Anyone who suffers from diabetes will experience increased risk factors for depression. They are more likely to be depressed and may have a tougher time overcoming depression than someone with similar lifestyle factors who is not diabetic.
How does this happen? Let’s look at the links that chain these two medical conditions together and what causes them to often be connected.
The Prevalence of the Link
Around 10 or 15% of everyone with diabetes also has depression. That’s how strongly linked these two conditions are, and that is why it is so important to understand the cause, be aware of the prevalence, and do what’s necessary to handle depression in a safe way.
Someone who experiences both these conditions can have a more difficult time dealing with their diabetes or their diabetes can worsen. They will be at risk for other physical health problems and mental health problems because of the two conditions working together and causing them harm.
What Links Them?
How does someone with diabetes develop depression as a result? The current medical theory is that someone may have minor symptoms of depression already, and then diabetes can make them more complicated. The existing symptoms and the depression already affecting a person can be exacerbated by a diabetes diagnosis. Because diabetes can have a major effect on the body in a number of ways, it can cause stress that creates depression, even if there are no signs of depression already there.
Any serious disease or medical condition can have a similar effect. Because diabetes is something that many people are familiar with and have seen others suffer from, when they receive a diagnosis themselves, that can affect their mental health in many ways. Also, when the reality of the diabetic condition sets in, that affects mental health as well, as they start to realize what they’re going to be dealing with for the foreseeable future.
There is currently no cure for diabetes, and the knowledge of that fact combined with experiencing the condition for oneself can spark symptoms of depression.
While diabetes often contributes to depression or even causes it to form, the two can be linked the other way as well. Someone who is depressed may make poor decisions in their life. They may take up bad habits, eat in a manner that’s unhealthy, and gain weight, all due to their depression. Every one of these is a diabetes risk factor, so it’s understandable that there will be a link there and that the two diseases will come together in such prevalence.
Depression Makes Diabetes Tougher
Diabetes is already a disease that is difficult to manage. Those who experience diabetes may struggle with their body’s insulin and blood sugar levels. Then they go from treatment to treatment and from one resource to another, trying to find things that work. Resources like CanadianInsulin.com or the American Diabetes Association can offer them some of the help they need for dealing with their condition.
However, what depression does when it sets in, it exacerbates a lot of the already existing problems that come with a diabetes diagnosis.
Diabetes sufferers may be less likely to take their medication or try to treat their symptoms consistently. They may only sometimes heed medical advice, or they may struggle to make the lifestyle changes necessary to manage their symptoms better. Depression can cause eating disorders, unhealthy eating, and weight gain- all of which can make a diabetic condition worse, heightening the symptoms. It’s understandable then why doctors will warn their diabetic patients about the dangers of depression and advise them how to tackle that problem when it arises.
They may tell them to look out for the warning signs so that they will be more aware of what is affecting them and will be better prepared to deal with it.
For many of their diabetic patients, doctors understand that depression is simply going to be a reality of their life. However, if they raise their awareness of the problem and give them the tools and resources to head off depression or deal with it as it occurs, that can help their patient in handling their diabetic symptoms.
