Healthy Coping
Diabetes can affect nearly every aspect of your daily life. It’s important to learn to manage stress and other worries in your life because of the effect they can have on your blood sugar levels.
There is no better time to start learning how to cope well with your diabetes than right now! Which of these statements best describes you?
I just found out I have diabetes.
My diabetes care team told me I need to change over to an injectable medicine.
I have diabetes-related health problems.
I’m having trouble with the day-to-day responsibilities of diabetes management.
I’m having a hard time fitting my need to take care of my diabetes into my family life.
No matter what I do, my diabetes is not well managed. I feel like giving up.
Managing diabetes can be hard for even the most motivated person. But with effort and commitment, you can manage your diabetes and get through the tough times successfully.
Personal story about coping
In 2001, Novo Nordisk commissioned the DAWN (Diabetes Attitudes Wishes and Needs) survey to measure how attitudes, psychological health, and ability to cope with challenges affect the health and well-being of people living with diabetes. The survey found that most people with diabetes had trouble following their care plans, for a variety of reasons. In addition, many felt that managing their diabetes was demanding and kept them from doing what they wanted to do in life.
You may identify with these findings. But it’s important to know that when you do follow your diabetes care plan, you can reduce your risk for diabetes-related health problems. Yes, it does require many changes to live well with diabetes. But learning to cope with the changes is an important part of managing your diabetes.
There are three key factors to coping well with diabetes:
- Knowledge. Try to learn all you can about diabetes. Find out what you can do on a daily basis to manage it for the rest of your life.
- Skill. There's a difference between knowing what to do and being able to do it. Developing good coping and self-care skills helps you take your knowledge and put it to good use. Give yourself time to learn these new skills, though. It won’t happen overnight.
- Support. Most people find it easier to deal with the challenges of coping with diabetes when they have the support of family, friends, and members of their diabetes care team.
