Why is mental health important in type 1 diabetes?

You may be surprised to hear that there have been a few studies that have looked at the link of mindfulness and diabetes. Practicing mindfulness has been found to show many benefits for people who have diabetes. Read on to learn how mindfulness could help you.

Generally speaking, social supports influence diabetes management in both positive and negative ways. When considering adherence to diabetes treatment, the quality of the support is more important than how many people you have as a support. Finding a social network and support group that can influence you to maintain healthy behaviours, will be hugely beneficial in your diabetes management.

Communication is important. We communicate in many different ways (writing, speaking, or body language) and through many different forms – in person, on paper or via a technology device like a phone or computer. When you are communicating with someone who has diabetes, you may need to be more aware of how you communicate.

Diabetes burnout can be real and affect a number of people. Diabetes management can feel a bit like walking a tightrope 24/7 between highs and lows. Without question, an enormous amount of time each and every day is dedicated to managing diabetes – just to ‘stay on the tightrope’ and survive. For someone without diabetes, it would be somewhat like telling the lungs to breathe or heart to beat – to remain healthy and alive.

The answer for optimal wellbeing and survival is… we must be selfish. Many patients talk of how they put other’s needs before their own. It’s important to remember that you need to prioritise yourself at times, because if you don’t look after yourself then you won’t be able to look after anyone else!

It can be heartbreaking and frustrating to witness a loved one not managing their health. You may feel hopeless as to how you could help them do more or to make changes suggested by health professionals that you know need to be made. Motivating someone with diabetes can be hard. But there are some things to consider to help increase motivation.

Stress is well documented to have an adverse impact on our health. It can be destructive, but it can also be productive and for many of us. Essentially, we all need a little bit of stress as it is a necessary evil in our daily life. There are different types of stress, but how do they affect your diabetes?

If you’re on a weight loss journey as part of your health, you might feel compelled to check your weight daily. If monitoring your weight makes you consistently unhappy, or if you fear 'hopping' on the scales, you may want to consider not weighing yourself as often. It’s important to remember that what the scales say isn’t always a measure of your success!!

The moment that you find out that you have diabetes can be quite difficult. It may even be more difficult than you anticipated. You may experience a wide range of emotions, including the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Read on to learn about three strategies that may help you at this stage of your life.

Rewarding yourself is important. Rewards are important for a number of reasons (no wonder we love them!). Rewarding ourselves is important as it can motivate us, they acknowledge our hard word, and they can make us feel worthy. Read on to learn more about why you should rewarding yourself for all your hard work.

It can be hard caring for someone who has diabetes. You may feel helpless that diabetes is nothing more than a hindrance in life, a daily curse for all whom cross its path. And you’re not alone – however, it’s important that diabetes becomes less of a burden in life. Read on to learn how you can reduce the burden of diabetes.

It’s true: money doesn’t grow on trees. That means, for many of us, we have to work in order to earn money to pay bills, buy food, and go about our daily lives. Many people who have diabetes, fear that they will be stigmatised at work due to their condition. This can cause them to change the way they manage their condition around their work or employment. But did you know that prioritising work over your health can result in demands for high blood glucose levels, just to get through work duties?

If your day to day life is getting busier and busier, what does that mean for your diabetes? For a lot of people, a busy life of work, kids, other commitments, may mean that diabetes management goes by the wayside. We have a few strategies that can help you to incorporate diabetes management into your schedule.

Perfectionism in diabetes is a bit like ‘yin and yang’ or ‘chalk and cheese’ – they don’t go together. Striving for perfection in diabetes management is not only unrealistic, but can also result in disappointment, frustration, sadness, anger, low motivation or burnout for the person trying to achieve it. Why does this happen?

When it comes to thinking – we definitely can get caught in a trap. If it’s not a trap it can at least become a habit. It’s a bit like your accent, our thinking style can be so automatic and second nature we don’t generally think about what we are saying or doing to ourselves. So maybe we don’t really realise the times when our thinking style could be working against us. Accommodating basically an internal bully and not a cheerleader.