How To Deal With The Diagnosis Of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Effectively
The best way to face the diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus is to learn to live with it.
When we arrive at the endocrinologist’s office and they give us a diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, many feelings rush through our heads: “what now?” eat?”, “will it greatly affect my health?”, “how will my life change?” These and other questions generate a lot of uncertainty and frustration in us.
Well, according to the WHO, “diabetes is a chronic disease that appears when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body does not effectively use the insulin it produces.” We can talk about type 1 diabetes mellitus, when a absence of insulin synthesis and type 2 diabetes mellitus, when the body does not have the ability to administer insulin effectively which is often a consequence of excess weight or physical inactivity.
In this article we are going to focus on the psychological effects that produces the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in the person or family members, since it is normally characteristic of children and adolescents, and affects, according to the Diabetes Foundation, between 1 and 5% of the total diabetic population.
Psychological effects after diagnosis
When the diagnosis occurs, we must differentiate the psychological effects that it produces in the patients themselves (children and adolescents) and in their parents. The main psychological effects for children and adolescents are:
Children : They tend to adapt easily to the new situation. They may even see it as a game, wanting to learn how to cope with the illness. At first it is difficult to teach them how to administer insulin, but when they normalize it it is very easy for them.
Teenagers : On the contrary, adolescents may see their self-esteem damaged, since they will feel different at a time in their life when social acceptance is of vital importance. In addition, they are forced to stop doing certain typical adolescent behaviors and control their diet.
Parents : Parents are the ones who can be affected the most and in whom the process of accepting the disease becomes more complicated. We can talk about a grieving process, since they often perceive it as a loss of their child’s health.
Based on this information, we can point out that a good adaptation on the part of the parents will be a good example for those affected by the disease and will therefore help to bring normality to the matter. Therefore, below, we indicate a series of recommendations for a good adaptation to it:
Although at first the situation may be somewhat chaotic, we must ensure that family dynamics continue normally, modifying only those aspects that are strictly necessary.
Do not let other people’s comments, experiences and opinions about the disease invade us. Guide us by what professionals tell us.
Look for reliable resources to be able to cope with the situation (endocrine, diabetes nursing, specialized psychologists, diabetic associations, etc.).
Since children see it much more normally, despite allowing us to express sadness, anxiety or anger about the new situation, don’t do it in front of them since we run the risk that they end up behaving like us.
In conclusion, say that Diabetes Mellitus type 1 is a disease that conditions life. until you start to control it The person must know the amount of medication that has to be administered, since depending on how the glucose is at each moment, the type of food that is going to be eaten and the exercise that is going to be performed, the units of insulin that will be taken. to be administered will vary. Therefore, the key to coping with the disease adaptively is not in thinking that “nothing is happening,” but in learning to live with it.
