Let's Talk: Diabetes and Mental Health

[Thomas DUK]

For those who don't know me, I'm nuts. There's no point in trying to deny it. It's something indisputable at this point, like gravity or the need to breathe. Mental health is a topic very close to my heart, and today I'd like to open up a conversation about the unique challenges that come with managing diabetes and maintaining good mental well-being.

Living with diabetes can be a daily balancing act, and it's entirely normal to feel a wide range of emotions. Stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout can often accompany the physical demands of blood sugar management. We know that talking about these experiences can help us feel less alone and offer insights into how we can support each other.

Share your story: How has diabetes affected your mental health? What strategies have you found helpful in managing both your diabetes and your emotional well-being?

Let's support one another: Share your tips, experiences, or any resources you've found particularly valuable for coping with the emotional aspects of diabetes.

❤️ Remember, you're not alone: Sometimes, just knowing that others are going through similar challenges can provide comfort and strength.

Let's create a safe space for an open and honest dialogue about diabetes and mental health. Your insights and experiences can make a real difference in someone's life. We're all in this together!

 

[ColinUK]

Not that it helps specifically with my diabetes but rather something that helps with my mental health (diagnosed with depression and anxiety in 1999/2000 after a breakdown - diagnosis changed in 2022 to complex PTSD) is meditation.

My go to at the moment is yoga nidra (which isn’t yoga as you’d imagine it but is entirely a guided meditation whilst static) and I find it useful.

Of course I self soothe the mental health with food from time to time and that negatively impacts BG levels. The PTSD also screws bigtime with my self esteem/self confidence and that can lead to a rise in my agoraphobic tendencies which in turn means I disengage with the outside world a bit. That clearly has an impact on things like exercise and social interaction all of which impact my diabetes management.

All in all I really don’t do too bad considering. I tend to think of my diabetes as being an 80/20 thing. If I’m ok 80% of the time then that 20% is not that important so that allows me to not beat myself up if I do overindulge in unwise food stuffs from time to time.

There’s also one huge resource which helps with managing both mental health and diabetes and that’s this forum. It’s not always an easy ride but the support given on here by everyone is genuinely remarkable and I am grateful for it every single day.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

It’s a really interesting topic. For me, mental health is just like any kind of health - everyone has it all the time - it’s just a matter of whether you are in good health, managing your health, or currently facing some specific challenges or difficulties.

And of course there is a huge interaction and interplay between physical health and mental health. They can run in parallel, support or conflict each other, help or undermine each other.

When I was in the most profound stages of grief after my wife died, finding the energy for managing my diabetes was significantly more difficult. And erratic blood glucose levels added another mental health burden to any physical symptoms - with frustration, rage, worry, and guilt.

We have lots of people on the forum who have had periods of diabetes burnout, and faced the challenges of working through those. And we also see newbies arriving where the physical diagnosis with diabetes has hit them with a double-whammy of mental health burden - a form of grieving for their lost health.

I think supporting our mental health is one of the things the forum really excels at. The feeling of not facing these struggles alone, a shared sense of endeavour, of community, of being able to support each other even when we are struggling ourselves, of being among people who ‘get it’, or who show a glimmer of hope that a happier life with diabetes in it’s place is possible.