Introduction:
The diabetic patient, especially after the beginning of his diagnosis, feels nervous, sad or angry when trying to live with diabetes, and this is normal, but on the other hand, this may raise blood glucose levels and lead to more stress and depression Therefore, the patient must be directed at this stage to determine the exact cause of his anger, whether it is fear or loss of control, and then he must work to overcome this anger as follows:
- Take a deep breath in and out slowly.
- Drinking water.
- Change body position to sitting or lying down.
- Going for a walk.
Dealing with Normal Emotions:
- Anger: Diabetes is the perfect breeding ground for anger.
- Denial: Most people go through this when they are first diagnosed.
- Depression: Studies show that people with diabetes are more likely to be depressed than people without diabetes.
Normal emotions (e.g., stress, sadness, anger, denial) need to be managed before it leads to depression.
Feeling of Denial:
A diabetic patient may feel denied, such as saying, “I don't believe it” or “There may be something wrong with the diagnosis,” and the patient with denial may be known when he is repeating:
- I'll go to the doctor later.
- Diabetes is not a serious disease.
- I don't have time to do that.
However, he must be persuaded to accept the matter because the continued denial of the disease makes the patient risk not taking any action to confront the disease and maintain his health.
Depression:
Sometimes the patient's grief develops into depression, discovering it is the first step, getting help is the second step, so when you feel very sad, check these symptoms:
- Losing pleasure by doing things that the person used to enjoy.
- Changing in patient's sleeping pattern, having difficulty falling asleep, waking up often during the night, or wanting to sleep more than usual including during the day.
- Waking up earlier than usual and having trouble getting back to sleep.
- A change in appetite, by binge eating or eating less than usual, which leads to rapid weight gain or loss.
- Trouble focusing, he/her can't watch a TV show or read an article because other thoughts or feelings get in the way.
- Loss of energy and feeling tired all the time.
- Nervousness and always feeling so anxious that you can't sit motionless.
- Feeling guilty about “never doing anything right” and worrying about being a burden to others.
- Social withdrawal from friends and family.
- Feeling sad more in the morning than you do in the rest of the day.
- Suicidal thoughts, by wanting to die or thinking of ways to self-harm.
If three or more of these symptoms are present in the patient, or if it is only one or two, and the patient feels upset for two weeks or more, it is time to seek help.
Depression can be different in adolescents, where it can suffer from:
- Worsening performance at school
- Withdrawal from friends and activities
- Anger, Emotional Arousal and / or Irritability.
It should be noted that depression can be related to age and life events (e.g., loss of job or loss of a family member).
Diabetes Distress:
It is the distress caused by what a diabetic patient feels when he loses control of diabetes or when the matter is difficult to deal with, resulting in fatigue from thinking and anxiety. Many feel this matter sometimes, but it is important to get help at the beginning to avoid the condition reaching diabetic distress.
Signs of diabetic distress:
- Feeling angry about diabetes and frustrated with the demands of managing it.
- Anxiety about not paying enough attention to diabetes and not feeling motivated to change.
- Avoid going to appointments or checking your blood glucose.
- Making unhealthy food choices regularly.
- Loneliness and Isolation.
It shares support and mental health regarding tips to cope with Diabetes.