Living with diabetes is a 24/7 job with no days off. It can often lead to diabetes burnout. Diabetes burnout is defined as a state in which someone living with diabetes grows tired of managing their condition, and either ignores managing it for a period of time, or permanently. Because we are all human, diabetes burnout is fairly common, and most people with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) have experienced it at some point in their lives. The goal of this blog post is to give actionable ideas on how to deal diabetes burnout, given that so many people living with type 1 diabetes have experienced this phenomenon. I hope that the tips and ideas below will help you deal with diabetes burnout.
A “Good, Not Perfect” Attitude Makes Dealing With Diabetes Burnout Easier
The idea that you should always be ‘in the zone’ is good in theory but not something that is always practical. Remember, this is a marathon not a sprint. It is much better to have decent control all the time, then great control some of the time and terrible for much of the time. Slow and steady wins the race.
Be Grateful
Having the right attitude makes all the difference. Just taking a little bit of time to pause, reflect and fully appreciate how far diabetes technology has come, and how much easier it has been come to manage the disease.
Just 15 years ago, the idea of having a Continuus Glucose Monitor (CGM) which shows you your real time blood sugar levels throughout the day without finger pricks seemed like science fiction, yet today it is becoming more accessible for every day folks. Millions of people living with diabetes, no longer have to go to sleep anxious worrying about overnight hypoglycemia.
There are some exciting advancements in the world of CGMs, if you are curious to learn about more about the latest advancements, make sure you read about the latest news and new features of the Dexcom G7 CGM.
In my opinion the most exciting advancement in diabetes management technology is the artificial pancreas or a closed loop insulin pump (such as the MiniMed 780G system). This innovation is set to have the most life altering impact in diabetes management since at least portable blood glucose monitors, or maybe even as far as – ever! The idea that you can defer your diabetes management to a computer, let it make constant calculations to manage your blood sugar for you, frees up so much of your time, decreases anxiety levels, lets you focus on things other than managing your blood sugar, and enjoy your life
Perspective on Life – and What REALLY Matters
Life altering events often lead us to start questioning our lives, and whether we are making the most of our limited time on this planet. Every day, I see people completely absorbed in mindless consumption, following meaningless celebrity gossip/drama, never questioning things or their life more broadly.
Getting diagnosed with a chronic, life changing condition like diabetes really puts things into perspective, and makes you re-evaluate your priorities. To me it served as a wakeup call, a reminder that my time on this planet is finite, and very limited. It taught me not to put off things, as there is a real possibility I might not ever get around to it.
It steered me towards living a more meaningful life, focusing less on superficial things (like chasing material possessions, playing status games) and instead taught me to spend more time with people I care about, and following my dreams and passions.
Learn More About Nutrition and Lead A Healthier Lifestyle Can Minimize Diabetes Burnout
To live well with diabetes, one needs to re-evaluate their lifestyle. Eating highly processed food, not exercising, living a stressful life will have a huge impact on your diabetes management. It can cause things such as decreased insulin sensitivity, and make it much harder managing our blood sugar levels.
When I was diagnosed, I made it a priority to learn all I could about nutrition, how foods impact my blood sugar, and learn everything I could about exercise. I knew, I had to learn about all of these things if I was going to live a healthy life.
I knew that how well my life was going to be was completely dependent on the quality of decisions that I make. That actually made me feel very good, knowing I had some control over my destiny. Sure, I had no control on developing diabetes, but I had full and complete control over my reaction to it, and that gave me tons of motivation to improve my life.
Events Are Neither Good Nor Bad – You Assign Events Meaning, and You Can Change It Anytime
Strong, empowered people always focus their energy on things that are within their control, and don’t spend much time worrying about things that are outside of their control, since they understand the futility of it.
I think incorporating the above perspectives with diabetes management can have a massive impact when you feel diabetes burnout. Always remember that perspective is everything, and something doesn’t have to be a big deal if you decide it isn’t. Events happen in isolation, they have no power over you, other than the power that you assign to them. One person with diabetes can think it’s no big deal and get on with their life, while the other can have the same illness and think it’s the end of the world. In the end, both are experiencing the same event, but one chooses not to give it power of their life, while the other one does.
Know that you decide what meaning to give events, and you decide how much power they have over you. You are always in the driver’s seat, and at any point in time, you can change the weighting of how much something has power over you. You have agency over your life, you are not a victim of circumstances, but rather look at circumstances as opportunities to uncover your strength, and wake up the giant within.
To sum things up this blog post, remember that you don’t have to be prefect all the time, be grateful how far things have come, remember to have a positive mindset, remember that you are in control of your destiny, and use diabetes as a wakeup call to live your life to the fullest and make the most of the little bit of time you are spending on this planet. Don’t take a single day for granted.
Happy managing!
Onwards and Upwards 🙂