Assignment 4 Draft 1
Relaxing and drinking soda with her friends, thirteen-year-old Hayley spotted a tray of cookies in
the corner of her eye. She asked and was told they were scrumptious chocolate chip cookies. Hayley
took a bite out of one and without even swallowing, chills trickled down her spine. She realized that her
severe allergy to peanuts was taking affect. Immediately, she spit it out and rinsed her mouth with
water. Feeling tingles on the inside of her cheeks and her throat beginning to swell shut, she run home
which was luckily in the neighborhood. She made her way to the bathroom and began to violently vomit
while gasping for air. Looking like something out of a horror movie, Hayley’s eyes were completely
bloodshot and her cheeks were so swollen they were squeezing her eyes shut. Horrified, our mom threw
me and my sister into the car and rushed to the hospital. Hayley had to stay the night, and she couldn’t
go to school for next couple days. That was when she received her first epi-pen.
That was the second encounter to peanut products Hayley had faced and it caused the gravity of
her severe allergy to cave in on all of us. Hayley learned that day to not always trust what people say
when talking about ingredients put into baked goods because there had been peanut butter in the
cookie. This was a very traumatic experience and if she didn’t go to the hospital she would have died.
From that day on, Hayley lived a different life. Psychologically and physically, children with severe
allergies gain negative effects from the hardship of living with anaphylaxis. Because parents are so
involved with their children’s lives and care so deeply for them, they also begin to collect the effecting
consequences of severe allergies. Hopefully with new research being conducted, allergies could be
cured so children and parents don’t suffer.
What comes with allergies is stress and psychologically this negatively effects children and
parents who are involved in food allergies. Stress in today’s world is unwanted but stress in the wild is
fantastic. Stress is meant to keep us alive and safe from harmful situations, however the stress we
encounter on a daily basis hurts us more than it helps. Robert Sapolsky, a professor at Stanford
University that studies physiological effects of stress, says that animals in the wild “respond to stressful
situations by releasing hormones, such as adrenalin and glucocorticoids, which instantaneously
increase the animal's heart rate and energy level.” This adrenalin can also cause an enhanced sense of
memory and problem solving skills that would help escape a life-threatening situation. In the wild,
stress is the key to survival; however, we do not live in a way where we need to run away from
predators to remain alive. Sapolsky explains that, “non-life-threatening stressors, such as constantly
worrying about money or pleasing your boss, also trigger the release of adrenalin and other stress
hormones.” People experience daily stress from non-life threatening situations, so when there is a
life-threatening allergy involved, there is more stress that is strained.
In today’s society our predators are worries about money, school, work, or anything else that
we find important. Stress in the wild is quick and short but stress for people today is chronic and long
lasting. Chronic stress can cause health problems such as “adult onset diabetes, high blood pressure…
[and] gastrointestinal disorders.”People who have severe allergies add the worry of anaphylaxis to
their daily stress, causing more net stress on themselves. They already have to avoid certain foods but
with stress on top of it all, their health is at risk.
Not only will allergies cause more physiological health problems, but anaphylaxis can cause
psychological damage. Victims of allergies are susceptible to feeling isolated in everyday life because
allergies are all around us. Everyone could be slightly or severely allergic to the little things that
surround us. Growing up, children with severe allergies could feel left out during school. For example,
when Hayley was in second grade her class worked on a fun project that involved making bird feeders.
The problem was the feeders were that they were made with peanut butter. Hayley’s teacher knew of
the allergy, so had her sit and wait outside while her classmates participated in a fun project. Later when
everyone was done and Hayley was able to join the class, she began to have a reaction to the smell of
peanut butter in the air. Our mom picked her up and gave her medicine to help. Not only with sporadic
events that could involve someone’s allergy, but on a daily basis there is potential of someone
encountering their allergy. Many kids eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during lunch, but for
someone with a peanut allergy that would be bothered by smell they would have to remove themselves
from that sandwich.
People around others who were involved in traumatic events begin to as well experience
negative effects. McCann and Pearlman studied the effects on therapists who offer therapy to victims of
trauma. The therapists seemed to pick up the effects of trauma because they would visualize horrific
events, obsess over safety, or have nightmares about specific tragedies. Constantly being around their
children, parents could pick up the fear and worry of their child ingesting something their body does not
want. Parents not only have the worry for their children but they begin to develop the same worry of
their children. According to Melanie Thernstrom, a mother of a child with deadly allergies would wake
up from nightmares and check to make sure their epi-pen was where it was supposed to be. Watching
one’s own child begin to react to an allergy can be a very traumatic experience for a loving parent.
Loving parents are currently being able to bring their children into new research for cures of
allergies. Kari Nadeau is “an M.D./Ph.D. and an associate professor of allergies and immunology at
Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.” She recently has
conducted studies where patients are given very, very small doses of their allergens. These doses are
taken daily and overtime are increased. Nadeau has tremendously helped children and their families
because cases have been successful. This new radical research could bring parents and their children to
peace. Without allergies, they would relieve themselves of the psychological and physical suffering.
Not only do the children with allergies have stress, but the parents of those children suffer
psychologically and physically as well. Parents love their children and anything that would cause harm to
them would set off alarms in parents’ heads. All they want is for their children to be safe and sound.
Nowadays, my mom does not worry too much for Hayley’s allergies because she trusts her to make
responsible choices when picking out foods. My mom will always remember Hayley’s frightening
chipmunk face when she ate that cookie, but has learned what necessary actions that need to be taken
in an event such as using an epi-pen and/or calling 9-1-1. When asked about her traumatic cookie
experience, Hayley said, “I really believed I was going to die when my airway closed up so tight. Luckily,
it was a good reminder that I can never be too careful when it comes to my allergies, and it was a good
learning experience once it was all said and done.”
Psychologically, children can feel isolated and alone with their allergies and parents can worry
for their children with nightmares. Allergies do not only affect someone’s mental health but also their
physical health. With added stress from fear of ingesting or coming into contact with an allergen, people
can develop health problems. These problems exist in our world but with further research, hopefully
allergies could be cured and no one will have to suffer the psychological and physical effects.