Counselling and Diabetes?

[himtoo]

@JTL and @Sally66
tagged you both as your discussion has been most prevalent on this thread.

I must say i am in agreement with sally on this and mainly I think the need for counselling availabilty is that this condition doesn't just affect otherwise completely mentally normal people.
I am involved with a therapy group in my local area that is dealing with people that have other mental health issues ( such as schizophrenia , bi-polar, OCD ) as well as Diabetes and some of these people do need lots of support to help them prioritise Diabetes as just getting through the day can be a chore without the additional burden of remembering to test blood, take injections at the right time, and to eat properly.

Obviously many Diabetics go through their lives not needing any support but knowing there is some support available should it be required is comforting ( I hope I shall never require it myself )

 

[Jess33marsh]

himtoo it's good to hear you access a group for support and thanks for sharing that with us.

 

[Loveday8]

I'm a retired psychotherapist/life coach who was diagnosed preD in February. It was bad enough to process with 30 years of counselling experience under my belt, so those with no psychological training/input must find it even harder.
What a great idea! Good luck and feel free to pm if you would like to pick this brain cell for ideas, I wrote a similar course for HSPs

 

[Smiler99]

A definite yes
I have only been diagnosed 11 months nearly but it's a lot especially when we were in lockdown with no friends or family

 

[Niamh1]

I am new I was diagnosed last June with type 1 and it can be overwhelming having to deal with everything so it would be great to get some support

 

[Kimble73]

Yes,there should be counselling, it has to be a councillor who knows a lot about diabetes and the emotional impact it has on a person. I struggle a lot with my diabetes, especially emotionally, I ended up on antidepressants and anxiety medication, this disease is not an easy thing to live with, I cry a lot because of it, I grieve the foods that others can eat, that I can not, I grieve my freedom that this disease took from me. I have fear of the complications that this disease can do to me. Yes it’s affected my mental health to. It angers me that there is no help in this way. There seems to be for other diseases. The councillor would have to be specific to diabetes. I’m very surprised there isn’t anything like this. I’ve talked to a psychiatrist but got no where except givin pills that have done me no good except side effects it’s REALLY fusterating when there’s no help. I do see a councillor but she doesn’t quite know everything about diabetes, but helps to vent, and get my feelings out, that know one else in my family gets. She listens to my grief of my mom passing away. I’ve always have thought there should be a diabetic councillor, always. I even brought it up to my councillor, especially in the beginning when first diagnosed, and maybe I wouldn’t of ended up on anxiety meds and depression meds. It’s very sad that here isn’t this kind of help or even support groups through the Canadian Diabetes Association. I’m in Canada as you could of guessed. I remember going through the honeymoon period and then it hit me like a ton of bricks that this is for the rest of my life, and then the anxiety then the depression, then losing my mom, I didn’t care about my diabetes at this time I was exhausted with grief. I still managed it but did it exhausted, wore myself out, go for my walk when didn’t feel like it, ect ect.
For me my mom was my support, I went through a terrible time in the beginning, she went to doctors appointments a few times. She talked to me over the phone when the anxiety was bad, I didnt want to live, the anxiety was bad. I was scared to be at home by myself in case my sugars went low. I didn’t really know what to eat, until I went to the diabetes classes but that increased my anxiety, for what they told us about complications and low sugar that’s when I got scared and didn’t want to be home alone, it scared the **** out of me, I had some panick attacks over this. Anyways this is long enough. Thank you for this question.

 

[Craftygal]

I would like to ask all people living with diabetes whether they feel that at some point counselling and more emotional support would have been useful to them?
This could have been at diagnosis stage or at any other stage.
I am asking the diabetic community as I have been a type 1 diabetic for 18 years and whilst my local diabetic care team are excellent at helping with the medical side of living with the condition I feel that the psychological and emotional side is ignored and the diabetic nurses often don't have time to offer this. I am a qualified therapeutic counsellor looking to improve the emotional/psychological care for people and start a new project. Your views, comments and experiences will be crucial and invaluable to my research.
I thank you in advance.

Yes yes and yes, I wish there was a psychologist trained in diabetes, that’s what I could of used 10 years ago when diagnosed, I’m actually quite shocked there is t since diabetes is a huge disease and millions have it, I’m from Canada and where I live there is absolutely no support with the emotional side of diabetes, I ended up on psych drugs for depression and anxiety because of my diabetes and still taking these to this day which haven’t really helped at all. I see a counsellor but not diabetes specific just a regular counsellor, she tries to understand, the only one I know of and read about is a psychologist in the US who only workers with people with diabetes, polonsky I think is his name, there are YouTube videos that I have seen him do just look up diabetes and your emotions on YouTube and he might come up. He talks about diabetes distress when diagnosed and through life with diabetes, he also says doctors should look into distress before they say it’s depression, and I know I had distress not depression big difference, and that’s what he says to big difference. I’m kind of stuck on these meds very hard to get off of, that’s another story. I forget the psychologists name that was talking on YouTube he was right on point on everything I was dealing with like being scared, worried, he says it’s a normal reaction to having this disease. But I was not informed in the diabetes classes of the emotional side and doctors do not know this either, so be careful if your feeling distressed or depressed, like I mean real depression yes you can feel down most people don’t some point dealing with this illness. Depression is different than feeling down. What I’m trying to say is don’t go on antidepressants if your really not depressed because they can cause havoc on your life, if it isn’t true depression. I have always thought there needs more support for people with all types of diabetes and someone who knows about diabetes. Not just a regular counsellor. I am so glad you brought this very important subject up.

 

[JTL]

Please forgive me for not understanding why anyone would need counselling for having diabetes.
What am I missing?

 

[Antje77]

Please forgive me for not understanding why anyone would need counselling for having diabetes.
What am I missing?

People with T1 are much more likely to develop depression, anxiety, or eating disorders than the general population.
Might have something to do with the relentlessness of the condition.
I'm not sure aboutnumbers for T2's so can't comment on that.

But if you have a population you know is more at risk for mental health issues, it makes sense to incorporate counselling in their treatment if needed.
I think in many countries it's common to have psychologists with knowledge on diabetes in the team available to treat T1's, alongside endocrinologists, diabetes nurses and dieticians.

This might shed some light on the job interview all of us had (except that the lucky ones in the UK or my country don't have to pay for the tools needed for this job).
It's a pretty big thing to deal with alongside the rest of our lives, and it's not surprising this can lead to mental issues.

 

[Craftygal]

I have now been Diabetic for 25 years and i'm struggling . I have always tried to be well controlled but just recently been diagnosed with Neuropathy which i was simply prescribed Amatripaline and advised "take these but they will make you drowsy", no further support. In the same month i was also told i had a haemorrhage in my right eye which is due to the time i have had diabetes...again no support in fact i was told i was "lucky" that these were my only problems after being diabetic so long.

Wow that’s uncalled for, the comment “take these but they will make you feel drowsy” omg, how terrible, so how are suppose to look after you diabetes if your drowsy, what a stupid thing to say, in the medical community the doctors have no respect for people with diabetes partly because they think it’s your fault you got diabetes well with Type 2 anyway, I’ve been bullied by the medical community, rude comments, not being empathetic at all. It’s the stigma behind Type 2 diabetes that causes a lot of shaming to us who have T2 not everyone with T2 have it because of weight. And some with wieght the wieght can be caused by other medical conditions like PCOS. And they really do not respect what goes into this disease everyday. It can be exhausting to the point you get fed up with it, and have what you crave I know I do who wouldn’t . There’s a YouTube video ofa doctor who has type 2 and he was saying he worked in the ER and there was a women who came in and had a bad ulcer on her foot so bad that her foot had to be amputated, anyways he was thinking in his head, if you only would of done the things your suppose to when your a diabetic you would not be in this mess, now this is what he’s Thinking he do not say it to her face, well one day he was told he had T2 diabetes, he never thought that way again, because he lives it now and regretted that he thought that of her. He realized how hard it is to be a person with any type of diabetes. See you have to live it to get the full experience of being a person with diabetes. He was in tears by the time he finished his speech. I forget his name but he was on Tedtalk on YouTube.
There needs more support and understanding of people living with this awful disease, I’ve been through the wringer with doctors, and now I’m learning to advocate more for myself. To be honest I have not yet met one doctor who is nice and sympathetic to me about my diabetes, I have come out of my doctors office crying all the way home.

 

[Craftygal]

I would like to ask all people living with diabetes whether they feel that at some point counselling and more emotional support would have been useful to them?
This could have been at diagnosis stage or at any other stage.
I am asking the diabetic community as I have been a type 1 diabetic for 18 years and whilst my local diabetic care team are excellent at helping with the medical side of living with the condition I feel that the psychological and emotional side is ignored and the diabetic nurses often don't have time to offer this. I am a qualified therapeutic counsellor looking to improve the emotional/psychological care for people and start a new project. Your views, comments and experiences will be crucial and invaluable to my research.
I thank you in advance.

I’ve always thought there should be more help for us with diabetes, it’s a very hard disease to live with socially, and family members just don’t get it, I remember I was telling my brother it’s difficult when you go to a event that involves a dinner or a lunch and there’s not much you can eat on the table and you know what he said, “ bring your own food” I almost told him to blank blank blank, what an insensitive thing to say, I would feel pretty weird doing that and he made me feel sad after saying that. He just doesn’t get it still doesn’t till this day, I just ignore him pretty sad though, If they choose not to educate or read things that I’ve offered about diabetes. Those kind of things that we have to live with for the rest of our lives is hard to take. It’s hard enough having diabetes then to have to always defend ourselves to.

 

[CatsFive]

Please forgive me for not understanding why anyone would need counselling for having diabetes.
What am I missing?

Many people on getting a T2 diagnosis experience a range of negative emotions. Many of us work through them on our own, but support / counselling would probably help. I was never asked how I felt about my diagnosis.

And a T1 diagnosis must be a real block-buster compared to T2. It's a life-long, life-threatening chronic disease which requires constant vigilance. With T2 I know I can 'fall of the wagon' for a day or even a week and I don't end up in hospital.

 

[SassyJ]

Hi, im really struggling at moment with being on insulin. All started with getting covid in 2021, pneumonia and steroids later sugars sky high. Was struggling with hba1c of 89 (from 177 in hospital) started me on various meds. Now on daily insulin and victoza- poor legs and stomach. It's the trying to get my head around it all and feeling like I have let myself down. I work in healthcare so feel like everyone thinks I 'get it' . But I don't. Think it would so help to have that support group to get help. Doesn't help that I'm menopausal and still struggling with long covid.
Many thanks.

 

[sparklebright628]

Hi to all,

I think all people with diabetes and as many health conditions I have should be given counselling at the very start of the diabetes not left like I was now 61 and only just getting sorted out with losing weight & emotional support it's disgusting that I have had to go through my whole life without a support system in place.
And I needed emotional support for Everything.
I've had to support myself in everything I've done to get where I am today It shouldn't be like this just fobbed of like this.

It's not good enough I've been through what
1 woman would go through 5 times and left do everything myself.

Sparklebright628

 

[Robbity]

I think that if I was a T1, I might possibly benefit from counselling.

As a T2 I was fortunate enough to be given correct information on how to manage my condition by a reduced carbohydrate diet, though I was also fed metformin to start with. I grew up eating a normal full fat, moderate carbs diet, and while I felt resentful that I should now avoid certain foods that I'd previously enjoyed, I've often found work-arounds or lower carb alternatives, so never considered this carbohydrate restriction to be the end of the world! These dietary adjustments have also helped me with other issues (e.g. some much needed weight loss & end to chronic migraines) and I feel in some ways I've actually benefitted from my diagnosis.

So personally I feel no need for counselling regarding my T2 diabetes, but I definitely believe we we deserve to be given better dietary information, which has actually been known about and used for diabetes for over a century, than to be fed the usual Eatwell Plate "advice". But that's not to say that I might never benefit from counselling for other issues.

 

[sparklebright628]

Hi there,

That is your personal opinion in my view but I am in different circumstances to you so I get to choose how I proceed with my health.

Sparklebright628

 

[ianf0ster]

If the emotional support was as good as the diabetes advice from my GP, DN, Diabetes.org etc. Then I'd probably have given up on life.

So it's just as well I didn't need any - just enough advice to find my personal diabetes expert and to test that I could trust it

- It's just a Blood Glucose Meter by the way. But it's personalised (to my diabetes in my body) and it's completely impartial and doesn't take funding from companies that make huge profits from treating (but not curing) diabetics and from promoting diabetes inducing products.

 

[Robbity]

'''
So it's just as well I didn't need any - just enough advice to find my personal diabetes expert and to test that I could trust it

- It's just a Blood Glucose Meter by the way. But it's personalised (to my diabetes in my body) and it's completely impartial and doesn't take funding from companies that make huge profits from treating (but not curing) diabetics and from promoting diabetes inducing products.

I've never considered my meter in quite these terms, but I definitely trust it with my diabetic life - even more so than my HbA1c results which are just an average for my GP or diabetes support nurse, but not a more informative and detailed record of the actual state of my glucose which my meter provides.

 

[Outlier]

If the emotional support was as good as the diabetes advice from my GP, DN, Diabetes.org etc. Then I'd probably have given up on life.

I agree. Counselling is only as good as the specific counsellor. IMO blanket counselling could easily cause more problems than it eases. However, if someone needs counselling for a specific reaction to any circumstances, this should be much easier to access than it currently is, and should be of the highest possible quality.

 

[cdpm]

For sure, yes.