Diabetes and Stress-Do you need to be concerned?

It’s tough enough dealing with diabetes.  And stress is a lot to handle all by itself.  But when you combine the two, the compound effect is terrible.  Stress can take a severe health toll on diabetics, and so they need to be vigilant for any signs of trouble.  One of the problems is that most people don’t really understand what stress is.  The average person thinks it means something like emotional turmoil such as a person might experience after a divorce or job loss.  Or being overwhelmed with trying to juggle family and work responsibilities.  It certainly can refer to those types of thing.  But the term is actually far broader.

Stress is hard to define, but a good working definition is  the body’s reaction to any change in its environment.  These can be negative, like divorce or layoff, or they can be positive changes, like getting a new job, or getting married.  And then there’s the minor stress of day to day life, like traffic jams, loud noises, etc.  We’re all under stress constantly, and it takes a toll on our bodies.  But it’s far worse with diabetes and stress.  That’s because one of the main ways the body reacts to stress is raising blood sugar levels.

Which is the last thing a diabetic needs.  They’re already under enough stress, especially if their condition requires them to take injections daily.  Getting a shot is a real stress on the body, which it never really gets used to.  So it’s imperative, if you’re dealing with diabetes and stress, that you learn to how to handle it.  It can defeat the very purpose of the medications you’re taking, which can have serious negative consequences.  Learning how to handle change and uncertainty, and how to cope with both the major and minor stresses of life are mandatory for people who suffer from diabetes.  If they don’t do so, their health will suffer.