The most dangerous culprit of diabetes is not the illness; it is the denial of it! This psychological state causes a person to feel exempt from reality and think to themselves, “Not me. This can’t be happening. There must be some mistake. I don’t believe it.”

A patient might say, “My uncle had gangrene, but that’s not going to happen to me,” and this is exactly the guy who’s going to end up with a gangrenous leg. This type of reaction is so common that some doctors think it’s part of the process of accepting the news when someone is first diagnosed with diabetes. If you have diabetes, denial used as an excuse to not practice good self-management is as harmful as drinking arsenic—it is a slow poison.

Sometimes denial serves a purpose. It is a way of coping with bad news. It can keep you from getting overwhelmed and depressed. It lets you accept bad news little by little, as you are ready. Denial also lets your family and friends pretend that nothing is wrong. But prolonged denial keeps a person from practicing behavior that could prevent comorbidities. It shields you from the fact that diabetes is a lifelong, chronic illness, which, if left untreated, can result in serious, and for some patients, life threatening complications.

On the other end of the psychological spectrum is resignation. As opposed to denial, people who are resigned to losing a leg feel that no matter what they do, they cannot avoid losing a limb. Their thinking is my father, my brother and my uncle all lost their legs to diabetes and there is just no way I am going to avoid this in my own life. It is meant to be.

If you have psychological issues about your diabetes, there is hope. Contact your primacy care provider for a referral to a mental heath specialist and deal with your problem.

-drhinkes