Yesterday I wrote about Diabetes Guilt, a crippling complication of diabetes. How was that for dramatic? But it really can be. Guilt leads to anger, and anger leads to a very negative attitude toward diabetes. This can zap one’s motivation, which in turn can lead to avoiding or neglecting diabetes management tasks. Today I discovered that I clearly was not finished writing about diabetes guilt.
Guilt is also a form of stress, which raises the blood glucose level. How’s that for defeating our purpose? So guilt leads to anger, which leads to resentment, which leads to a negative attitude, which increases stress, which leads to poor diabetes results (elevated blood glucose level, mood swings, etc.).
One of the best ways to decrease diabetes stress is to find a health care provider who is a good fit. There are many great providers out there who do not inflict guilt on their patients and their families. Do yourself a huge favor and work with one of them. In a perfect world, no one with diabetes (or their families) would ever feel judged, shamed, or guilted about their diabetes management and this blog post would be unnecessary. In the meantime, we have to do what we can to rid our lives of this useless thing (guilt).
Another factor that contributes to guilt is fear. It is my belief that most often when someone (parent, spouse, etc.) lays on the guilt (“should you be eating that?“), they are doing it out of fear. They are afraid that their loved one will develop complications or worse yet, die from diabetes down the road. Too many times I have seen people with diabetes rebel under the pressure of guilt, which can actually lead to worse outcomes.
Please don’t mistake not caring for not experiencing guilt. I believe these are two completely different things. I care a great deal about my health and my diabetes management, and I don’t succumb to guilt. As I mentioned yesterday, I separate myself from the disease and the numbers. Diabetes is just one thing about me and the numbers are just numbers. They don’t reflect who I am as a person.
How do you avoid feeling diabetes guilt?