Last week, the DiabetesSelfManagement.com editors received the following letter via e-mail and asked me if I could answer it on this blog. The letter touches on many issues related to mental health and diabetes, and I’ll address them in my next few blog entries.
Dear Diabetes Self-Management,
I’ve been wondering about how my mental illness may be affecting my Type 2 diabetes. Because of my low self-esteem, I have not been able to stop eating continuously, and I have no motivation to stop. I have so many things I wish to do that are very rewarding to me emotionally, but no drive to do them. My feelings have also been affecting my work with people with mental illness. If I don’t have motivation or encouragement, how can I give someone else what they, too, are lacking? My supervisor has even gone as far as to getting me to teach a group all about diabetes, just so I could help myself with my Type 2. But it has not worked.
—S.
Dear S.,
It really sounds like you are having quite a struggle with your mental health, your eating habits, and getting motivated to take care of your diabetes. Some health-care professionals act as though these are simple issues, and yet they are often the biggest issues that people who have diabetes deal with.
Mental health issues are often overlooked because we tend to focus on the body, glucose control, weight control, eating, and exercise. We know that mental attitude and mental health have an impact, but we often don’t know what to do about them. It is truly easier to manage the technical aspects of glucose monitoring and medication than to try to do something about the mental aspects of the disease. Life would be quite a simple matter if we could all just adopt a positive attitude and then get on with taking care of ourselves. But sometimes, depression or anxiety begin to interfere, and we may feel powerless to do anything about our diabetes. In fact, depression is twice as likely to affect people with diabetes as it is to affect people without diabetes. In many cases, depression may precede the onset of Type 2 diabetes.
Depression and diabetes interact in such a way that when one condition is not under control, it makes the symptoms of the other one worse. For example, if you have depression and your eating is excessive, then the symptoms of the depression may get worse. You may feel more tired, more emotional, less able to concentrate, hungrier, or angrier. You may have problems sleeping and may just not feel like doing very much. It is also true that if you have depression that is not being managed, you will have far less energy to deal with diabetes and probably very little motivation to manage your eating since for a while, at least, it feels good.
Because of this interaction, you need to control both your depression and your diabetes at the same time. This is very hard to do on your own, so I recommend partnering with a certified diabetes educator, an endocrinologist, a mental-health therapist, or a psychiatrist. All of these people will have their own unique approach, but at least you will have someone who can help you manage the mental and physical aspect of these two problems. For depression, antidepressants or psychotherapy can both be equally useful, and often, trying both is best. The diabetes is equally important to address. And the good news is this: While diabetes and depression can make each other worse, if they are managed, they can make each other better.
Part of the problem right now is that if you don’t have much energy, it will be hard to “get it together” to manage your depression and your diabetes. That is where the professional support comes in. The health-care professional can provide the helpful push to get you started and the nudge to help you keep going.
So to start, make an appointment with one of the health-care professionals I mentioned, and show up to talk about the struggles you identified in your e-mail. Next week, I will discuss emotional eating, the difficult pattern it establishes, and some ideas for how to deal with it.
Source URL: https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/qa-depression-and-diabetes/
Joe Nelson: Joe is a psychotherapist in private practice in Minnesota, where he specializes in the psychology of chronic disease and sexual problems and works with couples, families, children, and teens. He has been a Licensed Psychologist since 1985 and has earned a master’s degree from St. Mary’s College Winona, a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota, and an associate’s degree in human services from the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Joe has worked with troubled youth in Chicago and Minnesota and on a special project on Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. He was the first social worker hired by an affiliate of the American Diabetes Association. He worked at the International Diabetes Center for 20 years, directing psychological services there for 12 years. A Certified Sex Therapist, Joe co-developed the Sexual Health Center at Park Nicollet Clinic.
Having practiced meditation for over 30 years, Joe offers instruction in mindfulness-based meditation to patients in groups and as individuals. Joe is married, has a 23-year-old daughter, and enjoys scuba diving, motorcycling, golf, and being outdoors doing almost anything.
Disclaimer of Medical Advice: You understand that the blog posts and comments to such blog posts (whether posted by us, our agents or bloggers, or by users) do not constitute medical advice or recommendation of any kind, and you should not rely on any information contained in such posts or comments to replace consultations with your qualified health care professionals to meet your individual needs. The opinions and other information contained in the blog posts and comments do not reflect the opinions or positions of the Site Proprietor.
Copyright ©2020 Diabetes Self-Management unless otherwise noted.