Behavioral Health

Resilience and Food Allergies

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Resilience

Resilience and Food Allergies


What is resilience?

According to the American Psychology Association (APA)1, Resilience can be defined as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.”

FAACT's professionally developed "My Food Allergy Resilience Kit" contains instruction on resilience building activities, bright and cheery downloads, affirmation cut outs, emotional check-in worksheets, resiliency charts, and more! 
 
Why do my child and I need to develop resilience?
 
The world is tough. Living with food allergies is tough. It is a given that children and adults with food allergies, as well as their caretakers, face more challenges and potential setbacks than others. Given that resilience is the ability to “bounce back” from these obstacles, all food allergy families should work on developing and strengthening their resiliency characteristics. The more resilient you are, the better chance you will have of being able to quickly move on from the challenges that come your way. This will be a valuable asset to go through life with. 
 
Resilience Checklist:
  • Humor
  • Optimism + Positive Mindset
  • Ability to know what you can and cannot control
  • Knows coping skills
  • Practices self-care
  • Has a support system (good friends, family, coaches etc.)
  • Open-mindedness
  • Can accept change
  • Can ask for help
  • Can own up to mistakes
  • Can forgive
  • Ability to name and manage emotions

Do you or your child check off most of these boxes? If so, that is great, you are well on your way toward becoming a resilient person. If you noticed you are lacking some boxes with checks, that is okay too. Resilience can be developed. It is never too early or late to develop resilience.

How can I develop Resilience within my child?

Help them turn their negative thoughts into positive ones:

  • I cannot do this ---> I am capable of doing many hard things
  • I am so dumb ---> I just made a mistake
  • No one likes me ---> I like me
  • I cannot do this ---> Let me try again
  • I suck ---> I am enough just as I am
  • This is tough ---> This is tough, but so am I
  • Nobody cares what I say ---> I will continue to speak with a strong confidence about what is right.

Help them understand what is in their control vs. what is out of their control:

In Your Control:     

  • Your actions.
  • Your attitude.
  • Decisions that you make.
  • The way you treat others.
  • The amount of effort you put into what you do.
  • The words you use.
  • The way you talk about yourself.       

Out of Your Control:

  • What has happened in the past.
  • What other people say, do, and feel.
  • The weather.
  • Knowing what the future holds.

It is a great idea to gently help change your child’s language when you hear them talking down to themselves as well as have a conversation about what is in their control every day! In fact, it is a great thing to gently remind yourself of this, as well. Positive mindset = a positive life!

Reference

1APA. (2020). APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved August 25, 2020, from https://dictionary.apa.org/resilience