Mental Well-being
Diabetes is a long-term condition that can have an impact on your mental health and well-being. It’s common for people with diabetes to suffer from feelings of depression, anxiety, and distress. The most important thing to know is that you’re not alone and there is a lot of help and support out there.
A low mood can result in you having difficulties managing your diabetes, which can create more feelings of anxiety and depression. If you are struggling, then the first thing to do is speak to your GP or diabetes care team so they can help get you the support you need. It’s okay not to be okay.
To find out more about diabetes and mental well-being, register for our Living with Type 1 Diabetes or My Type 2 Diabetes online courses. There is also a list of additional resources about mental well-being below and you can find details of diabetes support groups across the Somerset area in the Local Services section.
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Diabetes UK video that focuses on how diabetes can affect your emotional well-being.
A build-up of diabetes distress can tip into periods of “diabetes burnout” where a person with diabetes might start to avoid self-management tasks for more significant periods of time; this then has the potential to impact upon their physical health.
Support from an appropriately trained healthcare professional can be really helpful for people with diabetes distress or burnout. But there are many self-help actions you can take, both to overcome and also reduce your likelihood of experiencing burnout.
Living with an unpredictable health condition can be extremely challenging, so it is understandable for people to experience some difficult thoughts and feelings about their diabetes.
For some people, their relationship with food, eating and their body can start to become more of a problem. It can start to tip into a preoccupation with shape and weight alongside difficulties coping with strong emotions.
This leaflet explains the close relationship between having diabetes and feeling down or depressed, recognising the signs and symptoms of depression and the effect of low mood on diabetes self-care.
Diabetes UK page that explains how diabetes can affect you emotionally as well as physically.
Are you aware of the concept of Mindfulness, sometimes also called "present-centredness"? For more information follow this link.
Whatever you need to know about coping with stress, anxiety or depression, or just generally improving your emotional wellbeing, NHS Mental Health is here to help. It offers practical, useful information to support you on your way to feeling better.
