near that thing,experiencing the very thing
we're afraid of.
If we really stare down thefear, the first thing we'll
realize is that it isn't justthe thing itself that we're
(03:41):
afraid of.
We are afraid of the bad thingthat will happen, at least in
our imaginations, because ofwhat we say we're scared of.
So for example, we say, I'mterrified to fly.
We're not really afraid offlying.
We're afraid of crashing anddying, right?
(04:02):
So if we want to removeourselves from food allergies a
little bit to help usunderstand, let's imagine this
bad thing.
Let's imagine ourselves on theplane.
And then there's some awfulturbulence.
And then the buckle yourseatbelt alert goes off.
You can see fear in the eyes ofthe flight attendants as they
rush around the cabin and bucklein too.
(04:23):
You see smoke out the window.
You start to feel yourselfdropping through the sky.
As you imagine that bad thinghappening, notice what happens
in your body.
If we truly picture our worstfear coming true, we will feel
our bodies shift.
In fact, our body and our braindon't really know the difference
(04:46):
between imagining something andit actually happening.
So those very real physiologicalchanges that happen in a truly
dangerous situation, happen Whenwe picture it in our minds the
changes that happen.
Everyone is familiar with, eventhough some people would have a
hard time articulating them if Iput them on the spot and asked,
(05:08):
but you know what it feels like.
Your heart beats faster.
Your breathing becomes quick andshallow.
You get sweaty and warm.
Just imagining it is enough toshift what's called your
autonomic nervous system intofight or flight mode.
And it's okay if you don't knowthat word, autonomic nervous
system.
Just replace it in your headwith automatic.
(05:29):
It's the things that yournervous system does without you
intentionally trying.
A lot of people are familiarwith that phrase, fight or
flight.
And more accurately we shouldcall it fight, flight, or freeze
mode, which you'll learn moreabout later.
The vagus nerve, which is agiant nerve branching around our
(05:50):
skulls, our eyes, down throughthe ears, and into the torso,
connecting to our major organs,controls this protective
mechanism.
It senses danger coming inthrough this body's five senses
and prepares us for anemergency.
It prepares us to either fightback against the danger or run
(06:13):
to safety, which we refer to asflight.
So, when the vagus nerve picksup on any sensory information
that it deems dangerous, thatcascade begins to immediately
happen within the body.
Our breath picks up speed totake in more oxygen.
The heart pumps faster todeliver the oxygen to the
(06:35):
muscles, along with theadrenaline that immediately
courses all through our bodies.
The muscles are tense and readyfor action.
They're ready to fight backagainst the danger or be quick
to react.
to run away and get us safe.
Our eyes will quickly scan theenvironment back and forth,
looking for any information thatwill help us.
And they have difficultyfocusing on one thing.
(06:57):
Our ears block out middlefrequency sounds in order to
hear the low tones of threats,thunder rumbling in the distance
and animal growling.
an earthquake, low rumblingsounds, and then also the high
tones that indicate danger.
So think of someone screaming,tires screeching, a siren, a
(07:19):
baby wailing, all those highpitched sounds that tell us
something is wrong.
But in addition to turning someof these things on, one of the
important things that a lot ofpeople don't know is that the
body also turns off or puts onhold everything that we don't
need at that moment.
everything that is not essentialto save us from this perceived
(07:41):
danger.
Two of the most important thingsare our digestion and our fancy
human rational problem solvingand language skills.
In fight or flight mode, bloodflow to the areas of the brain
that control higher orderthinking is literally
restricted.
(08:02):
by the blood vesselscontracting, because this is, of
course, not the time to sit downand carefully logic out our
response.
We're not going to rationalize,what's the best course of action
here?
What do I recall about what todo if I'm in a plane crash?
It's fair to say that this vagusnerve response in the body can
(08:23):
literally hijack our entiresystem.
Thinking about it in this way ismy favorite way to demonstrate
to us fear is not in our brains.
It does not live in ourthoughts.
I want to emphasize again beforewe move on, those two primary
(08:43):
reactions that people tend tohave when their body goes into
this mode, fight or flight.
So our nervous system's toppriority is to keep us safe,
we'll avoid danger if it's atall possible.
We will get away to safety if wecan, but if we perceive that
that's not possible, even ifit's not true, we will fight
back.
(09:04):
In the case of anxiety, we willuse those same reactions, fight
or flight, or what looks on theoutside like control, fighting
back, taking action against thisperceived danger, or avoiding,
getting away from it, notthinking about it, refusing to
talk about it, Those are the twoprimary reactions that we can
have to managing the fear.
(09:26):
So now imagine, not just thatyou're afraid of planes and of
flying, but what we just, If youhad actually been on a plane and
it had crashed, what would ittake to get you to fly again?
If you have actually experiencedthat terrifying thing, feeling
(09:49):
scared, feeling a little nervousor anxious is really just the
tip of the iceberg of what we'redealing here with scared is one
thing, but if that had actuallyhappened to you, if you had been
on a plane that crashed andsomehow you were lucky enough to
survive.
Now, imagine what the thought ofgetting on a plane would feel
like to you.
(10:09):
If someone offered you a freetrip to Hawaii, you.
Would probably be terrified andmany people would refuse to go
given a past experience likethis That gives us an example of
how someone can have such adifferent response to something
that other people might notunderstand at all Here's a free
trip to Hawaii.
(10:30):
Most of us would be elated andwe probably wouldn't understand
why someone would have a verystrong fear reaction and
avoidance, a, a terrifiedresponse to being offered what
we think is wonderful.
So the difference here is thatif you have experienced that
scary thing happening, or if youwere in a scenario where you
(10:51):
truly believed that it washappening, that can cross over
from what we call fear orfeeling scared.
into trauma.
So how does this relate to foodallergies?
Kids and adults who have foodallergies have actually had the
scary thing happen.
To use our metaphor, they'vebeen on the plane and it
(11:13):
crashed.
So maybe not quite sodramatically, but in other
cases, definitely thatdramatically.
It's scary when people have anallergic reaction.
They can be deadly, and mostpeople who experienced or
witnessed it can recognize thatthe person was truly in danger
and that what happened in thebody was life threatening
response.
(11:34):
So of the people who haveexperienced an allergic
reaction, the lucky ones hadmaybe a mild reaction.
The unlucky ones haveexperienced symptoms like their
throats closing to where theyfelt unable to breathe, their
tongues swelling, blocking theairways, developing full body
hives, overwhelming itching anddiscomfort in the skin like
(11:56):
you're Crawling out of your ownbody, eyes swelling, shut
nonstop vomiting, fainting,feelings of impending doom, A
frantic 911 call, an ambulanceride, some poking and prodding
in the emergency room,medications that make you feel
really strange.
And then you leave with a wholenew way of life, including the
(12:18):
knowledge that the foods thateveryone else eats safely can
kill you.
So after that awful experience.
These people can't just leavethe allergist's office or the
emergency room and stop eating.
To take it back to our analogy,if you were on a plane that
crashed, you could live a prettyfull life without ever getting
(12:40):
on a plane again.
But people with food allergiesneed to eat multiple times a
day.
And everywhere they go, there isfood.
In our culture, food is centralto celebrating, mourning,
socializing, being Being out andhaving fun, comforting ourselves
when things are tough, weaddress all of our emotions with
(13:02):
food and all of the mostimportant aspects of our lives
and milestones in our lives seemto be connected to food and to
some incomplete without it.
In other words, people with foodallergies have to get up and get
on the airplane again everysingle day.
(13:25):
Many of them, and thankfullymost of them, at least to some
extent, do that.
They get used to it and they goon without having significant
problems.
I'm not here to say thateveryone who has food allergies
has anxiety.
Many of them don't, but they aremore prone to it after even just
(13:46):
one significant event or mayberepeated small events, our
nervous systems become highlyreactive and very sensitive to
possible danger.
The vagus nerve, which is thekey part of the autonomic
nervous system that I mentionedbefore that controls our fight
or flight reaction in everyperson, scans the environment
(14:10):
for threats and assesses forsafety more than five times per
second.
So if a potential threat issensed, that cascade of
physiological changes that wediscussed takes place within 15
milliseconds.
Most of us aren't aware of it.
Over time, as the nervous systemcontinues to have that reaction,
(14:30):
the nervous system grows moreand more reactive and more and
more anticipatory of possibledanger.
And that doesn't just happen inthe body.
That continued response systemaffects the brain.
I'll try not to get too scienceyon you here, but I find this
really fascinating.
And I think you will too, theprefrontal cortex, which is the
(14:54):
part of our brain where we doour rational thinking.
It regulates our emotions, thevolume of that area of the brain
reduces, so we can see an actualsize reduction in the part of
our brain that thinks logicallyand rationally.
The amygdala, which is the partof the brain that many of us
know is our emotionalreactivity, our fear response.
(15:19):
When that part of the brain ison, the less and less access we
have to the prefrontal cortex,where we do our rational
thinking.
Most interestingly, though, iswhat happens in the hippocampus.
The hippocampus is where ourbrain consolidates memories and
(15:40):
where it differentiates betweenthe past and the present.
It works to remember and makesense of the trauma and with
consistent exposure to thetrauma, It shrinks.
So in other words, the part ofthe brain that tells us if this
is something that happened inthe past, or if this is
something that's happening to menow shrinks.
(16:02):
And when the fear and traumaresponse is triggered in the
body, it becomes harder andharder for people.
To orient themselves to the factthat their body is reacting to
something from the past that maynot actually be happening to
them in the present.
This isn't a conscious process.
This is something that ishappening constantly under their
surface, scanning and assessingfor danger.
(16:26):
So with that constant scanninggoing on, if the danger was
nowhere near, the body mightsettle back out of that
reactivity and begin to trustagain that it's safe.
But again, For those of us whohave to get on the plane every
day, or for those who have toeat and be around food every
day, and it surrounds us in ourdaily lives, our body is
(16:47):
constantly aware of the factthat the potential danger is
around us.
What that can look like on theoutside isn't necessarily
related to the food allergy oran awareness that the body is
scanning the environment fordanger.
Although some people can expressthat and sometimes it's very
evident if you watch, especiallyyoung kids and environments
(17:10):
around food.
But most of the time it'sunrelated.
It's very general and vague.
So it looks like, you know, kidswill just say, Oh, I just want
to go home or I can'tconcentrate in school today.
People might be irritable.
Irritability is one of the firstsigns of nervous system
dysregulation.
They might lose interest in whatthey're doing.
(17:31):
They might have difficultyconcentrating.
They can have physicalcomplaints like their stomach
hurting, their chest feelingtight, my back hurts, I have a
headache, that are genuinephysical symptoms that they're
experiencing.
But really that reflects thisunconscious process.
It's constantly taking place ofassessing what's happening in
(17:51):
the environment around them todetermine if they're safe and
the signal that they're notsafe, which is food is almost
always there around them to makethat even more complicated foods
aren't just in food.
I have been shocked and continueto be surprised even 12 years
(18:12):
into our allergy journey as afamily.
That food is in everything.
With my son's permission, I havea list of things that he has
found or had reactions to thatwe were not expecting his
allergens to be in.
Hand soap in the publicbathrooms.
This happened to us at bothWegmans and Target.
(18:34):
Almond oil is often used insoaps.
Lotions and body products.
Peanuts in the air on thesurfaces at a baseball game.
Food residue on the checkoutbelt at the grocery store.
Nuts that fell off the trees inthe yard at our new house, or on
a playground with a new schoolgroup that we were participating
in.
Peanut butter smeared onplaygrounds, or not cleaned up
(18:58):
from picnic tables and eatingareas.
Prescriptions and over thecounter medications can have
allergens in them.
So given the fact that food canbe anywhere and in anything, not
just in food, and that food isat basically all of our
gatherings and events andlocations that we tend to spend
time in, it's easy to see thatbasically anything can signal
(19:22):
danger to the body and can be atrigger for that highly
sensitive reactive nervoussystem to switch into emergency
mode.
And unfortunately, this includesso many good things.
So many of the things that arehealthy and that should be fun
and that are good for us andshould be spaces where people
feel safe and be able to relaxand enjoy and connect with other
(19:43):
people and not feel afraid orexcluded.
Over time, it also gets more andmore complicated in regards to
the nervous system's ability toread situations accurately and
assess for danger because thewires get crossed between what
should be safe and what could bedangerous.
A caring teacher, a safe schoolbuilding, time spent with
(20:03):
friends, all the things that formost people would be a safety
signal would be calming, wouldbe soothing, can trigger people
with food allergies based ontheir past experiences, the
nervous system just getsoverwhelmed and gets into a
state where everything feelslike a potential threat, which
is not entirely untrue.
(20:26):
To further complicate things,People who have food allergies
are at a higher risk for othermedical conditions, which just
gives them more to worry aboutas well as more physical
symptoms to monitor for and topotentially be triggered by.
So I won't go into them in toomuch detail today, but in the
future of the podcast, I hope totalk more about some of these
situations and conditions thatare often related to food
(20:47):
allergy anxieties, because theyare a part of the puzzle for
many people.
But things like eczema, asthma,breathing difficulties, having a
sensitive gag reflux or cyclicalvomiting syndrome, digestive
issues, Irritable BowelSyndrome, Colitis, F Pies, GERD,
(21:07):
EOE.
All of these additional medicalconcerns and conditions that can
come up or that people oftenhave experienced can expand the
nervous systems scanning andsearching in the external
environment for danger and addto that what's happening inside
of my body right now.
What should I be worried about?
What is that feeling that I feelon my leg?
(21:28):
Is it a rash?
Is my breathing a little bitdifferent than it was earlier?
Am I having an asthma attack?
Is this a reaction?
What there becomes not only aheightened awareness of the
outside world, but a heightenedawareness of the inside world
and the internal physiologicalsymptom of being within one's
body.
All of that said, we're stillnot to the very, very heart of
(21:51):
what's going on here, let's talkagain about the symptoms of
anxiety, the symptoms that weexperience when the vagus nerve
turns on the body's fight orflight reaction.
And we believe we're in danger.
We can get shaky and sweaty andfeel nervous.
Our stomachs can get upset.
(22:11):
We can feel dizzy orlightheaded.
Our breathing becomes morerapid.
Our heart rate increases.
That makes us warm.
We have muscle tension.
We can tremble and be shaky fromthe adrenaline.
We can also feel weak or tired.
We can get tightness in thethroat from the muscle tension.
And we can experience that senseof impending danger or doom.
(22:33):
The physical sensations causedby the anxiety that people have
from worrying about having anallergic reaction are the same
symptoms of an allergicreaction.
Almost all of them are the samethings that the body can
actually do when it's having alegitimate allergic reaction.
And once it's activated.
(22:55):
They don't have access to thoseparts of the brain that we
talked about that they need torationally tell the difference,
to logically understand whetheror not this could be an allergic
reaction or whether thesephysical changes are from
anxiety.
They can't calm down to do sobecause it feels just like
they're having an allergicreaction, this isn't a
(23:17):
coincidence that all of thesesymptoms are the same.
The vagus nerve is also veryclosely related to allergies my
temptation here is to share allof the research and get really
nerdy and try to hammer thispoint home.
But I'm going to leave that toyou if you're interested in
(23:38):
reading that.
And instead I'll just summarizefor you.
But I have a pile of researchhere with me,, about the vagus
nerve.
Research on the vagus nerve.
And the immune system has shownthat the vagus nerve can
regulate immune responses andinflammation.
The brain senses immunereactions in the body through
(23:58):
the vagus nerve.
it's well established that thevagus nerve is connected to both
of these, what appear to beseparate reactions and systems
in the body, but they are verydeeply connected.
So this is what I mean when Isay that we can't just think
away our anxiety aboutallergies.
We can't just use cognitivebehavioral.
(24:20):
techniques or practical copingskills, planning, strategizing,
communication, assertivenessskills to give our bodies a
sense of control and safety inour environments, as long as
that vagus nerve still sensesthe potential danger and
interprets it as a potentialdanger, it will protect us every
(24:41):
time, and it won't listen to us.
a thing that we're trying totell it.
The strategies that are outthere can only be helpful and
received if our bodies are in astate of calm and safety.
And unfortunately, that's sooften not the case for people
with food allergies.
So in my practice, what I havecome to focus on is Is
(25:03):
regulating the body first andforemost, and then continuing to
establish that safety and thatneurological regulation every
step of the way with every otherintervention that we do.
That regulation piece is alwaysa part of it.
We know that vagus nervestimulation can have positive
(25:24):
effects on many differentmedical conditions and symptoms,
including food allergies.
So a little more research foryou.
Vagus nerve stimulation canpotentially improve food
allergies by reducing mast cellactivity.
It can prevent inflammation.
particularly in the stomach.
(25:46):
It can reduce itching caused byhistamine, which is what's
released during allergicreactions.
It can reduce airwayinflammation that's related to
allergies.
Vagus nerve stimulation canimprove mental and brain health.
Now the vagus nerve stimulationthat they're talking about in
most of these studies are inanimal models, and they're
(26:06):
actually implanting electrodesto stimulate the vagus nerve.
That's not what I'm doing in myoffice with the people that I
work with, nor is it what I'msuggesting that you do,
obviously, but we do know a lotabout other ways that we can
stimulate the vagus nerve.
It's way too much for me toshare here all in one episode,
but this will be the runningtheme of what I'm talking about
(26:30):
all throughout this podcast.
For now I'll give you thebasics, anything that makes you
feel safe.
can calm your nervous system andinduce nervous system
regulation.
The most important of which issocial connection.
When we are with people who feelsafe and we feel socially
connected to them, we can moveour nervous system out of fear
(26:51):
and into safety mode.
Trusted relationships are themost crucial piece of helping
anyone with food allergies.
And then when we are aroundpeople, That we trust in whom we
are connected to, and thosepeople are self regulated, those
people's nervous systems arecalm.
We calm as well because we'resocial beings, and that's how we
(27:13):
assess and determine if we'resafe.
There is a lot of publicawareness these days about
mental health and I'm all forit.
I love it and people having moreinformation here's one of the
ways though that I think somethings are getting
misinterpreted.
Everyone knows that you shouldtake a deep breath that taking a
deep breath will help you tocalm down when you're upset.
(27:36):
However, if this isn't somethingthat you regularly incorporate
into your day.
It might not be helpful.
It has to be something that yournervous system associates with
safety.
But if every time your childgets upset or act out or starts
to get angry or nervous, and yousay, As a scared or frustrated
(27:58):
parent or adult in their lives,take a deep breath.
Then the phrase or thesuggestion to take a deep breath
becomes triggering and upsettingfor them.
They don't have access tonecessarily remember or process
your instructions or to do abreathing exercise the way that
they might have learned how todo, unless that's regularly
(28:18):
incorporated into theirroutines.
And familiar to the nervoussystem.
So I have so many people cominginto my office saying, please
help with my anxiety, but don'ttell me to take a deep breath or
I'll scream.
That's not working.
And this is the reason why we'retaking the concept of breathing
and we're turning it intoanother anxiety provoking.
(28:40):
Suggestion.
I'm sure you can imagine as anadult, how infuriating it would
be if you were in an argumentwith your spouse, or if you turn
to a friend or a person that youtrust in a moment when you were
really anxious and theirresponse was well, just take a
deep breath, do some deepbreathing.
So going back to what we learnedbefore the key is co-regulation
(29:02):
using those safe people as amodel Just those safe and
trusted people being in a calmstate can regulate our nervous
systems without talking withoutnecessarily having to use any
intervention.
Another concept that we hear alot about on social media and
hear people talking about is theidea of triggers.
(29:26):
What triggers your anxiety?
What triggered that reaction?
These are my triggers.
It's important stuff to know.
Triggers are what triggers thiscascade of reaction in your body
by the vagus nerve.
But we can exert control overthat and we can do the opposite.
And that's what we call.
Just as triggers can be thesetiny micro moments for those
(29:50):
with food allergies.
For example, someone opens alunch bag across the room and I
find myself looking to see ifit's a peanut butter sandwich
that they're pulling out oftheir bag.
I smell cheese in the air assomeone eating Doritos, any
little micro moment that cantrigger our nervous system.
A glimmer is the opposite ofthat.
(30:12):
Glimmers are the micro momentsof safety that also appear all
the time, everywhere, all aroundus in day to day life.
And we don't tend to noticebecause our bodies are wired to
protect us and to be on guardall the time.
With practice, We can focus,instead of finding triggers, on
(30:32):
identifying glimmers, thingssuch as a friendly face, a
soothing sound, noticingsomething in the environment
that makes you smile, somethingcomforting, things like holding
your warm cup of tea in yourhands in the morning and feeling
the warmth, or breathing in thesmell and the steam, wearing
your favorite sweater that feelsso comfortable and soft when you
(30:54):
put it on, and, um, Hearing yourkids laughing in the other room.
Those little moments that remindyou that everything is okay, and
everybody is safe.
We overlook them because we areprogrammed to pay more attention
to negative events than topositive ones.
But once we practice noticingglimmers, we find that they're
(31:14):
all around us and we begin tolook for more.
So I have Set the goal ofwrapping up each podcast episode
with three steps that you cantake when we're done talking To
implement and to utilize whatwe've talked about in that
episode Glimmers is number onefor you.
(31:35):
And if you are interested inpolyvagal theory and learning
more about it my suggestedstarting point is the book
Anchored by Deb Dana.
Number two.
Watch the movie Inside Out.
If you have already watched it,watch it again and then go out
and watch Inside Out too.
(31:56):
All of us therapists are madlyin love with these movies and
the way that they demonstratewhat happens in our bodies, in
our minds, and our emotions.
Watch them over and over.
Watch them with all the kids inyour life, but they're not just
for kids, they're for adultstoo.
And of course, number three,subscribe to my new podcast if
(32:16):
you like what you hear if thisreaction that I'm talking about
resonates with you, you can goto my website.
You can sign up for mynewsletter.
You can get information aboutways that you can work with me
and what kinds of services andresources I offer.
I'll keep you posted through thepodcast and through my
newsletter on everything that Ihave in the works that's coming
(32:37):
up for you in addition to mypodcast.
My website isdramandowhitehouse.
com.
I hope that today's podcast.
Wasn't too much information foryou.
I don't want you to feeloverwhelmed, but I do want you
to know what's really importantto know.
Early in my food allergy momjourney.
(32:57):
My mom gave me a little sign formy house.
It said.
True story food allergy moms dobetter research than the FBI.
And I find that that's true.
I think we're a community ofpeople who really want
information.
I've always been that waythroughout my education and
training and my PhD program, butit rolled right into food
allergy life.
(33:17):
And so hopefully you feel thesame way that I do about wanting
enough information at yourfingertips to understand what's
going on.
I'd like to give a huge, thanksto Kyle dine, food allergy,
educator, and entertainer, whoallowed me to use his song, the
dog house for my intro.
And he will be joining us on thenext episode of the podcast.
(33:39):
So if you know, and love him aswe do an hour house, then you
can look forward to that.
And if you don't, you will soon.
Please remember that thispodcast is for educational
purposes.
Always seek the advice of yourdoctor with any questions about
your own health and wellness.
And please don't ever disregardor delay medical advice or
attention because of somethingyou've heard here on my podcast.
(34:01):
I'm Dr.
Amanda White house.
Thanks for joining me.
And until we chat again,remember don't feed the fear.
What makes anxiety about foodallergies different?
After my family's ownexperiences and working with so
many families in my privatepractice, things continue to
click into place over time tohelp me realize more and more
why anxiety about food allergiesis so intense and pervasive.
Why the approaches that wetypically use in therapy to
(00:22):
address anxiety Often don't workfor these kids and these parents
or if they do they work a littlebit like a band aid they might
solve one Little problem onescenario at school or this
Situation coming up at abirthday party, but they don't
relieve the anxiety overall So Iam diving right into the heart
of it here as I start my podcastand I'm going to explain to you
(00:44):
Exactly what I have found Seemsto be the reason that food
allergies are so differentWelcome to the Don't Feed the
Fear podcast, where we dive intothe complex world of food
allergy anxiety.
I'm your host, Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse, food allergyanxiety psychologist and food
allergy mom.
Whether you're dealing withallergies yourself or supporting
(01:05):
someone who is, join us for anempathetic and informative
journey toward food allergy calmand confidence.
Welcome to the first episode ofthe Don't Feed the Fear podcast.
This summer I'm going to befocusing on understanding food
allergy anxiety and trauma andtoday's episode will focus on
the very heart of that, at leastfrom my experience and my
(01:26):
private practice as a therapistworking with kids and families
with food allergies.
I do want to warn everyone,especially those who have
experiences with food allergiesand allergic reactions that what
we talk about today might beupsetting for you know where
you're at in your own journey interms of whether discussing the
(01:48):
danger of what's happening andthen the physical sensations
that go along with it is alittle bit too much for you
right now.
I would encourage you to pausethe episode at any time if it
feels like too much.
I do want to get the informationout there, but I also want to
acknowledge that for thosewho've experienced a trauma,
listening to someone talk aboutit can be very upsetting.
(02:09):
That said, it's also importantto know and understand, and
sometimes the knowledge can feellike the control we need to have
our experiences.
validated, to know that there'snot something wrong with us.
This is actually a reaction, notjust physically, but
emotionally, that makes sensegiven what we've experienced.
(02:31):
So first episode, I'm divingright in because I want to give
you what I feel like is the mostimportant piece of information
that you can have about food,allergy, anxiety.
This is something that I teachall of the clients that I work
with in my private practice.
This is something that I'llexplain later.
Is well documented, and I don'tunderstand why it's not more of
a widespread approach, Mostpeople can relate to the idea of
(02:56):
feeling scared or anxious aboutsomething.
So whenever I talk about foodallergy anxiety, I like to start
here.
Everybody can picture somethingthat they're afraid of.
And most people have somethingthat they're really afraid of.
I often ask people and of coursethey say things like spiders and
snakes, heights, and one of themost common ones that works
really well as an analogy isairplanes.
(03:21):
So if any of us pick that thingwe're afraid of, the thing we're
really afraid of, And imagineourselves doing that thing,
being near that thing,experiencing the very thing
we're afraid of.
If we really stare down thefear, the first thing we'll
realize is that it isn't justthe thing itself that we're
(03:41):
afraid of.
We are afraid of the bad thingthat will happen, at least in
our imaginations, because ofwhat we say we're scared of.
So for example, we say, I'mterrified to fly.
We're not really afraid offlying.
We're afraid of crashing anddying, right?
(04:02):
So if we want to removeourselves from food allergies a
little bit to help usunderstand, let's imagine this
bad thing.
Let's imagine ourselves on theplane.
And then there's some awfulturbulence.
And then the buckle yourseatbelt alert goes off.
You can see fear in the eyes ofthe flight attendants as they
rush around the cabin and bucklein too.
(04:23):
You see smoke out the window.
You start to feel yourselfdropping through the sky.
As you imagine that bad thinghappening, notice what happens
in your body.
If we truly picture our worstfear coming true, we will feel
our bodies shift.
In fact, our body and our braindon't really know the difference
(04:46):
between imagining something andit actually happening.
So those very real physiologicalchanges that happen in a truly
dangerous situation, happen Whenwe picture it in our minds the
changes that happen.
Everyone is familiar with, eventhough some people would have a
hard time articulating them if Iput them on the spot and asked,
(05:08):
but you know what it feels like.
Your heart beats faster.
Your breathing becomes quick andshallow.
You get sweaty and warm.
Just imagining it is enough toshift what's called your
autonomic nervous system intofight or flight mode.
And it's okay if you don't knowthat word, autonomic nervous
system.
Just replace it in your headwith automatic.
(05:29):
It's the things that yournervous system does without you
intentionally trying.
A lot of people are familiarwith that phrase, fight or
flight.
And more accurately we shouldcall it fight, flight, or freeze
mode, which you'll learn moreabout later.
The vagus nerve, which is agiant nerve branching around our
(05:50):
skulls, our eyes, down throughthe ears, and into the torso,
connecting to our major organs,controls this protective
mechanism.
It senses danger coming inthrough this body's five senses
and prepares us for anemergency.
It prepares us to either fightback against the danger or run
(06:13):
to safety, which we refer to asflight.
So, when the vagus nerve picksup on any sensory information
that it deems dangerous, thatcascade begins to immediately
happen within the body.
Our breath picks up speed totake in more oxygen.
The heart pumps faster todeliver the oxygen to the
(06:35):
muscles, along with theadrenaline that immediately
courses all through our bodies.
The muscles are tense and readyfor action.
They're ready to fight backagainst the danger or be quick
to react.
to run away and get us safe.
Our eyes will quickly scan theenvironment back and forth,
looking for any information thatwill help us.
And they have difficultyfocusing on one thing.
(06:57):
Our ears block out middlefrequency sounds in order to
hear the low tones of threats,thunder rumbling in the distance
and animal growling.
an earthquake, low rumblingsounds, and then also the high
tones that indicate danger.
So think of someone screaming,tires screeching, a siren, a
(07:19):
baby wailing, all those highpitched sounds that tell us
something is wrong.
But in addition to turning someof these things on, one of the
important things that a lot ofpeople don't know is that the
body also turns off or puts onhold everything that we don't
need at that moment.
everything that is not essentialto save us from this perceived
(07:41):
danger.
Two of the most important thingsare our digestion and our fancy
human rational problem solvingand language skills.
In fight or flight mode, bloodflow to the areas of the brain
that control higher orderthinking is literally
restricted.
(08:02):
by the blood vesselscontracting, because this is, of
course, not the time to sit downand carefully logic out our
response.
We're not going to rationalize,what's the best course of action
here?
What do I recall about what todo if I'm in a plane crash?
It's fair to say that this vagusnerve response in the body can
(08:23):
literally hijack our entiresystem.
Thinking about it in this way ismy favorite way to demonstrate
to us fear is not in our brains.
It does not live in ourthoughts.
I want to emphasize again beforewe move on, those two primary
(08:43):
reactions that people tend tohave when their body goes into
this mode, fight or flight.
So our nervous system's toppriority is to keep us safe,
we'll avoid danger if it's atall possible.
We will get away to safety if wecan, but if we perceive that
that's not possible, even ifit's not true, we will fight
back.
(09:04):
In the case of anxiety, we willuse those same reactions, fight
or flight, or what looks on theoutside like control, fighting
back, taking action against thisperceived danger, or avoiding,
getting away from it, notthinking about it, refusing to
talk about it, Those are the twoprimary reactions that we can
have to managing the fear.
(09:26):
So now imagine, not just thatyou're afraid of planes and of
flying, but what we just, If youhad actually been on a plane and
it had crashed, what would ittake to get you to fly again?
If you have actually experiencedthat terrifying thing, feeling
(09:49):
scared, feeling a little nervousor anxious is really just the
tip of the iceberg of what we'redealing here with scared is one
thing, but if that had actuallyhappened to you, if you had been
on a plane that crashed andsomehow you were lucky enough to
survive.
Now, imagine what the thought ofgetting on a plane would feel
like to you.
(10:09):
If someone offered you a freetrip to Hawaii, you.
Would probably be terrified andmany people would refuse to go
given a past experience likethis That gives us an example of
how someone can have such adifferent response to something
that other people might notunderstand at all Here's a free
trip to Hawaii.
(10:30):
Most of us would be elated andwe probably wouldn't understand
why someone would have a verystrong fear reaction and
avoidance, a, a terrifiedresponse to being offered what
we think is wonderful.
So the difference here is thatif you have experienced that
scary thing happening, or if youwere in a scenario where you
(10:51):
truly believed that it washappening, that can cross over
from what we call fear orfeeling scared.
into trauma.
So how does this relate to foodallergies?
Kids and adults who have foodallergies have actually had the
scary thing happen.
To use our metaphor, they'vebeen on the plane and it
(11:13):
crashed.
So maybe not quite sodramatically, but in other
cases, definitely thatdramatically.
It's scary when people have anallergic reaction.
They can be deadly, and mostpeople who experienced or
witnessed it can recognize thatthe person was truly in danger
and that what happened in thebody was life threatening
response.
(11:34):
So of the people who haveexperienced an allergic
reaction, the lucky ones hadmaybe a mild reaction.
The unlucky ones haveexperienced symptoms like their
throats closing to where theyfelt unable to breathe, their
tongues swelling, blocking theairways, developing full body
hives, overwhelming itching anddiscomfort in the skin like
(11:56):
you're Crawling out of your ownbody, eyes swelling, shut
nonstop vomiting, fainting,feelings of impending doom, A
frantic 911 call, an ambulanceride, some poking and prodding
in the emergency room,medications that make you feel
really strange.
And then you leave with a wholenew way of life, including the
(12:18):
knowledge that the foods thateveryone else eats safely can
kill you.
So after that awful experience.
These people can't just leavethe allergist's office or the
emergency room and stop eating.
To take it back to our analogy,if you were on a plane that
crashed, you could live a prettyfull life without ever getting
(12:40):
on a plane again.
But people with food allergiesneed to eat multiple times a
day.
And everywhere they go, there isfood.
In our culture, food is centralto celebrating, mourning,
socializing, being Being out andhaving fun, comforting ourselves
when things are tough, weaddress all of our emotions with
(13:02):
food and all of the mostimportant aspects of our lives
and milestones in our lives seemto be connected to food and to
some incomplete without it.
In other words, people with foodallergies have to get up and get
on the airplane again everysingle day.
(13:25):
Many of them, and thankfullymost of them, at least to some
extent, do that.
They get used to it and they goon without having significant
problems.
I'm not here to say thateveryone who has food allergies
has anxiety.
Many of them don't, but they aremore prone to it after even just
(13:46):
one significant event or mayberepeated small events, our
nervous systems become highlyreactive and very sensitive to
possible danger.
The vagus nerve, which is thekey part of the autonomic
nervous system that I mentionedbefore that controls our fight
or flight reaction in everyperson, scans the environment
(14:10):
for threats and assesses forsafety more than five times per
second.
So if a potential threat issensed, that cascade of
physiological changes that wediscussed takes place within 15
milliseconds.
Most of us aren't aware of it.
Over time, as the nervous systemcontinues to have that reaction,
(14:30):
the nervous system grows moreand more reactive and more and
more anticipatory of possibledanger.
And that doesn't just happen inthe body.
That continued response systemaffects the brain.
I'll try not to get too scienceyon you here, but I find this
really fascinating.
And I think you will too, theprefrontal cortex, which is the
(14:54):
part of our brain where we doour rational thinking.
It regulates our emotions, thevolume of that area of the brain
reduces, so we can see an actualsize reduction in the part of
our brain that thinks logicallyand rationally.
The amygdala, which is the partof the brain that many of us
know is our emotionalreactivity, our fear response.
(15:19):
When that part of the brain ison, the less and less access we
have to the prefrontal cortex,where we do our rational
thinking.
Most interestingly, though, iswhat happens in the hippocampus.
The hippocampus is where ourbrain consolidates memories and
(15:40):
where it differentiates betweenthe past and the present.
It works to remember and makesense of the trauma and with
consistent exposure to thetrauma, It shrinks.
So in other words, the part ofthe brain that tells us if this
is something that happened inthe past, or if this is
something that's happening to menow shrinks.
(16:02):
And when the fear and traumaresponse is triggered in the
body, it becomes harder andharder for people.
To orient themselves to the factthat their body is reacting to
something from the past that maynot actually be happening to
them in the present.
This isn't a conscious process.
This is something that ishappening constantly under their
surface, scanning and assessingfor danger.
(16:26):
So with that constant scanninggoing on, if the danger was
nowhere near, the body mightsettle back out of that
reactivity and begin to trustagain that it's safe.
But again, For those of us whohave to get on the plane every
day, or for those who have toeat and be around food every
day, and it surrounds us in ourdaily lives, our body is
(16:47):
constantly aware of the factthat the potential danger is
around us.
What that can look like on theoutside isn't necessarily
related to the food allergy oran awareness that the body is
scanning the environment fordanger.
Although some people can expressthat and sometimes it's very
evident if you watch, especiallyyoung kids and environments
(17:10):
around food.
But most of the time it'sunrelated.
It's very general and vague.
So it looks like, you know, kidswill just say, Oh, I just want
to go home or I can'tconcentrate in school today.
People might be irritable.
Irritability is one of the firstsigns of nervous system
dysregulation.
They might lose interest in whatthey're doing.
(17:31):
They might have difficultyconcentrating.
They can have physicalcomplaints like their stomach
hurting, their chest feelingtight, my back hurts, I have a
headache, that are genuinephysical symptoms that they're
experiencing.
But really that reflects thisunconscious process.
It's constantly taking place ofassessing what's happening in
(17:51):
the environment around them todetermine if they're safe and
the signal that they're notsafe, which is food is almost
always there around them to makethat even more complicated foods
aren't just in food.
I have been shocked and continueto be surprised even 12 years
(18:12):
into our allergy journey as afamily.
That food is in everything.
With my son's permission, I havea list of things that he has
found or had reactions to thatwe were not expecting his
allergens to be in.
Hand soap in the publicbathrooms.
This happened to us at bothWegmans and Target.
(18:34):
Almond oil is often used insoaps.
Lotions and body products.
Peanuts in the air on thesurfaces at a baseball game.
Food residue on the checkoutbelt at the grocery store.
Nuts that fell off the trees inthe yard at our new house, or on
a playground with a new schoolgroup that we were participating
in.
Peanut butter smeared onplaygrounds, or not cleaned up
(18:58):
from picnic tables and eatingareas.
Prescriptions and over thecounter medications can have
allergens in them.
So given the fact that food canbe anywhere and in anything, not
just in food, and that food isat basically all of our
gatherings and events andlocations that we tend to spend
time in, it's easy to see thatbasically anything can signal
(19:22):
danger to the body and can be atrigger for that highly
sensitive reactive nervoussystem to switch into emergency
mode.
And unfortunately, this includesso many good things.
So many of the things that arehealthy and that should be fun
and that are good for us andshould be spaces where people
feel safe and be able to relaxand enjoy and connect with other
(19:43):
people and not feel afraid orexcluded.
Over time, it also gets more andmore complicated in regards to
the nervous system's ability toread situations accurately and
assess for danger because thewires get crossed between what
should be safe and what could bedangerous.
A caring teacher, a safe schoolbuilding, time spent with
(20:03):
friends, all the things that formost people would be a safety
signal would be calming, wouldbe soothing, can trigger people
with food allergies based ontheir past experiences, the
nervous system just getsoverwhelmed and gets into a
state where everything feelslike a potential threat, which
is not entirely untrue.
(20:26):
To further complicate things,People who have food allergies
are at a higher risk for othermedical conditions, which just
gives them more to worry aboutas well as more physical
symptoms to monitor for and topotentially be triggered by.
So I won't go into them in toomuch detail today, but in the
future of the podcast, I hope totalk more about some of these
situations and conditions thatare often related to food
(20:47):
allergy anxieties, because theyare a part of the puzzle for
many people.
But things like eczema, asthma,breathing difficulties, having a
sensitive gag reflux or cyclicalvomiting syndrome, digestive
issues, Irritable BowelSyndrome, Colitis, F Pies, GERD,
(21:07):
EOE.
All of these additional medicalconcerns and conditions that can
come up or that people oftenhave experienced can expand the
nervous systems scanning andsearching in the external
environment for danger and addto that what's happening inside
of my body right now.
What should I be worried about?
What is that feeling that I feelon my leg?
(21:28):
Is it a rash?
Is my breathing a little bitdifferent than it was earlier?
Am I having an asthma attack?
Is this a reaction?
What there becomes not only aheightened awareness of the
outside world, but a heightenedawareness of the inside world
and the internal physiologicalsymptom of being within one's
body.
All of that said, we're stillnot to the very, very heart of
(21:51):
what's going on here, let's talkagain about the symptoms of
anxiety, the symptoms that weexperience when the vagus nerve
turns on the body's fight orflight reaction.
And we believe we're in danger.
We can get shaky and sweaty andfeel nervous.
Our stomachs can get upset.
(22:11):
We can feel dizzy orlightheaded.
Our breathing becomes morerapid.
Our heart rate increases.
That makes us warm.
We have muscle tension.
We can tremble and be shaky fromthe adrenaline.
We can also feel weak or tired.
We can get tightness in thethroat from the muscle tension.
And we can experience that senseof impending danger or doom.
(22:33):
The physical sensations causedby the anxiety that people have
from worrying about having anallergic reaction are the same
symptoms of an allergicreaction.
Almost all of them are the samethings that the body can
actually do when it's having alegitimate allergic reaction.
And once it's activated.
(22:55):
They don't have access to thoseparts of the brain that we
talked about that they need torationally tell the difference,
to logically understand whetheror not this could be an allergic
reaction or whether thesephysical changes are from
anxiety.
They can't calm down to do sobecause it feels just like
they're having an allergicreaction, this isn't a
(23:17):
coincidence that all of thesesymptoms are the same.
The vagus nerve is also veryclosely related to allergies my
temptation here is to share allof the research and get really
nerdy and try to hammer thispoint home.
But I'm going to leave that toyou if you're interested in
(23:38):
reading that.
And instead I'll just summarizefor you.
But I have a pile of researchhere with me,, about the vagus
nerve.
Research on the vagus nerve.
And the immune system has shownthat the vagus nerve can
regulate immune responses andinflammation.
The brain senses immunereactions in the body through
(23:58):
the vagus nerve.
it's well established that thevagus nerve is connected to both
of these, what appear to beseparate reactions and systems
in the body, but they are verydeeply connected.
So this is what I mean when Isay that we can't just think
away our anxiety aboutallergies.
We can't just use cognitivebehavioral.
(24:20):
techniques or practical copingskills, planning, strategizing,
communication, assertivenessskills to give our bodies a
sense of control and safety inour environments, as long as
that vagus nerve still sensesthe potential danger and
interprets it as a potentialdanger, it will protect us every
(24:41):
time, and it won't listen to us.
a thing that we're trying totell it.
The strategies that are outthere can only be helpful and
received if our bodies are in astate of calm and safety.
And unfortunately, that's sooften not the case for people
with food allergies.
So in my practice, what I havecome to focus on is Is
(25:03):
regulating the body first andforemost, and then continuing to
establish that safety and thatneurological regulation every
step of the way with every otherintervention that we do.
That regulation piece is alwaysa part of it.
We know that vagus nervestimulation can have positive
(25:24):
effects on many differentmedical conditions and symptoms,
including food allergies.
So a little more research foryou.
Vagus nerve stimulation canpotentially improve food
allergies by reducing mast cellactivity.
It can prevent inflammation.
particularly in the stomach.
(25:46):
It can reduce itching caused byhistamine, which is what's
released during allergicreactions.
It can reduce airwayinflammation that's related to
allergies.
Vagus nerve stimulation canimprove mental and brain health.
Now the vagus nerve stimulationthat they're talking about in
most of these studies are inanimal models, and they're
(26:06):
actually implanting electrodesto stimulate the vagus nerve.
That's not what I'm doing in myoffice with the people that I
work with, nor is it what I'msuggesting that you do,
obviously, but we do know a lotabout other ways that we can
stimulate the vagus nerve.
It's way too much for me toshare here all in one episode,
but this will be the runningtheme of what I'm talking about
(26:30):
all throughout this podcast.
For now I'll give you thebasics, anything that makes you
feel safe.
can calm your nervous system andinduce nervous system
regulation.
The most important of which issocial connection.
When we are with people who feelsafe and we feel socially
connected to them, we can moveour nervous system out of fear
(26:51):
and into safety mode.
Trusted relationships are themost crucial piece of helping
anyone with food allergies.
And then when we are aroundpeople, That we trust in whom we
are connected to, and thosepeople are self regulated, those
people's nervous systems arecalm.
We calm as well because we'resocial beings, and that's how we
(27:13):
assess and determine if we'resafe.
There is a lot of publicawareness these days about
mental health and I'm all forit.
I love it and people having moreinformation here's one of the
ways though that I think somethings are getting
misinterpreted.
Everyone knows that you shouldtake a deep breath that taking a
deep breath will help you tocalm down when you're upset.
(27:36):
However, if this isn't somethingthat you regularly incorporate
into your day.
It might not be helpful.
It has to be something that yournervous system associates with
safety.
But if every time your childgets upset or act out or starts
to get angry or nervous, and yousay, As a scared or frustrated
(27:58):
parent or adult in their lives,take a deep breath.
Then the phrase or thesuggestion to take a deep breath
becomes triggering and upsettingfor them.
They don't have access tonecessarily remember or process
your instructions or to do abreathing exercise the way that
they might have learned how todo, unless that's regularly
(28:18):
incorporated into theirroutines.
And familiar to the nervoussystem.
So I have so many people cominginto my office saying, please
help with my anxiety, but don'ttell me to take a deep breath or
I'll scream.
That's not working.
And this is the reason why we'retaking the concept of breathing
and we're turning it intoanother anxiety provoking.
(28:40):
Suggestion.
I'm sure you can imagine as anadult, how infuriating it would
be if you were in an argumentwith your spouse, or if you turn
to a friend or a person that youtrust in a moment when you were
really anxious and theirresponse was well, just take a
deep breath, do some deepbreathing.
So going back to what we learnedbefore the key is co-regulation
(29:02):
using those safe people as amodel Just those safe and
trusted people being in a calmstate can regulate our nervous
systems without talking withoutnecessarily having to use any
intervention.
Another concept that we hear alot about on social media and
hear people talking about is theidea of triggers.
(29:26):
What triggers your anxiety?
What triggered that reaction?
These are my triggers.
It's important stuff to know.
Triggers are what triggers thiscascade of reaction in your body
by the vagus nerve.
But we can exert control overthat and we can do the opposite.
And that's what we call.
Just as triggers can be thesetiny micro moments for those
(29:50):
with food allergies.
For example, someone opens alunch bag across the room and I
find myself looking to see ifit's a peanut butter sandwich
that they're pulling out oftheir bag.
I smell cheese in the air assomeone eating Doritos, any
little micro moment that cantrigger our nervous system.
A glimmer is the opposite ofthat.
(30:12):
Glimmers are the micro momentsof safety that also appear all
the time, everywhere, all aroundus in day to day life.
And we don't tend to noticebecause our bodies are wired to
protect us and to be on guardall the time.
With practice, We can focus,instead of finding triggers, on
(30:32):
identifying glimmers, thingssuch as a friendly face, a
soothing sound, noticingsomething in the environment
that makes you smile, somethingcomforting, things like holding
your warm cup of tea in yourhands in the morning and feeling
the warmth, or breathing in thesmell and the steam, wearing
your favorite sweater that feelsso comfortable and soft when you
(30:54):
put it on, and, um, Hearing yourkids laughing in the other room.
Those little moments that remindyou that everything is okay, and
everybody is safe.
We overlook them because we areprogrammed to pay more attention
to negative events than topositive ones.
But once we practice noticingglimmers, we find that they're
(31:14):
all around us and we begin tolook for more.
So I have Set the goal ofwrapping up each podcast episode
with three steps that you cantake when we're done talking To
implement and to utilize whatwe've talked about in that
episode Glimmers is number onefor you.
(31:35):
And if you are interested inpolyvagal theory and learning
more about it my suggestedstarting point is the book
Anchored by Deb Dana.
Number two.
Watch the movie Inside Out.
If you have already watched it,watch it again and then go out
and watch Inside Out too.
(31:56):
All of us therapists are madlyin love with these movies and
the way that they demonstratewhat happens in our bodies, in
our minds, and our emotions.
Watch them over and over.
Watch them with all the kids inyour life, but they're not just
for kids, they're for adultstoo.
And of course, number three,subscribe to my new podcast if
(32:16):
you like what you hear if thisreaction that I'm talking about
resonates with you, you can goto my website.
You can sign up for mynewsletter.
You can get information aboutways that you can work with me
and what kinds of services andresources I offer.
I'll keep you posted through thepodcast and through my
newsletter on everything that Ihave in the works that's coming
(32:37):
up for you in addition to mypodcast.
My website isdramandowhitehouse.
com.
I hope that today's podcast.
Wasn't too much information foryou.
I don't want you to feeloverwhelmed, but I do want you
to know what's really importantto know.
Early in my food allergy momjourney.
(32:57):
My mom gave me a little sign formy house.
It said.
True story food allergy moms dobetter research than the FBI.
And I find that that's true.
I think we're a community ofpeople who really want
information.
I've always been that waythroughout my education and
training and my PhD program, butit rolled right into food
allergy life.
(33:17):
And so hopefully you feel thesame way that I do about wanting
enough information at yourfingertips to understand what's
going on.
I'd like to give a huge, thanksto Kyle dine, food allergy,
educator, and entertainer, whoallowed me to use his song, the
dog house for my intro.
And he will be joining us on thenext episode of the podcast.
(33:39):
So if you know, and love him aswe do an hour house, then you
can look forward to that.
And if you don't, you will soon.
Please remember that thispodcast is for educational
purposes.
Always seek the advice of yourdoctor with any questions about
your own health and wellness.
And please don't ever disregardor delay medical advice or
attention because of somethingyou've heard here on my podcast.
(34:01):
I'm Dr.
Amanda White house.
Thanks for joining me.
And until we chat again,remember don't feed the fear.
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