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Is Diabetes a "selfish" condition?

I would agree with @dianagrace. I don't think diabetes is selfish or makes us selfish, I think we are just more aware of our mortality and therefore take our health more seriously. As someone with a number of long term conditions, I am more aware of the environment and how this affects me (amongst other things), and am now having to monitor myself more closely. These are things I would not have considered when I was fit and well, but I think that is part of the human condition - until our health and wellbeing is threatened, we have a more cavalier approach and aren't as careful of ourselves
 
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graj0 said:
Drain on the nhs
Along with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We could make a list but we'd be going off topic big time.
Back to the topic, Diabetes cannot be selfish, people can and they don't have to have diabetes. It's the act of ignoring everyone and everything else that makes a person selfish.
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Selfish could also mean taking more than ur fair share which is why I made the point of people's opinions on it being a drain on the NHS. It depends on ur definition of selfish but I don't think it is selfish
 
Emmotha said:
Selfish could also mean taking more than ur fair share which is why I made the point of people's opinions on it being a drain on the NHS. It depends on ur definition of selfish but I don't think it is selfish
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I hope you will treat this as light hearted banter, I was playing around with lexical semantics. There is only one definition of Selfish, we'd be in dire straits if we had several slightly different meanings. I think we're on the same team LOL. The whole question about something being a drain on the NHS is hugely complex, should we start on smokers and drinkers who will all say that they pay their taxes. Leave that for another day and probably another thread, I wouldn't like to hijack this one. BTW I think taking more than your fair share is just plain greedy, but as I say, this is all meant as light hearted banter.
 
tim2000s said:
Observing certain threads on the forum and based on my experience over the past 26 years, I am submitting the hypothesis that Diabetes is, by necessity, a very selfish condition.

Firstly, what do I mean by this? I mean that others may consider the sufferer to be selfish due to the self focus required in order to manage the condition, and in spite of explanation, may continue to consider that a diabetic is selfish due to this. They probably also don't understand just how much effort we sometimes spend on managing our diabetes and what it really means.

Secondly, if a person chooses not to manage the condition, in spite of the way those around them feel or those that want them to do it better think, then there is very little that an external individual can do.

Either way, due to its nature, and the way treatment has to work, plus any indicator signs that are physical, it is a selfish condition. What do you think?
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Diabetes can't be a 'selfish' condition. Something inanimate, like a disease or a block of stone, can't be 'selfish'. :)
It's an emotive term that is loved by the press to stir up public opinion and sell newspapers.
As has already been said, a person with diabetes can be selfish or unselfish, both or either, or neither.
 
graj0 said:
I hope you will treat this as light hearted banter, I was playing around with lexical semantics. There is only one definition of Selfish, we'd be in dire straits if we had several slightly different meanings. I think we're on the same team LOL. The whole question about something being a drain on the NHS is hugely complex, should we start on smokers and drinkers who will all say that they pay their taxes. Leave that for another day and probably another thread, I wouldn't like to hijack this one. BTW I think taking more than your fair share is just plain greedy, but as I say, this is all meant as light hearted banter.
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I definitely took more than my fair share of turkey at our work christmas dinner today because I didn't want the carby potatoes. So maybe diabetes has made me selfish lol!
 
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