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Are you insulted...?????

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O

Optom

New Member
Hi
I'm an optometrist who's just lost a mum who was T1 for 55 years of her life. I also work as part of a diabetes eye screening programme. Every year, when one of my patients receives the reminder to come, they make a complaint about the terminology of our standard reminder letter which refers to them as "diabetic" and the standard NHS form they have to sign which states "I suffer from diabetes". The patient says that the term "diabetic" is as insulting as the word "spastic" and that they "do not SUFFER from diabetes".
My mum never had issues with this terminology and I have never known another patient get so vociferously upset about this issue. Please - those of you who live with diabetes - do you find these terms insulting?
 
Hello and a very warm welcome to the forum. It would appear to me that some individuals have skin so thin, not I thankfully that their day is not complete if they cannot feel insulted about something. If you would care to forward my details to them I will gladly fulfill their wishes and offer them something truly insulting 🙂.

I hope your stay with us is enjoyable.
 
I can honestly say I've never considered the term to be insulting. To me it's the medical name of what I have. Similar to epileptic. And your patient who complains is fortunate they do not suffer in any way and should consider themself lucky as so many do!
 
Not at all. Yes I am diabetic!!! Why would I be insulted about something like that?! One the other hand if the letter said you are fat!!!! Then I might get insulted by that one!!!
Welcome to the forum.
 
How can you have a problem with a medical term like 'diabetic'?
But I have to agree with the objection to the use of the word 'suffer' - I do not suffer from diabetes but I do have it and live with it - it causes me very little suffering 99% of the time. TBH I would prefer the declaration to read 'I have diabetes'.
Sounds like this person has an issue with being diabetic, not just the use of language.
 
I think this is a fairly recent phenomenon. I have been diagnosed just over 8 years and have noticed that the objections seemed to start a couple of years later. I think some people don't feel they should be defined by their condition, in the same way as you probably wouldn't want to be known as 'the asthmatic'. I don't think it is thin-skinned of people who feel this way - how you relate to having this chronic condition (some prefer 'condition' although technically it is a 'disease'!) will vary according to many things, and whether you feel that you 'suffer' from it will also depend on your own circumstances, personality and relationship to it. I also think that some of the objection to the terms lies in the fact that they are being used to 'label' someone in a certain way without having any true knowledge of how the person may actually feel about it.

Personally, it doesn't bother me, but I can see the argument from both sides 🙂

I'm sorry to hear that you have recently lost your Mum :(
 
Hi Optom.
I've been diabetic since the early 90s and have never considered that I suffer from Diabetes, its a condition that I have , but suffer No .
Speaking personally I would find * As you have Diabetes * much more acceptable.
This may sound strange but , to me in this context suffer, means I'm ill and though I have a lifelong condition , I do not consider myself to be ill, nor do I wish to be considered so by others.
It will be interesting to read what other members say, but I'm guessing most of us feel the same.
 
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Personally I have no problem in admitting I am a diabetic - I am a type 2 diabetic having to use insulin. I embraced the term because I had to fight to go onto insulin and then onto the basal/bolus regime.

However I can see that in the early weeks/months/years even - especially if diagnosed later in life and also in view of the traditional journalistic furor about obesity costing the NHS so much money - that many would be and in deed are in denial.But so many do not understand fully what the term means or get the wrong dietary advice. I have had a few such speak to me in a cafe if they see me testing (or discretely injecting).They say "I am a diabetic but I'm doing ok - poor you!!" I look at their plate and see a pizza slice plus chips with a sticky toffee pudding. I ask about blood tests and they say the nurse says it's ok - but they have no idea of the reading.

Information is power and it is your life and I want to do all I can to live it as heathily as I can.
 
Everyone's different. I personally hate being described as 'a diabetic'.

It IS reductive. You wouldn't describe someone who has cancer as 'a cancerous' or say 'oh, they're cancerous'. You say 'they have cancer'.

I am diabetic. I have diabetes. But I am not defined by my condition. I'm not 'a diabetic'.

I'm a person. With diabetes.

I can just about live with being called 'diabetic' but I'd much rather you say I have diabetes.

It's a subtle but quite important difference. And you will find it suddenly becomes far more important than you realise when people start dismissing you and what you do because 'you're a diabetic'.

It also doesn't help that 'diabetic' sounds far too similar to 'pathetic'. I don't need or want anyone else's sympathy or judgement because I don't 'suffer' from it. 'Suffer from' also takes up more wording that 'have'. Think about it, what's shorter - 'I have diabetes' or 'I suffer from diabetes'? That's the objection. Someone's had two options to pick from to list on the form, and they still decided to pick the longer AND more judgy option.

I just have diabetes and it gives me enough to deal with, without other people then using it to label me or make pre-conceived judgements about what I can or can't do.

Sorry to hear about your mother.
 
Must admit to never suffering from diabetes but do have type 1 diabetes. Even though I have never been to the eye screening clinics I've seen on the forums how upset and worried people are with the general tone of the letters
 
Although it does not worry me I think to be politically correct being a diabetic is not quite right. I have several other things wrong with me but I am not referred to as being one of them. They do refer to someone who has autism as an autistic. What if that person also has diabetes. So I can understand someone not wanting to be referred to as a diabetic. However if they are not a diabetic and have diabetes then surely they suffer from diabetes. I did bring to the nurses attention the letter I received from the doctors that asked me to contact the diabetic nurse. I phoned and asked which of their nurses had diabetes 😉
 
Being called diabetic doesn't bother me. I don't consider I suffer from diabetes - I just have diabetes - but if the end result is access to an ongoing system to check retinal health I'll take those terms.
 
Sorry but I don't get the reaction of people who seem to have issues with what they are. We are diabetics regardless of what people choose to take offence at. As regards suffering from the condition? Unfortunately some people appear to suffer with it more than others. This is borne out by the fact that they don't appear to be able to deal with being called what they are. How are non diabetics with very little understanding of the condition meant to address us 'Individuals with a non functional or reduced function pancreas who may need insulin or some other medication to better control their blood sugars as their own body cannot effectively control their blood sugars by itself?' I am sorry but this description offends me greatly. I am offended by the term 'non functional' it makes me feel like I am well you know........not functioning properly........................hey wait a minute, I'm really am not functioning properly 😛
 
Welcome! Does not bother me.
But then I worked in Health Care related jobs for 40 years!
 
It doesn't matter what you are labelled, people will generally use the term that is most common ...so it'll be diabetic for years.

One place I worked had changed hands several times over the years but was originally established by a company called "Flangies"* made up name.
The place is still known as "Flangies", even by people who weren't born when it ceased being "Flangies" over 30 years ago!

We're stuck with the term Diabetic whether we like it or not, so might as well just roll with it.
 
Lilian said:
Although it does not worry me I think to be politically correct being a diabetic is not quite right. I have several other things wrong with me but I am not referred to as being one of them. They do refer to someone who has autism as an autistic. What if that person also has diabetes. So I can understand someone not wanting to be referred to as a diabetic. However if they are not a diabetic and have diabetes then surely they suffer from diabetes. I did bring to the nurses attention the letter I received from the doctors that asked me to contact the diabetic nurse. I phoned and asked which of their nurses had diabetes 😉
Click to expand...

Lillian, if someone referred to my lovely autistic son as 'an autistic', I'd slap them! I'm with Deus on this. I'm not bothered to the extent that I'd be complaining about terminology on the letters but I don't think you should ever consider the condition before the person. When I was in hospital, I certainly didn't expect to be referred to 'as the diabetic in the end bed'. 'Affected by diabetes' seems more sensible to me because it doesn't suggest suffering or anything pathetic. After all, we are all 'affected by it to differing degrees'.
 
I have no problem with being called diabetic, it's the suffering bit that gets to me.
 
No It does not bother me
 
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Could I suggest Carbohydratically Challenged? ...or Sweet Pees?
...or T1s as Pancreatites and T2s as Obesitites? :D:D:D
 
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