Diabetic distress is a state of negative emotional experience that is caused by the challenges of living with diabetes.
Diabetic distress happens when the worries and concerns affect you, the diabetic patient, so much that it starts to impact your daily life.
Diabetic burnout is an even more advanced state of diabetic distress where you feel overwhelmed and disillusioned about having diabetes, and are ready to give up trying to control it.
Both states can cause you significant emotional angst and occupy a huge part of your life, and also affect those around you.
No, diabetic distress is not clinical depression.
Clinical depression requires a set of criteria for you to meet before being diagnosed with it.
If you are not sure if you have diabetic distress, there are many types of diabetic distress scales and questionnaires that you can take to determine if you have this condition and how severe it is.
One of them is called the Diabetes Distress Scale, which can be found here.
Please note that if you do such tests online on your own, it is best that you take them to your endocrinologist to be interpreted, instead of just feeling even more anxious about your diabetic distress on top of your diabetes!
Bear in mind that these types of questionnaires only address how you feel at that particular point in time.
It is possible that your feelings can change from day to day, and even moment to moment.
Before deciding if you have to see a psychologist, there are several things you can do for yourself first.
You should also have a deep dialogue about this with your endocrinologist, who may refer you to a psychologist or psychiatrist if your symptoms affect you too profoundly.
Firstly, don’t disregard your feelings.
If you continually feel distressed for more than one week, it may signal that you need help to feel better.
Let your doctor know as they can help you go through these feelings and recover.
You don’t have to deal with this alone.
Treating diabetes is a team effort that may involve several specialists in one medical centre alone.
That is also a conversation you can have with your principal doctor, the endocrinologist.
If you feel your medicines are costly and are contributing to your distress and worries, there are many diabetic medications that you can change to.
Diabetic medicines in Malaysia can range from the very cheap (generic medicines) to the quite expensive (the newest medications).
There is something that can be tailored for every budget.
If you truly cannot afford it, Malaysia’s public healthcare system has very good diabetic drugs you can get from a Klinik Kesihatan (Health Clinic) or government hospital for free or at very little cost if you are a Malaysian citizen.
Even if you decide to go for private healthcare, the doctor there can help by advising which cheaper medicines to buy from a pharmacy outside.
The drug and medical device companies also have promotions for their medicines and test strips from time to time.
Ask your doctor and pharmacist about these.
Another important thing you can do to alleviate your diabetic distress is to talk to your family and friends.
Be honest with them. Telling other people who will listen will relieve a lot of your stress.
Choose the people who are good at listening – sometimes, friends can be better than family members!
You can also involve your family members in helping you take care of your diabetes.
For example, you can ask your spouse to remind you to take your medications or help you do the test strip monitoring.
You can also ask your significant other to cook meals that are more appropriate for a diabetic patient.
They can also come along when you go for your doctor’s appointments.
There are plenty of diabetic support teams out there, online or otherwise.
Your doctor may know of a few that are affiliated with your clinic or hospital.
In Malaysia itself, there are several that I know of.
The national Diabetes Malaysia office is in Section 11, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Pay them a visit if you are in the area.
In Penang, Penang Adventist Hospital offers a local diabetic community.
There are also online groups, both in Malaysia or overseas, that you can join.
If you have a particular problem, there is always someone else who also has it and who would most likely be happy to chat with you about it.
DiabetesSisters is a Malaysian online diabetic group for women.
Under Meetup, there are several diabetic support groups.
Meanwhile, diabetes is so common in Malaysia that it is possible you would know many people who have it.
Go for outings with them; plan activities.
I have several friends who are diabetic, but are so good at playing pickleball, having fun eating great meals and travelling around the world that I didn’t even know they were diabetic until they told me!
Diabetes is a chronic disease you live with, not something you should let ruin your life.
Control it just like you can control most things, and go forth and enjoy your life.
Dr YLM graduated as a medical doctor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health, computers and entertainment. For further information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only, and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
