Diabetics are told to lighten up!

Diabetics are Told to Lighten UpAs reported by Stone Hearth News in New Zealand, learning to be less harsh or judgmental and more compassionate to themselves may help people with diabetes manage their condition and stave off depression, according to a recent study.

Diabetes can be a stressful disease, the study team writes in Diabetes Care, saying, “Relentless demand for healthy blood glucose control presents daily opportunities for failure and, thus, attacks on the self . . . (and) the practice of self-kindness may reduce psychological suffering.” Reducing the stress of managing diabetes might even have biological effects that improve the condition, they added.

This is the first randomized controlled trial of a self-compassion intervention among people with diabetes, lead author Anna Friis told Reuters Health, “Self-compassion-based treatments are founded on the notion that our tendency to be harshly self-critical or judgmental when we feel we have ‘failed’ or done something wrong makes our stress and distress worse.”

Friss, a psychologist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand continued, “This is important because many diabetes patients suffer from depression and distress and we know that these mood problems make trying to achieve healthy blood glucose control even more difficult, which is why there is an ongoing search for ways to help patients manage their mood, because we know this has important effects on their physical health.”

This news item first appeared in Desang Diabetes Magazine, our free-to-receive digital journal. We cover diabetes news, diabetes management equipment (diabetes kit) and news about food suitable for a diabetic diet. Go to the top of this page to sign up – we just need your email address.


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