Prevent and Manage Diabetes Burnout!
Managing diabetes can be a grueling daily task, due to having to monitor blood sugar levels, foods eaten, how much time spent exercising, and the medications that may need to be taken. This process can become stressful and too much for some people resulting in what is called a ‘diabetes burnout’.
When suffering from a diabetes burnout, many people often begin to seek a sense of freedom from their condition, and in doing so, generally, start to totally disregard their monitoring of diabetes.
People often fall into a bad state of mind after dealing with the condition for years as they are frustrated with the day to day upkeep that comes with diabetes. This can start with just guessing levels of blood sugars and skipping medications to them then stop monitoring blood sugar levels completely, avoiding appointments, falling into unhealthy habits and stopping medications completely.
Diabetes Burnout Can Lead to Psychological Problems
People suffering from a diabetes burnout will often go through a range of emotions. Many psychological changes will happen in this state including a feeling of helplessness, anxiety, and depression.
In these situations, they may be suffering from a hypoglycemic episode, low blood sugar, from not monitoring their levels. In a hypoglycemic state, some people may become fatigued or foggy and dazed although in some cases it can make them aggressive. If left untreated this state could lead to a diabetic coma.
Tips to Manage and Prevent Diabetes Burnout
Managing and preventing this from happening to you can be done in multiple ways.
Some of these include:
” Meals: Keeping things fresh by trying new recipes or incorporating different foods into your diet can be helpful in stopping your diabetes management from becoming a grueling task and put a bit more variety in your life.
” Physical activity: Trying new exercise routines or changing a walking route for your daily physical activity can be a good way to prevent a burnout and keep things interesting. Joining a gym, trying a boot camp or exercising with friends or family can also be helpful.
” Stress: Getting rid of unnecessary stress in your life is a great way to help prevent a burnout. Added stress on top of already managing your condition may send you over the edge and into a burnout. Identifying what is causing your stress and finding ways to eliminate them if possible can be a great start.
Bottling away stress can only make it worse. Finding ways to de-stress including reading, painting, drawing or just relaxing in a park or a nice warm bath can help you to feel better.
” Mental health: Talking about your situation over with friends and family is also a great way to try and clear your head of bad thoughts and stressful circumstances. If you find you are not coping with the upkeep of monitoring your levels or taking your medication it is best to seek professional help whether it be from your doctor or a psychologist to talk through your situation.
” Pat yourself on the back: Give yourself some credit. You are managing a lifelong disease and have been doing so well. Try not to aim for perfect levels and just accept the ones you get, good or bad. There is nothing you can do to change them after they’re done, just learn from the mistakes you made whether it is a certain food you ate or not getting enough exercise that day. Instead of labeling the readings as good or bad, try labeling them as in range and out of range, as this may help you feel less guilty of the outcomes.
” Join a support group: Check with your healthcare provider if there are any community support groups in your area for people suffering from diabetes. If there are no community groups there are various online support groups to help you manage and talk through your situation to try to help bring back some motivation.
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