Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condition?

[diva19871987]

Hi, Bit of a random question but would love to hear from others how they class there diabetes. Ive been scouring the net and read a lot of comments from diabetics and non diabetics. A lot of comments seem to suggest that type 1 diabetes is a condition and an easy ilness to treat. Now im not saying there wrong but surely everyone is different and it may be easy for some but in my case this is not correct at all. I dont want to label myself as having a disabiltiy but it can be a lot more complicated than some non diabetics are suggesting. If it was this easy surely i wouldn't have so may hypos and high blood sugars. I find it frustrating that some just say its easy, get on with it without even knowing an individuals circumstances. Knowing someone whos diabetic seems to give people the right to believe that every diabetic can have great control which simply isnt the case. We all know it can be easy to control for some but i find it a little ignorant to suggest everyone is the same.

Would love to hear others views on how they perceive there diabetes.

Thank you

 

[the_anticarb]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I would have said condition in the past as it somehow sounded more positive, but now I would say disability purely on the basis that I am unable to do something without medication that most people do perfectly without a second thought - regulate my own blood sugar.
More and more I feel like I am 'dis-abled' for example when I see other people stuff their faces with whatever they like without a second thought whereas for me eating anything with any carbs at all involves a complex mathematical equation, guesswork and luck!
Only tonight I had a slice of bread and injected for it but not enough, as i was high a little later. Not massively so but higher that I'd have liked to me. And that's with my medication so who knows how high it would be without.
If I cannot even do something so simple as eat a slice of bread, without it endangering my health, I'd say that's a dis-ability.
Unfortunately diabetic complications do not care whether you found your diabetes easy to control or hard to control.

 

[kellyrae]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I have never considered myself as disabled......I am physically able to do what I please and have the ability to control my blood sugars either through my insulin pump or by what I eat so I would consider my diabetes as a condition that can be controlled by myself.
Although saying all that someday I may be disabled due to my diabetes.....but if that day arrives where I maybe unfortunate enough to experience one of diabetes' cruel affects, then depending on how severe it is I would maybe say its a disability...everyones different...thats just my opinion

 

[diva19871987]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

Unfortunately the nasty effects have already started creeping up on me after only 13 years at the age of 25. Whether I would be considered for a pump could in fact turn what I class as a disability into just a condition and require much less of my time fighting to control my health. At the moment the diabetes stops me doing things I would in fact do if I wasnt a diabetic so in that sense I feel I am disabled in some ways. Like you say everyone is different and some people may think it is easy. I wish it would become easy for me but after 13 years I'm starting to doubt I will ever have good control. Lots of non diabetics like to think that diabetes is just a matter of injections and eating more, yes this does sound quite easy when they say it like that but as we all know it is far more complex that simply "injecting and eating". Well that's only my opinion of my health at present.

Thank you for you answers!

 

[Pneu]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

legally it is covered under the Disability Discrimination Act so I guess that's an argument for a disability. I think that most people who suffer from disability don't all of a sudden think "oh I am disabled" they just make do the best that they can.. From a personal point of view my attitude is that of a normal person.. I am not 'disabled' mealy inconvenienced sometimes.. you make the best of what you have got..

 

[diva19871987]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I don't want to be classed as disabled I have just found it can be so annoying when others seem to think its just an easy "condition" to live with. If I lose my feet one day will These people still think its so easy? Just a matter of a condition that means we take injections and live happily ever after. It seems to be a case of "someone I know is diabetic and it's easy". I would like them to live in my shoes for a day and see if they think
It's so easy. In a perfect world it would be. Sorry to sound like I'm having a rant it's just my diabetes has affected my life, weather I should just get on with it doesn't change that fact.

 

[Grazer]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I am not 'disabled' mealy inconvenienced sometimes..

Is that a Freudian slip Pneu? :lol:

 

[the_anticarb]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

legally it is covered under the Disability Discrimination Act so I guess that's an argument for a disability. I think that most people who suffer from disability don't all of a sudden think "oh I am disabled" they just make do the best that they can.. From a personal point of view my attitude is that of a normal person.. I am not 'disabled' mealy inconvenienced sometimes.. you make the best of what you have got..

Pneu - the disabilty discrimination act is no more, it was replaced by the Equality Act in 2010. Principles remain the same though.

 

[noblehead]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

Definitely I would describe it as condition...... although as we know diabetes can cause complications and lead to people having a disability.

 

[Lordy100]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

Depends on your outlook on life. I've been type 1 for over 25 years and its not really stopped me doing things, except being able to drive my lorry, but I'm working on that! Obviously complications are not going to help but they can be avoided if care is taken. I'm not trying to preach on that score tho'.

 

[Elc1112]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I would say it is a condition, but not one that is always easy to control or manage.

If and when I start getting complications and my diabetes really starts affecting my life I will probably look at it more as a disability.

At the minute it doesn't prevent me from doing anything. Sure, it means I have highs and lows and have to be constantly aware of my sugar levels, but I live a pretty normal life for the most part.

That's my take on it anyway

 

[diva19871987]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I tend to only be able to see Negatives as my control is so out of control. Always has been. Complications just starting, retinopathy, only mild but I guess I'm on the start of the slippery slope. I know every body is different and I would love to not feel like I'm disabled but at the moment I do. I would love to be able to drive but can't because of hypos, I would love to go travelling round the world but im too scared to go as a diabetic, I would love more children but I would be running the risk of making the retinopathy worse, I would love to exercise more but can't because when I do Im constantly having hypos, I would love to look forward to life but the constant depression wont let me. I would love to wake up in a morning and the first thought wouldn't be about another day in hell fighting with this bloody thing! I would love not to be seeing paramedics on a weekly basis because of hypos. In a perfect world all this would be achievable!

 

[Robinredbreast]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I tend to only be able to see Negatives as my control is so out of control. Always has been. Complications just starting, retinopathy, only mild but I guess I'm on the start of the slippery slope. I know every body is different and I would love to not feel like I'm disabled but at the moment I do. I would love to be able to drive but can't because of hypos, I would love to go travelling round the world but im too scared to go as a diabetic, I would love more children but I would be running the risk of making the retinopathy worse, I would love to exercise more but can't because when I do Im constantly having hypos, I would love to look forward to life but the constant depression wont let me. I would love to wake up in a morning and the first thought wouldn't be about another day in hell fighting with this bloody thing! I would love not to be seeing paramedics on a weekly basis because of hypos.

Aaaawww that's diabetes for you, I'm so sorry you are feeling so down about it, and you are going through such a rotten time. I know how you fee,l as for the past year its been one thing after another andI'm constanly having doctors appointments and hospital appointments.

I look at diabetes as a chronic life long condition, but I have found it disabling at times, physically and mentally and a big pain in the behind :x but I still carry on and I will not let it get the better of me and it hasn't stopped me, soI will keep going until I drop ( which I hope won't be for a long while yet :wink: )

Someone who is blind/partically sighted, loss of hearing, or has lost a limb or with learning difficulties, I view these types of medical conditions as a disability, but then again these people would probably be the first to shout out, No we are not disabled.

Its a very fine line at times. Best wishes RRB

 

[Cathy1974]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I think it depends on if you have any complications etc.
I also have Epilepsy, and I would class that as a disability, but my Diabetes is a condition. The diabetes, although a pain in the butt having to watch what I eat, remembering to take my insulin etc, has far less impact on my life than the Epilepsy does.
But I can quite easily understand that someone with diabetic complications would have a totally different view.

 

[Scardoc]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I don't call it anything. It's there and it lives with me 24hrs a day. I can exercise good control but it's hard work at times.

I still consider myself lucky to have T1 and not a physical disability or other illness such as cancer.

 

[noblehead]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

I still consider myself lucky to have T1 and not a physical disability or other illness such as cancer.

I quite agree, when you look around and see what some people have to contend with having diabetes isn't all that bad.

 

[diva19871987]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

It seems many people like to say "you should think yourself lucky you haven't got cancer". I wasn't aware it was a competition of who has got the worst things wrong with them. People having cancer does not make my diabetes any easier to control unfortunately.

 

[the_anticarb]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

Diabetes on its own is not all that bad - when you get the complications it becomes a different matter. Amputation, blindness etc - probably still not quite as bad as cancer (although cancer can be a lot more reversible) but probably next rung down on the ladder.
Its the psychological burden of diabetes that I hate more than the physical - I feel under such pressure to keep my hba1c low and feel guilty every time my bg goes above 10 even if it is not my fault. And don't get me started on feeling regret for the past...

 

[Scardoc]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

It seems many people like to say "you should think yourself lucky you haven't got cancer". I wasn't aware it was a competition of who has got the worst things wrong with them. People having cancer does not make my diabetes any easier to control unfortunately.

I (me, myself and I) think myself lucky that I haven't got cancer or another illness or physical disability. No, people having cancer doesn't make my diabetes any easier to control either. However, it does give me a great sense of perspective. When my nephew had to have a cancerous tumour removed from his brain he wasn't guaranteed to see his sixth birthday. My wife has a friend who has terminal cancer and will not see 40. The other year I attended the funeral of a 21 year old woman who lived for seven long years with terminal cancer. The latter two examples are the worst case.

So, when I was diagnosed T1 at 30 with a wife and two children depending on me, it wasn't a case of poor me and how will I ever control this or live with it? It was a case of this will live with me and I will control it and I will be around for as long as I would have been without this.

Anticarb is right, the psychological burden is huge and the only way most people will get their diabetes under control is with a positive mental attitude, Kris Akabusi style. If comparing (not competing) my diabetes to other conditions helps keep me on the straight and narrow then so be it. When I'm in my 80's rocking away beside my wife and reminiscing over the kids and grandkids then I'll be glad I had that attitude.

 

[the_anticarb]

Re: Do you think type 1 diabetes is a disability or a condit

One of the best things about diabetes is that it is under your control, but that is also one of the worst things as it gives you this massive responsibility. A responsibility I was not mature enough to take on in the past I will admit. Its difficult enough as an adult but having this burden on your shoulders at the age of 15 as I was, well any teenager who does cope with it well (and many do) I take my hat off to.
I just hope it is not too late for me now to live my life now without the effects of the big D getting in the way.