How Does Diabetes Affect Your Mental Health?
Diabetes is a disease that is unfortunately becoming more and more common. It is estimated that almost 422 million people in the world suffer from it. However, many people still do not know the full impact of this disease. How Does Diabetes Affect Your Mental Health? Keep reading to find the answer.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes simply consists of your body not being able to produce or use insulin. Insulin is the “key” that allows glucose to enter cells since the cells need this nutrient to get energy.
The problem is that the glucose stays in your blood and if the concentration stays high for a long time, it will cause damage to the tissue. It is therefore very important to keep control of your glucose level and follow the appropriate treatment for this condition.
Type 1 diabetes usually occurs in childhood and is due to the fact that the pancreas cannot secrete insulin. For this reason, the treatment is usually to inject this hormone to control the glucose level.
Type 2 is the most common in adulthood and occurs when you cannot use the insulin that is produced. This is the type that affects most people since it is closely linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
Both types can occur at any age and with any person, although it is true that it is an important genetic influence. The big problem with diabetes is the number of complications that can occur over time since it increases the risk of getting many other diseases.
How Does Diabetes Affect Your Mental Health?
Diabetes affects many aspects of the lives of people who suffer from it, mainly because it is such a big responsibility. Treatment requires control, not only in terms of medication, but also diet and exercise habits.
Because of this , it is very common for this disease to cause elevated levels of stress. This stress causes the body to release cortisol, a hormone that also affects the metabolism of glucose. After all, everything is closely related.
People with diabetes should avoid certain behaviors or actions. For example, you should not drink alcohol or eat what you want without proper control if you have diabetes. This can, for example, increase anxiety.
In addition, it is a condition that is in a way unpredictable. Sometimes, despite the efforts you make to follow all the rules, you may not get the expected results. This can cause your level of frustration to increase significantly.
What mental health conditions are related to diabetes?
Unfortunately, diabetes is closely linked to mental health. It is estimated that the risk of suffering from depression is three times higher in a person with this disease. Likewise, generalized anxiety disorder is very common in patients with diabetes.
For all these reasons, it is very important to understand that this disease imposes many conditions on your life, not just on a physical level. Doctors recommend that people diagnosed with diabetes go to some form of therapist to develop healthy coping mechanisms.
You should remember that the body and the mind constantly influence each other. Any mental health problem can adversely affect the course of another illness, such as diabetes. It is therefore important to take care of both your mental and physical health.
