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Diabetes and mental health

Mental health is vital for managing diabetes and overall health. Just like physical and emotional health, the mental state plays a significant role in managing overall health. Use of cognitive processes during diabetes- like remembering medicines, and managing glucose throughout the day affects the mental state. Every disease comes with both physical and emotional effects and knowing emotional and physical effects of diabetes is also important. 

In diabetes, the psychological state encompasses a major role. The common imbalance in mental state is stress, sadness, fear and anger. In severe cases, emotional disturbance, diabetes distress and diabetes burnout can occur. The mental state contains a high impact on decision-making ability and quality of life. Additionally, how the person mentally feels affects how he will feel physically.

Managing depression

Managing-depression

Diabetes is often quite overwhelming once it’s diagnosed. Depression can affect anyone. Continuing mental numbness is often a sign of depression.

These are the symptoms of depression:

  • Loss of appetite
  • Overeating
  • Losing interest in things
  • Lack of focus
  • Sleep disorders ( either difficulty in sleeping or sleeping over usual)

People with depression cannot focus on regular tasks. The person may start skipping medicines or forgetting to check glucose which might be dangerous over time.

There are only 25-50% of individuals actively seeking medical help. Depression is manageable by therapy, as depression isn’t a disease, it’s just a condition. People may be treated with therapy or medication or with a mixture of the 2. But the most vital thing is to tell the doctor about the symptoms the person is feeling.

Tackling anger

Tackling-anger

It’s normal to feel sad and angry. However, nobody wants to be in such a situation. Hence, it is vital to accommodate anger issues constructively.

If someone is extremely stressed or anxious, they ought to try the subsequent tips:

  • Go for a walk
  • Try to target breathing
  • Meditate
  • Talk to a number of your loved ones

Doing these will facilitate your to consider why you are angry. Finding the basic reason behind anger can help in overcoming and successfully managing the condition.

Stress and anxiety

Stress-and-anxiety

Even day to day stress can overwhelm a person with diabetes. This is often why managing stress is incredibly crucial to safeguard overall health. The stress hormone, cortisol can affect the glucose levels and may critically drop or raise them.

Stress may result in anxiety in future. If someone is in an critical state of fear or worry, they will experience a psychological disorder. Having anxiety in diabetes isn’t uncommon. People with diabetes are at higher risk of getting anxiety than others. Anxiety feels like low blood glucose, hence, checking blood glucose while feeling symptoms may be a better option.

Informing the doctor is important while feeling extreme stress or anxiety. Counselling and therapy can manage these symptoms. However, medications may additionally run in serious conditions. Involving in workouts and exercises can boost the mood and may provide a chilling effect. The body and mind have synchronized working and by taking care of the psychological state, the person can make sure of himself better.

Diabetes distress and burnout

Diabetes-distress-and-burnout

The condition diabetes distress denotes the concerns and challenges while managing the daily pressure of this severe condition. Tackling diabetes distress is another aspect of diabetes management. Diabetes distress will be very distressing and might occur anytime.

These are some situations while a diabetic may feel diabetic distress:

  • Undergoing diagnosis
  • When experiencing a stressful time like job loss, divorce, death of someone. 
  • When someone is diagnosed with diabetes or any ill health
  • A sudden change in routine or healthcare provider

While handling these tough situations, it is important to bear in mind the risks and complications of diabetes. Diabetes distress and depression are two different conditions not identical. A number of coping strategies include watching out for yourself, taking a brief break, relaxing the targets and reducing the frequent blood glucose testing. A doctor can suggest to the patient the changes he should adopt while offering a short-lived reduction in regular tasks. Apart from doctors, people can confer with their family, friends or maybe can take professional support.

Over time diabetes distress can cause diabetes burnout and impacts everybody differently. Usually, diabetes burnout results due to stopping taking care of yourself like being inconsistent in taking insulin doses. In other words, when someone is fully exhausted with their condition and gives up it is called diabetes burnout.

Whatever the symptoms are, specialists are available for each condition. Thus, having self-awareness will help people in moving through the journey. Also, speech to an individual with the same condition will work as therapy.