Diabetes? Let’s talk about well-being!

Diabetes? Let’s talk about well-being!

Living with diabetes can make daily tasks stressful. Patients need to tackle every aspect of the day with constant caution and extra effort. It can lead to stigma, bullying, and feeling helpless and hopeless, especially when access to care is limited, making it a matter of life and death. Diabetes affects physical as well as mental health, yet care generally focuses solely on blood sugar management, leaving patients feeling frustrated. Depression is twice as common in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes as in the general population and is associated with poor outcomes.

#WorldDiabetesDay is a global occasion for people with diabetes, healthcare professionals, supporters, policymakers, and the general public to unite to raise diabetes awareness and take action. This World Diabetes Day calls on us to place well-being at the very heart of diabetes care.

The Soul Suffers Along

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment. However, there is no reason to feel helplessly at the mercy of the disease or to resign yourself to its fate. The more active and committed you are, the better your chances of leading a long, healthy life despite the metabolic disorder. However, it is also clear that physical illnesses are often accompanied by mental impairment. It is not necessarily the severity of the ailment that matters. Often, the extent to which everyday life is restricted has more significant impact.

Diabetes May Cause Depression

As a result, understandable worries can develop into long-lasting mood swings and even severe despair. In fact, depression is widespread among diabetics. According to current estimates, around one out of four diabetes patients experiences sad moods, and around one in ten diabetics already suffers from depression. The more acute consequences, such as severe hypoglycemia or late diabetes complications, emerge, the higher the risk of mental health disorders.

Diabetes necessitates a high level of personal commitment on a long-term basis. The necessary therapeutic measures, such as an adapted diet, adequate physical activity, and possibly regular blood glucose self-measurement and insulin administration, must be carefully implemented on a daily basis. Many sufferers feel constricted and controlled by the disease. Especially when physical problems are the main focus, depression often goes unrecognized — by the doctor treating the patient as well as by the patient themselves or their suffering relatives. This risk is increased by the fact that many patients are hesitant to inform their doctor about how they are feeling mentally.

However, addressing emotional problems is critical. People who are optimistic and worry less are more physically active, take check-ups well, and are less likely to forget to take prescribed medication — this is vital not just for efficient disease self-management but also for a higher quality of life.

Depression May Cause Diabetes

It is obvious that diabetes can cause worry. But the link between diabetes and depression is actually much more complex. Scientific studies show this: Conversely, depression increases the risk of developing diabetes. And it is possible that a common cause fuels both diabetes and depression.

A study, led by Professor Inga Prokopenko from the University of Surrey, UK, used genetic data from hundreds of thousands of people in the UK and Finland to shed new light on the complex relationship between depression and type 2 diabetes. Their analysis published in 2023 revealed for the first time that depression directly causes an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. And showed that higher bodyweight partly, but not wholly, explained the effects of depression on type 2 diabetes. The researchers also pinpointed seven genetic variants that contribute to both type 2 diabetes and depression. The shared genes play a role in insulin production and in levels of inflammation in the brain, pancreas or fat tissue. These changes the genes bring about inside the body can potentially explain how depression increases risk of type 2 diabetes.

Increasingly, epidemiological studies have revealed that psychological stress — particularly chronic work stress and early life adversity — are risk factors for T2D development. Depression, a stress-related disorder, has also been shown to increase the risk for progressive insulin resistance and incident of type 2 diabetes. The link between both disorders is assumed to be a dysregulation of the stress hormone cortisol. Type 2 patients show a hyperactivity of this hormone system and consequently a permanently high level of cortisol. Usually, short stress hormone peaks enables us to correctly assess challenges situation and take appropriate action. Therefore “shots” of cortisol cause a release of glucose from storages in liver and muscles into the blood. What is useful in short term may result in a persistently elevated glucose blood level — and in type 2 diabetes — under constant worries, stress or depressive mood.

Get Your Fears Under Control

It is known that diabetic patients with a stable well-being have significantly better metabolic control and are less likely to suffer from secondary damage of the disease. Mental and social circumstances are just as important as physical ones for successful therapy and long-term health maintenance.

Control Your Fears: Fears are nourished by insecurity. For many patients, learning about their condition provides relief. Being well-informed about your treatment enables you to participate actively. A diabetes diagnosis can also serve as a chance to adopt a healthier diet and increase your physical activity, not just to combat diabetes, but also to improve your overall health. Ask the doctor questions if you don’t understand something or want to learn more. Everyone benefits from a therapeutic relationship based on partnership.

Don’t stay alone with your worries: Many things are easier to deal with when you have support: your partner, children or other trusted people can always accompany you to medical appointments or examinations. If you are unsure, have difficulty hearing or have not understood the content of some instructions or information, take a second pair of ears with you.

Sharing experiences strengthens: How do others deal with their situation, what have they experienced, what new things can they tell me? In self-help groups, you learn that you are not alone with your problems. It is encouraging to learn how others have already overcome similar situations.

Value and use your own possibilities: It can be helpful to focus on what you can do. Physical activity in particular (e.g. a daily walk) helps to reduce tension and worries. Cultivate your own interests in a targeted way and become aware of enjoyable habits and hobbies again.

Change your perspective: Realize that you can control diabetes rather than allowing it to dictate your life. With this attitude, diabetes mellitus loses much of its misery and becomes a challenge that you can overcome in your daily life with optimism, energy, and success.

Depression is Treatable

Sometimes, informative and supportive conversations are no longer enough to restore mental balance. Severe anxiety or depressive moods require specialist treatment. You should seek professional help if feeling worried, anxious or depressed becomes persist for weeks, cause sleep disturbances or physical complaints.

The following treatment options are available, for example:

Specialist in psychosomatics: In addition to diabetology therapy, treatment by a specialist in psychosomatics may be advisable. Doctors specializing in this field know the connection between mental health and physical illness. The doctor may recommend a stress management or stress reduction program or behavioral psychotherapy in which beneficial coping strategies are learned. Both approaches have been shown to alleviate depressive symptoms in diabetes patients and help them achieve long-term mental stability.

Drug treatment: Your doctor may also prescribe mood-lifting medication, antidepressants. However, this must always be done in close coordination with the diabetes medication because certain antidepressants can affect blood sugar levels.

A typical sign of depression is feeling hopeless — and being convinced that nothing and no one can be helpful. Give yourself a chance! Talk to a doctor! Depression is treatable!

Together, We Make a Difference.

Join us on the 23rd of November 2024 for the World Diabetes Day 3km Walk, Zabeel Park, 4–7pm!

Lots of fun activities, free medical check-ups, Zumba, and games for everyone, and together we walk to raise awareness, support prevention, and inspire change against diabetes.

Let’s take steps toward a healthier future together.