Depression and diabetes can be a difficult combination. Living with diabetes does not “cause” you to have depression but rather makes it more likely that you could experience periods of depression at some point in your life. The reason: Diabetes is a difficult condition to live with. It requires you to be more attentive to your health and in turn you may begin to feel the stress of daily management of diabetes. Over time, this stress can lead to diabetes management burnout.
Other Risk Factors for Depression
Depression can also arise independent of diabetes and may be related to several factors.
- Your family history. If you have immediate family members that have a history of depression, you may be at greater risk for depression.
- Your social environment. Job and family stresses, feeling lonely or isolated or being under financial pressure are possible triggers for depressive moods in some people.
- How you think about your life circumstances. For example, if you perceive that you have little ability to control diabetes, it can lead to feelings of helplessness. This helplessness can easily slide into depression over time.
Defining Depression
Though most people experience “the blues” now and then, depression is different. It is characterized by a loss of pleasure or depressed mood that continues for at least two weeks.
The first task is to distinguish depression from feelings of simply being discouraged or lacking purpose.
Here are some symptoms typically associated with depression:
- Loss of pleasure in things you previously enjoyed
- Withdrawing from social interaction
- Feeling tired most of the time
- Trouble falling asleep, waking during the night or sleeping more than usual
- Eating more or less than usual resulting in weight gain or loss
- Trouble concentrating
- Feeling worse in the morning; questioning your ability to make it through the day
- Thoughts of self-harm
If several of these symptoms are present or you have thoughts of self-harm, you should seek help from your doctor or a mental health professional familiar with diabetes. The good news is that depression can be successfully treated in most cases.
Sources:
Depression. American Diabetes Association. Accessed August 5, 2009. http://www.diabetes.org/type-2-diabetes/depression.jsp
Polonsky, William H. Diabetes Burnout: What to Do When You Can’t Take It Anymore. Alexandria: American Diabetes Association. 1999.
