In addition to the difficulties of managing blood glucose levels, many people with diabetes face an additional burden – that of diabetes stigma.
For people with Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) the main form of stigma relates to how it began. People sometimes associate it with a poor and indisciplined lifestyle - lack of physical activity, eating too much of the wrong food and obesity.
However, although this may be a reason for the onset of T2DM, one has to also take into account other important causes such as age, inherited genes, other reasons for gaining weight, demands of the job and so on.
People with Type 1 diabetes mellitus report stigma for other reasons such as eating the wrong food, not having good control, and being blamed as being irresponsible all the time.
In general, diabetes of any type can arouse feelings of over - protectiveness or pity towards the patient as many people think that having diabetes prevents a person from leading a normal life.
However, diabetes is not a death sentence if managed well and it definitely does not make people sickly, weak or limit their opportunities.
Sometimes managing diabetes also often leads to embarrassment. At times the act of injecting insulin can be mistaken for using recreational drugs and symptoms of severe hypo can be mistaken for rudeness, aggressiveness, or even drunken behaviour!
People around a person with diabetes should be sensitized to these aspects.
For people with Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) the main form of stigma relates to how it began. People sometimes associate it with a poor and indisciplined lifestyle - lack of physical activity, eating too much of the wrong food and obesity.
However, although this may be a reason for the onset of T2DM, one has to also take into account other important causes such as age, inherited genes, other reasons for gaining weight, demands of the job and so on.
People with Type 1 diabetes mellitus report stigma for other reasons such as eating the wrong food, not having good control, and being blamed as being irresponsible all the time.
In general, diabetes of any type can arouse feelings of over - protectiveness or pity towards the patient as many people think that having diabetes prevents a person from leading a normal life.
However, diabetes is not a death sentence if managed well and it definitely does not make people sickly, weak or limit their opportunities.
Sometimes managing diabetes also often leads to embarrassment. At times the act of injecting insulin can be mistaken for using recreational drugs and symptoms of severe hypo can be mistaken for rudeness, aggressiveness, or even drunken behaviour!
People around a person with diabetes should be sensitized to these aspects.
No comments:
Post a Comment