I am NOT a diabetic ...

There seem to be quite a few on this forum who dislike being called a diabetic, so you aren't alone.

I am quite happy being called a diabetic or a person with diabetes. It doesn't really change anything if you change the language, my body is still carb intolerant. I still have insulin resistance. I have other labels too, a mother, a grandmother etc. The diabetic one is just another.

My son is asthmatic, that doesn't define him. My coeliac friend doesn't bother about that label either. I don't see why diabetes is any different. I have been called much worse than 'diabetic' in my time!

mattrix said:

I don't mind being refered to as having diabetes. And I have other conditions as well.

People who call me 'diabetic' are generally being dismissive, "You are a diabetic, that tells me all I need to know about you"

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Doesn't that say rather more about them than anything else?

mattrix said:

I don't mind being refered to as having diabetes. And I have other conditions as well.

People who call me 'diabetic' are generally being dismissive, "You are a diabetic, that tells me all I need to know about you"

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Wouldn't the same people say 'You have diabetes, that tells me all I need to know about you" ? If people want to judge you by just one facet of your life they will.

Getting stressed out can upset your diabetes you know !

@mattrix I completely agree with you.
Calling me a "diabetic" suggests that's all I am. Saying I "have diabetes" says it is one of the things about me,

Language is very important and can make a huge difference in the way we are treated, the way we treat the condition and the way we treat ourselves.
My biggest bugbear, even bigger than being called a diabetic is "controlling" diabetes. Most of us know there are times when diabetes just does its own thing - we have hypos we can't explain, we have highs due to illness or stress. Does anyone suggest we "control our vomiting" when we are sick or, to use your example "control our tumour" if we have cancer?
The reason this really upsets me is the high incident of mental health problems amongst people with diabetes. Putting the additional unnecessary burden of feeling the need to constantly "control" our diabetes, is adding to the mental health problems.
A simple change to "manage diabetes" is easy, it reduces the burden and helps us appreciate it is not always possible to keep our blood sugars in perfect control. A manager of people is never going to be in complete control of their staff - it is not a manager's fault if one of their employees steals form the company but it could be thought of their fault if the manager does not notice it and do something about it.

Sorry @mattrix for jumping on your important thread - thank you for raising it. Others don't think language is important, I do!

Try being told ' you are diabetic, you need to eat less, it's your own fault' The word 'diabetic ' was not one of the words that harmed my mental health even though I had not yet been diagnosed.

mattrix said:

@In Response not a problem.
I agree. You put it better than I did.

Also I'm often referred to as "A diabetic with dislipidemia" Grrrrr

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In other words... here's the statins?

I am diabetic. I am asthmatic. I am grey haired. I am freckled.

These are just words that are used to describe parts of me. They are not my total or inner person. I am fine with them.

Grant_Vicat said:

Having been arrested in Milan for carrying syringes and "drugs" in 1978, had I not had an instantly recognisable label I might not have gone on my way within 30 minutes. Condition is a less emotive word than disease. The language is loaded with history. The ancient Egyptians knew about it from sweet tasting urine and the word itself is ancient Greek meaning passing through, again referring to sugar in urine. Although I am an ex diabetic I am proud to have been a member of the clan.

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Hi,

Someone else here mistaken for a "junkie" back in my student years..
I don't see the "word" a major issue in the grand scheme of things.

Incidentally, I've also been mistakenly targeted for homophobia too. Keep em guessing & fight yer way out.

I'm another one who dislikes being referred to as a 'diabetic' instead of 'a person with diabetes' IF the subject being discussed is diabetes of course. I think for me, it's because I seriously do not like labels that tend to define a person either by a health condition they have, or a group they may belong to, or by the way they look, etc. It can lead to bias and stereotyping and a person switching off to any information beyond that point, I'm sure we've all been subject of a diabetes Nurse/GP who focuses solely on the word 'DIABETIC' and takes no notice of anything else that may contribute. Of course I know that this sounds very deep and being referred to as 'diabetic' is hardly on a par with other labels BUT I do not like it and as others say, nobody refers to someone with a form of cancer as 'cancerous'.

I am a diabetic.

Just like I'm a sailor, a dog lover, an occasional pain in the backside, fat, and a friend.
Those traits (and many more) are all part of who I am. I don't have time to refer to all those traits as being a person who can and likes to sail, a person who likes dogs, a person who can be very annoying, a person who carries more weight than is optimal, a person who knows some people and likes them and vice versa.

I'm also fine with referring to you as a person with diabetes. If this feels better for you, why not?

mattrix said:

Can you delete posts?

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You'll find a 'delete' button right below your posts. Also an 'edit' button for if you want to change something.

I did object to being called an epileptic by an HCP, but being referred to as diabetic is fine.

Edit: I don't have epilepsy which is why I objected. They had mixed up my notes with someone else's with the same first name as me. I objected because to call me an epileptic was inaccurate.

Most of my interactions about diabetes occur via the computer screen.

a person with diabetes = 22 keystrokes
Diabetic = 8 keystrokes
Have diabetes = 13 keystrokes

It is a pity if people get offended by my economies of effort, but the reality is that I’m not going to add a whole load of extra (unnecessary) typing, especially when it makes zero difference to the intention of my post, and any reader can easily mentally insert the extra keystrokes, if they wish.

Regarding the labelling issue, I don’t see the problem. Labels (as @Antje77 so eloquently said above), labels are social shorthand (as well as typing shorthand). We all use labels multiple times a day, in multiple ways. Good grief, imagine if we didn’t? I for one would refuse to touch the keyboard if I had to type everything out in full, avoiding conventional social shortcuts like keto, prick testing, CGMs, macros, carb ratios, pens, Tories, Covid, jabs, zapping a sensor... etc. etc.

I find once you’ve told somebody your diabetic they look at you in a completely different way!