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