It's easier for
both health professionals and most of their patients to use drugs as
a substitute for change. Drugs are cheaper for patients (in the short
term) and more profitable for health professionals.
Living with Diabetes
Diabetes brings many challenges. If you or a
family member have been diagnosed with diabetes, it will strongly affect your
life. This page describes diabetes types 1 and 2; common emotional
complications and possible treatments.
1. What is Diabetes?
If your body produces little or no insulin (insulin
helps cells absorb sugar for energy), sugar builds up in your blood and urine,
causing excessive urination, thirst, hunger, and digestion problems,
which interferes with cellular function. These symptoms are called diabetes.
Diabetes is most common if you are over 45 years
old; if you are overweight and/or physically inactive; if you have
family members with diabetes; and if you are of African, Hispanic
or Native American descent. Diabetes cases are classified as Type 1 and Type 2.
2. Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is an
autoimmune disease - the body's immune system attacks and destroys cells that
produce insulin. Symptoms of Type 1 diabetes usually appear suddenly in
people under 20 years old. Type 1 diabetes is called juvenile-onset diabetes.
3. Type 2 Diabetes
In Type 2 diabetes your body does not
balance insulin production and your body cells cannot use insulin efficiently.
Symptoms of Type 2 diabetes include those found in Type 1 , as
well as repeated infections or skin sores, generalized tiredness and
numbness in the hands or feet.
About 9 out of 10 diabetics have Type 2 diabetes. This usually
starts after the age of 45, although the incidence of the disease in younger
people is growing. The symptoms develop slowly, and may not be recognized.
Type 2 diabetes is called adult-onset diabetes; and often follows pre-diabetes -
a reversible condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are
higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes.
When a body does not use insulin properly or does not produce
sufficient insulin, body cells stop allowing sugar to enter, reducing cellular
energy. Levels of glucose and insulin in the blood become severely unbalanced,
leading to weight gain and obesity – the underlying cause of pre-diabetes.
4. Signs and symptoms of diabetes
Most people have diabetes for years before being
diagnosed. By the time diabetes is diagnosed, about 35% of people show signs of damage to
kidneys, nerves, eyes and heart. Some symptoms are:
- Frequent urination - particularly at night
- Frequent hunger or thirst
- Frequently feeling tired and drowsy
- Frequent itching of skin and/or genitals.
- Unexpectedly losing weight
- Blurred vision
- Tingling or numbness in legs, feet or fingers
- Recurring skin, gum and/or urinary tract infections
- Slow healing of cuts and bruises
Early diagnosis of diabetes helps avoid serious
complications. Ask your doctor for a blood test.
5. Complications of Diabetes
Ignored diabetes may cause life-threatening
complications, including coma or death. Other
complications include blindness, kidney failure, high
blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
Diabetes may also cause loss of feeling,
particularly in the lower legs, which may prevent a person from feeling skin
damage or infection until complications develop, possibly necessitating
amputation. Burning, sensitivity and coldness of the
foot can also occur. Other complications include higher-risk pregnancies
in diabetic women.
There is a strong relationship between Type 2 diabetes and obesity. About
80 percent of people with Type 2 diabetes are significantly overweight.
6. Psychological Complications of Diabetes
The successful treatment of
diabetes resolves psychological difficulties as well as poor sugar
control - which can cause further psychological problems. Common
psychological factors are:
6a. Following the treatment
- Diet and exercise
- Insulin management
- Injections
- Insulin shock
6b. Relationships with families, friends and professionals
People with diabetes may respond emotionally to their
hormone levels, and may experience strong mood swings. A person with diabetes
may express long-withheld emotions - sometimes chaotically. A diabetic patient may be
unaware of even severe mood swings; and act as if a current emotion is
a valid basis for long-term decisions. Emotional outbursts may follow minor
events.
A person with diabetes may criticize family
members, or suddenly announce an unusual decision to business
associates ... and then quickly forget the conversations. Family members and
business associates affected by such hasty decisions may respond with their own
emotions, and stop trusting the diabetic person. Emotional conflicts can spiral to create
relationship chaos.
6c. Managing Emotions, Beliefs and Stress
- Guilt, anger, fear and sadness
- Beliefs about cause, seriousness, treatment effectiveness
- Depression
- Stress and trauma
Diabetes & Emotions: Guilt, Anger, Anxiety & Sadness
Strong unpleasant emotions affect both mental stability
and hormone levels. Conversely, hormonal therapy can precipitate displays of withheld emotions. The primary emotions are usually
guilt anger, fear and sadness; which may support many secondary emotions.
- Guilt is often a conflict about having
hurt other people
- Anger is often related to violated values
- Anxiety is
often a reaction to possible
future events
- Sadness is often regret about lost
possibilities for happiness
If the whole family knows that diabetics may express wild emotions at unpredictable times - diabetics,
their families and
friends can better cope with emotional outbursts. Strong emotions may also
indicate people who have identified with other people, following systemic rules.
For example:
- people who have identified
with victims express chronic anger and suspicion
- people who have identified with a
dead person express
chronic sadness and melancholy
- people who have identified with a
hero express
chronic fear, anxiety and panic attacks
Diabetes & Beliefs
People who blame themselves for having diabetes
are often accurate, as type 2 diabetes is strongly related to lifestyle and
obesity. However, some people diagnosed with diabetes may blame
family members for "making them" live unhealthy lifestyles.
Although diabetes has potential unpleasant complications,
most diabetic symptoms can be successfully controlled by diet, exercise,
sugar control and medication.
The effectiveness of treatment
is primarily the responsibility of the patient. A person with diabetes can
become knowledgeable about the disease. A boost to health is to join or
start a support-group, to help other people learn about the
disease, its treatment and its consequences.
Diabetes & Depression
Depression with obesity predict adult-onset
diabetes. Depression may also increase insulin production. People with
diabetes are more likely to suffer from depression than normal. Depression may
reduce the desire to take medications and/or to follow the prescribed
treatment for diabetes.
Depression is often a
healthy response to an unhealthy environment or chaotic relationships.
Often, guilt underlies depression. If a person feels guilty for
having hurt people, life may not make sense, which leads to
depression. Much depression results from:
- Abuse, betrayal or abandonment (violating trust; for example - abandoning a child)
- Relationship transferences (mistaking one person
for another; for example - perceiving an ex-partner as an abandoned child)
People who identify with their body may be deeply distressed by
diabetes. Daily injections, mood swings and fears of complications may also
become a source of depression.
Stress & Trauma
Stress influences the effects of diabetes. Emotional stress
leads to the secretion of many hormones that can counteract the actions of
insulin and disrupt metabolic control.
Stress-induced emotions can produce hyperglycemia,
and disrupt a person’s relationships, eating habits, exercise and
daily routines. This affects diabetes management and insulin dosage. A patient’s
emotional needs and problems are an important component of treatment
and an integral component of diabetes management. Systemic Coaching
can improve the relationship between diabetes and life.
Stress . Trauma and PTSD
7. Systemic Coaching & Diabetes
As chronic high blood sugar may cause medical complications, a major goal
of diabetes management is normal blood-sugar; to balance energy expenditure with insulin dosage.
But adjusting sugar intake may invoke both historic and
systemic relationship entanglements.
Soulwork systemic coaching supports healthy behavioral changes, such
as controlling body weight, increasing physical activity, and increasing
knowledge and skills.
Systemic coaching helps people improve relationships and emotional stability.
Systemic coaching helps people live full lives
by promoting great relationships, emotional well being, educational and vocational goals
and appropriate recreational activities.
Please consult a physician about any opinions or
recommendations about medical symptoms.
Systemic Coaching
- A Doctor's Perspective
Do you want telephone coaching or systemic coach training? Do you want to coach people to resolve relationship challenges? Do you want to coach people to fulfill their dreams?
Do you want Telephone Coaching?
Copyright © Martyn Carruthers 2003 - 2007,
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