A diabetes diagnosis can be a life altering event. Whether it be type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes, it can mean changes to your lifestyle that you may not be ready for and can also be hard on relationships with friends or family.
Just as you take insulin to ensure your blood glucose levels are where they should be, it’s important to take measures to prevent mental health crises by being aware of how you are feeling mentally and emotionally.
Just like taking care of your body, taking care of your mind is equally as important to living a healthy life. When left untreated, mental health conditions like depression and anxiety can make diabetes worse.
✔️How are diabetes and mental health connected?✔️
1. Managing diabetes means making changes to your day-to-day routine adding stress apart from daily chores
2. There is a strong need to change your diet by eating certain kinds of foods, avoiding sugary beverages, or restricting alcohol intake which can be difficult for anyone regardless of a diabetes diagnosis.
3. Added responsibilities like tracking blood glucose and insulin can be hard to remember at first, doctors’ appointments can cause time away from work, and the costs of appropriate care may be burdensome.
✔️ These changes can be emotionally draining, and you might start to notice that you are feeling a bit off or have very little energy left to carry out important tasks to managing your condition. ✔️
✔️People living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for depression, anxiety and eating disorders✔️
✔️Rates of depression across the lifespan are 2 times greater for people with diabetes than in the general population.✔️
The fear of blood sugar fluctuations can be very stressful. Changes in blood sugar can cause rapid changes in mood and other mental symptoms such as fatigue, trouble thinking clearly, and anxiety.
Having diabetes can cause a condition called *****diabetes distress****** which shares some traits of stress, depression and anxiety.
Unlike normal depression, diabetes distress can be linked back to causal factors related to diabetes. For example – fear of hypoglycemia or a very low level of blood sugar, may cause significant worry.
Therapy
First therapy is initiated by you by coming forward and sharing your thoughts with your doctor.
Talk therapy is not only for discussing your problems, it is also for finding solutions. Professionals can help you work through the many things that may be causing you stress, understand your mental health condition and identify triggers that may make things worse and learn coping skills.
Understanding the need of mental health awareness in any disease is as important as treating it at physical level❤️