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How We Talk About
Diabetes and Why It Matters:Finding the Language to be Kind to Ourselves
JDRF One Summit-January 12, 2019
Faith C. Cook, Psy.D., Licensed Psychologist (North Carolina)
Like an old tree with roots wrapping around boulders and branches turning
their leaves toward the sun, finding nourishment in the most difficult of places,
people with diabetes learn to adapt, grow, and flourish.Photo courtesy of Faith
The Challenge:
Cleaning Your Lenses
What comes to your mind when you see this CGM graph?What do you think about this person? What do you tell yourself about what might have happened?
Now, what comes to your mind when you see this CGM graph?What do you think about this person? What do you tell yourself about what might have happened?
Reflections
Consider what you said to yourself about why this person’s blood sugar was out of range.
What feelings did this bring up?
What would it be like if you said this to yourself?
What would it be like if you thought this about your child? This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
under CC BY-NC-ND
What if the person in question was older, lived alone, and had trouble reading
the measurements on the insulin syringes?
What if this was a 3-year-old child with a single mother or father who had 2
other children?
What if this was a new mother with Type 1 Diabetes?
What if this person had the flu?
What if this person had never received diabetes education, and did not know
how to count carbs?
And what would you think if this person lived in a dangerous area, or didn’t
have access to healthy food?
What would you think, if I told
you that this person who had
these blood sugars was me?
What does that say about me?
The rate of depression in people with
diabetes is about two times higher than
people without diabetes. Here is some idea of how chronic stress leads to depression:
Music License by Public Domain Information Project
Diabetes Distress
Diabetes is taking up too much of my time
Lost confidence in my ability to take care of my/or
child’s diabetes
Feeling angry, scared, or depressed when I think about
diabetes
Thinking I/or child will end up with complications no
matter what I do
Believe that I am failing in managing my/or child’s daily
blood sugars
Diabetes Distress
Believing that I cannot keep up this daily routine
anymore
I have lost motivation to take care of myself
Seems family and friends don’t understand or support
me enough
Seems that my doctors don’t care about me/child or
my/child’s diabetes
Adapted from the Diabetes Distress Scale from the Behavioral Diabetes
Institute
Diabetes Burnout
You have much less energy than you once had
It seems like you are getting sick a lot more than
usual
You’re constantly exhausted, even after sleeping
or taking a break
You neglect your own needs, either because
you’re too busy or you don’t care anymore
Diabetes Burnout
Your life revolves around caregiving (or medical
self-management), but it gives you little
satisfaction
You have trouble relaxing, even when help is
available
You’re increasingly impatient and irritable with
the person you’re caring for (with others and
yourself)
You feel helpless and hopeless
What can I do?
One way to
change your perspective
Questions to help you clean your lenses:
What do you think when your blood sugar is
200, 250, 300 or more?
What do you think when your blood sugar is
70, 60, 50 or lower?
How do you feel when you think like this?
How does this thinking affect your actions
when you are managing your blood sugar?
Does it feel something like this?
Thought Experiments:
What if you said “I need more insulin,” or “I can
take a walk,” when your blood sugar is 200.
What if you said “It looks like I need to eat
something,” or “I can lower my basal,” when
you blood sugar is 70?
How does it feel when you make these
statements?
How might it change your actions?
Thought experiments: Comparison Before
and After we Cleaned our lenses
Before After
After cleaning
our lenses, I
hope that it
might feel
more like this:
Ideas to Take Home
Reminder: I’m not a robot!
I’m doing the best I can in
a tough situation.
Managing diabetes is not
pass or fail.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed Under A\ CC BY-S
I’m making the best decision I know how
in the moment.
Congratulate yourself for the hard work you’re doing, regardless of the outcome.
Questions? Comments?
Thank you so much!
Thank you to JDRF for supporting
the psychosocial initiatives.
And a special thanks to my
husband for all that he does to
support me everyday.
Music License by Public Domain Information Project