I am NOT a diabetic ...

Labels, can be helpful and informative. I work with children who are 'labeled' with challenging behaviour, who are autistic, asthmatic, with learning difficulties,etc, 30 are on the current list. it's a need to know necessity in some cases. But, we wouldn't say the child is deaf, we would say they have hearing impairment.
So, if someone said,to me, oh you're diabetic I would say, yes, I have type 1 diabetes, then maybe have a chat about it.
It doesn't bother me really and sometimes it's the manner in which people say things that offend and not the actual words. used.

Brunneria said:

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

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

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But "PWD" - an abbreviation for "Person with Diabetes" - is very common amongst other online diabetes communities and is only 3 key strokes.
If you are willing to adopt keto and CGM, etc,. why not this?

There is a pretty short alternative for a person of colour but I wouldn't expect anyone else to use it for the sake of brevity or, if they did for the sake of "economies of effort", there would be no question about it being offensive.

Thinking about this further, I see it as being about choices, where we do what feels right for us as individuals. Respect for others choices of wording is important too.

Context, for me, is also important. As is the tone etc of the person with whom the discussion is taking place.

In Response said:

But "PWD" - an abbreviation for "Person with Diabetes" - is very common amongst other online diabetes communities and is only 3 key strokes.

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Not so very common. I'm in countless diabetes related groups on facebook and I think I've never come across this abbreviation (or if I have, I didn't know what it meant but haven't taken the time to try to find out).
Doing a google search for "PWD" doesn't help, which suggests it isn't very widely spread. Adding "diabetes" to my search works, but even then half the results are on why we should/shouldn't use this term.

In Response said:

But "PWD" - an abbreviation for "Person with Diabetes" - is very common amongst other online diabetes communities and is only 3 key strokes.
If you are willing to adopt keto and CGM, etc,. why not this?

There is a pretty short alternative for a person of colour but I wouldn't expect anyone else to use it for the sake of brevity or, if they did for the sake of "economies of effort", there would be no question about it being offensive.

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That acronym is also attributed to a "person with disabilities?"

Personally, that's where I would draw the line...

In Response said:

But "PWD" - an abbreviation for "Person with Diabetes" - is very common amongst other online diabetes communities and is only 3 key strokes.

There is a pretty short alternative for a person of colour but I wouldn't expect anyone else to use it for the sake of brevity or, if they did for the sake of "economies of effort", there would be no question about it being offensive.

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using the PWD abbreviation on this forum, which is filled with many, many newbies, would lead to numerous queries of ‘what does PWD mean?’

It is also an abbreviation which I prefer to avoid, in any circumstances, because, to my mind, it comes across as cliquey and exclusive (exclusive in the sense that one has to be ‘in the know’ in order to understand the term, and therefore excludes those who are not in the club’).

I do not think it is in the interests of anyone, certainly not diabetics, and certainly not here on this forum, to place themselves in an exclusive clique. Although, of course, the term comes up, and the explanations have to be made... using more keystrokes

Antje77 said:

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?


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

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Completely agree. I see it as purely descriptive (and accurate, as I have Type 1!) but have never seen it stop me from being a person. Why do I have to choose one, I am both those things?

I usually refer to myself as Type 1 rather than diabetic though, as different types need such different management that I find that more helpful.

I do find the term disabled/disability can irritate me depending on my mood. If I am hypo/hyper then I understand the label, but otherwise I just see it as a safety net tick box term (eg against discrimination at work etc).

I guess I've been lucky and haven't had nastiness when I've told people I am T1. Ignorance, yes, but nothing deliberately to upset me. So maybe this is why I am happy to use the terms?

Given that diabetes is a big part of my life... And I have a pump on my belt all the time... I have no issue with people referring to me as a diabetic..

At least if the do.. They will understand why I am allowed electronics in restricted zones where electronics are not allowed.. The will have an idea to relay to the ambulance if I'm collapsed on the floor

I even advertise the face with a massive tattoo on the forearm

I welcome people finding out I'm diabetic and welcome questions from then in a bid that they may understand the risks

Infact my openness has greatly help my boss who was worried about certain issues which we discussed.. I did a blood test on him and said your diabetic see a gp. He was diagnosed with a hba1c of 110 and was told he was days away from a hospital stay


So go ahead call me 'the diabetic one'. I really don't care... In the same way as if I had cancer.. Call me 'the one with cancer'

I have diabetes and I am a T2 diabetic, and I do not give a **** what I am called as I have a pretty thick skin.

Riva_Roxaban said:

I have diabetes and I am a T2 diabetic, and I do not give a **** what I am called as I have a pretty thick skin.

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Yeah, I am many things and I own those names. I can see that for some the language can make them feel they are owned by the term but I am sure no one sets out to offend

I think I’ve been very lucky. When I say I have diabetes, I have never been treated differently. I have other aspects to myself I have had more issues with. Maybe I felt differently when I was younger, but here with like minded and supportive individuals, it’s all good

Andydragon said:

I can see that for some the language can make them feel they are owned by the term but I am sure no one sets out to offend

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Peopie can put more disdain into the word "diabetes" than "diabetic" the way it can be used,

Personally I don't give a hoot......I have been called worse in my time, as long as they remember to call me in time for my dinner I can ignore the rest.

I obviously move in the wrong circles as I only know PWD as an abbreviation for PASSWORD.

And I'd much prefer being labelled as diabetic to being labelled with some sort of anonymous and apparently "cliquey" abbreviation.

But I totally agree with @lucylocket61 and @Antje77 - I am many other things as well as being a diabetic, which is only a very minor part of who/what I am. But if someone chooses to be so narrow-minded as to simply define me as such then I care nothing for them or their blinkered opinions.

Oh I completely agree! Something that annoys me even more is being called a "PWD" ... generally because people who refer to "PWDs" tend to do it with an air of superiority. "I know diabetics don't like to be called diabetics, so I refer to them as PWDs" I've seen in several times in the last year or two, I even replied to an email advert for a diabetes app to complain once when they said some stat like "85% of PWDs find their blood glucose control is improved when they use our app" ... it's not the term we object to, it's being labelled!! If they don't get that then they shouldn't be in the business of anything to do with dealing with people in general frankly. I had a conversation with someone who works for diabetes UK about this recently, she said that around their office it's standard to refer to people who have diabetes as PWDs and I think that by the end of our conversation she was still annoyingly unconvinced there was anything wrong with it. Why can't they just call us "people" or refer to us by our names, or if you're talking about a general group, then "this group of people who all happen to have diabetes" ... just please don't shorten it or I will refer to you as a PWSI (person who secretes insulin) rather than using your name in future, as if that bodily function is only thing about you that matters.

I agree with those that don't have a problem with being described as a diabetic but if someone does have a problem I am willing to try to remember this and phrase it differently. I like @Antje77 have a lot of descriptions: I am a wife, I am a mother, I am a lawyer, I am a diabetic, I am a friend, etc. All of these are facets but none are the whole picture. I don't really have a problem with someone labelling me if the label is true. Some labels I don't like- I am fat but they are till true.

For me it is interesting as to why the label is upsetting. I will own to feeling great shame about diabetes when first diagnosed. The folk on here have helped me so much that I have moved on from the shame. My uncomfortableness then with the label helped me address why I felt uncomfortable and deal with it. My discomfort with the label fat is the judgement I feel behind it. Factually it is true.

pwd would not have helped me when new here- I already felt overwhelmed. Things like keto didn't bother me as I had at least heard of them before and they were easy to google.

However @mattrix I will try to remember your discomfort and respect that. I think it was brave of you to bring it up as I know that it takes strength and courage to express an opinion which may not be popular so thanks for reminding me to be a bit more conscious of the way I express things.

mattrix said:

OK, it appears I am just thin skinned for preferring,

'Bill has diabetes' rather than
'Bill is a diabetic' (BTW one keystroke more)

Just as I would find it objectionable to say,

'Jane is a cancer' or
'Jane is cancerous' rather than
'Jane has cancer'.

I particularly dislike it when it is compounded with something else,

'Matt is a diabetic with dislipidemia'.
Which changes the emphasis of my relationship with diabetes. Diabetes becomes a property of me, instead of a condition I have. Just the same as,

'Rover is a dog with dislipidemia'. Dog and Rover are intrinsically linked and dislipidemia is his condition.

I also feel objectified in the same way as,

'Bill is a politician, Jane is a woman politician'. Which implies Jane is not a 'real' politician.

People have pointed out that they choose to identify with many groups.
I wonder if Antje77 would be just as happy if his records said 'diabetic sailor' or if
Zand was 'diabetic grandmother', or was introduced to someone as 'This is diabetic grandmother Zand'

Maybe it wouldn't bother them.

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Everybody is entitled to feel anyway they want about labels or names. When someone doesn’t feel the same way it doesn’t change the opinion, it’s not a binary choice and it’s maybe one of those strange human things that certain terms we are okay with, others we aren’t.

Thank you for the discussion point, I am always open to reevaluate my opinions and whilst I don’t feel the same I do see the point and in certain types of contains I would use different ways of expressing myself but for this I am okay

I guess to me it’s where something is fundamentally part of who I am, that’s where I use the “am” (what verb is am?) so I am diabetic, I am autistic, but I have blue eyes say... only part of me

Its semantics and it’s emotions, doesn’t need to make sense

mattrix said:

or if
Zand was 'diabetic grandmother', or was introduced to someone as 'This is diabetic grandmother Zand'

Maybe it wouldn't bother them.

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I would think the person was a bit odd if I was introduced that way (unless it was in a medical setting).

Being a T2, the label diabetic doesn't bother me as it is accurate. I have been called other things, like fat and lazy for instance because people don't understand that T2 can cause obesity. It's this stigma around T2 that causes me upset. If someone said 'zand is diabetic and I think you can see why' that would be inaccurate and judgemental and just plain nasty.

I guess like others have said it all depends on how it is said, and yes you are right a longer list of labels would be more upsetting.

There are other terms that some people find upsetting which you yourself may use. There are other sensitive areas besides diabetes. Not sure if @Antje77 would like to respond to your post #35 ?

We had this type of discussion a few years back. I was one of those who had used the "wrong language'. I was upset by this and didn't post for a while. I wouldn't want others to feel they couldn't post because they had used a term which upset someone else.

mattrix said:

People have pointed out that they choose to identify with many groups.
I wonder if Antje77 would be just as happy if his records said 'diabetic sailor'

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'Diabetic Sailor Records' sounds pretty cool, perhaps I should find a career in music!

But in earnesty, it would depend on the situation and whether it's relevant in that situation. If the subject is sailing, saying 'Antje is a diabetic sailor' would make as little sense as 'Antje is a dog loving sailor'.

But if I would apply for a job as a deckhand it would make perfect sense to tell I'm a dog-loving sailor because if they want to hire me they'll have to hire my two dogs as well.
Just like it would make sense to complain that the hypo ALWAYS seems to hit right before a change of sails or when approaching a lock for this diabetic sailor.