What an incredible honor to share that I have successfully defended my doctoral dissertation, and received an award for my poster dissemination at our Graduate Research Forum! My research, titled, Lived Experiences of Food Allergic Young Adults in Differentiating Anxiety from Anaphylaxis in the Aftermath of a Severe Allergic Reaction, has been such a laborContinue reading “But Would Your Dissertation Defend You?”
Category Archives: Mental Health
Beyond Food: The Anxiety or Anaphylaxis Phenomenon Further Validated by Vaccine Research
It is safe to say that the Anxiety, or Anaphylaxis? debate lives rent free in my head. Not only does it stay on the lips of All Things Allergies, but the psychological and physiological similarities between the fight-or-flight response and food-induced anaphylactic shock is also the subject of my doctoral dissertation proposal. Inspired by myContinue reading “Beyond Food: The Anxiety or Anaphylaxis Phenomenon Further Validated by Vaccine Research”
Food Allergy Linked to Disordered Eating & Body Image
Happy Food Allergy Awareness Month! Did you know May is also Mental Health Awareness Month? That is no coincidence in my book. In celebration of this annual intersection, All Things Allergies is extending beyond our usual trauma-related content into another chapter of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Feeding and Eating Disorders.Continue reading “Food Allergy Linked to Disordered Eating & Body Image”
Anxiety, Or Anaphylaxis?
Exploring the physiological + psychological similarities between anaphylaxis + panic attacks, and how the perceived gap in professional literature may perpetuate somatic trauma responses in the food allergy community. “We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experienceContinue reading “Anxiety, Or Anaphylaxis?”
Exposure Therapy: Conquering Food Challenges After Years of Food Anxiety
After receiving my negative skin + blood tests from Chicago Family Allergy and Asthma, I was given the “all clear” to food challenge tree nuts, seafood, and legumes at home for the very first time. Given my undetectable IgE levels, Dr. Katie Tanner felt confident in conducting my taste tests outside of their Lincoln ParkContinue reading “Exposure Therapy: Conquering Food Challenges After Years of Food Anxiety”
Invisible Consequences of Anaphylaxis: My Personal Struggle with Mental Health and Food Allergies
The Reaction During the summer of 2014, as a 17-year-old incoming senior in high school, I took a walk with friends to a local ice cream shop that would unknowingly change the course of my life forever. Half of a brownie flurry later, I was reaching for a bottle of Benadryl in our medicine cabinetContinue reading “Invisible Consequences of Anaphylaxis: My Personal Struggle with Mental Health and Food Allergies”
All Things Allergies 