If someone you care about has a severe allergy, it’s very likely that you’ll have clued yourself up on the topic. Whether that’s someone you grew up with, someone you met in your adult life, or even someone you work with, it’s understandable that if you care you’ll have quickly learned what to do if they go into anaphylactic shock – and also the things that you can do to prevent this.

If you are someone who has a severe allergy, you’ll be familiar with the constant threat of a reaction, and you’ll likely take precautions every day to try to avoid yourself ending up in hospital – or worse. In the case of a food allergy, it adds a whole extra layer of complication to your life, from making sure that you have your medication on you at all times, to ensuring that wherever you eat follows food safety protocols, to even informing your airline of your allergy ahead of a flight.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s necessary work, all to keep you alive.

Most people get that, and will go out of their way to help you. But for the allergy suffer in this story, who lives at home with their family, this is very much not the case. And it’s understandably frustrating them that no one seems to take their allergies seriously.

Read on to find out why.

Am I overreacting when my family keeps using my kitchen items after I strictly told them not to?

I have many many many allergies, most of which cause anaphylactic shock if I eat the slightest little bit of the things I’m allergic to.

Some of these things I can’t even touch without having a rash from the contact.

So in the kitchen I have my own drawer, where all of the stuff I bought for myself (plates, bowls, mugs, utensils etc) are stored so there are no mix ups.

But this isn’t as simple as it sounds.

After telling my family countless times, I keep catching them using my stuff.

Sometimes I actually see them use my things, other times I catch them in lies when they say they’ve not used my things, but they are dirty in the sink.

This has caused me to have to throw out or give them all the stuff they’ve used, making me restock constantly because they can’t just listen.

So this allergy-sufferer decided to take further action.

As of today, I have moved EVERYTHING in my room and they all keep saying I’m being dramatic and sharing is caring yada yada.

I’m being called unreasonable, but I could literally die if the items weren’t cleaned properly or came into contact with the wrong food.

Am I overreacting?

If there is any person who isn’t overreacting, it’s this allergy sufferer here.

Because this isn’t about not wanting to share. It’s about not wanting to die.

And any good, respectful family member would understand that.

Let’s see what the Reddit community made of this.

This person agreed that the person was not overreacting at all.

While a retired teacher thought the family needed to know what the constant threat of anaphylaxis really felt like.

Meanwhile, this Redditor thought there was just one appropriate reaction.

It’s unbelievable that this person’s family cares about the danger of their condition so little that they’re unwilling to take proper precautions. If most people had a family member with an allergy so severe that they could die, they wouldn’t even have the products that caused such a reaction in the house, let alone simply not sharing utensils.

This is not love. This is not caring. This is selfish family members not putting their apparent loved-one’s life at the top of their priority list. Because sure you might want to eat a bowl of nuts or a seafood pasta, or whatever, but would you really do that if it meant that your son or daughter, brother or sister would die as a result?

These are the questions this allergy sufferer’s family need to be asking themselves before using the crockery and cutlery of someone who has no choice but to put their life at the mercy of others. Put themselves in that person’s shoes, and they might stop using their kitchenware. Put themselves in that person’s shoes, and they might stop mocking them for being so cautious.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a teen who has spent a decade raising her younger siblings, and thinks it’s time to walk away from her family for good.