Stress & Diabetes

Stress & Diabetes are attacking majority of the people on our earth. It is hard to find which one attacks first to human being. If one gets diabetes, he/she will think , almost all  of the time, how did i get diabetes and  how i will spend the  rest of my life with diabetes. This will take him/her to stress. On the other hand, the stress leads to diabetes. Any one under stress, his/her body releases hormones that increase blood sugar levels . This condition becomes cause of diabetes.

Contents;

• What are Stress & Diabetes  ?
• Types of stress.
• Symptoms of stress.
• How to reduce stress levels.
• What to do with stress &  diabetes related stress ?.
• How stress affects diabetes?
• You can decrease stress affects.
• Find your mental stress affecting your sugar levels.
• What to do ?

What are stress & Diabetes ?

Stress is our body’s response to pressure. Many different situations or life events can cause stress. It is often triggered when we experience something new or unexpected that threatens our sense of self or when we feel we have little control over a situation. We all deal with stress differently.

Suppose you are feeling stress or feeling threatened, your body will react automatically. This action is called fight response. During fight response, your body will release Adrenaline and Cortisol into your blood. In the result, your respiratory rate will increase. In the result, blood sugar levels can increase, if your body can not process it satisfactorily.

Types of stress:

There are three main kinds of stress: acute, episodic acute and chronic.

• Acute stress is short-term stress that comes and goes quickly. It can be positive or negative. It’s the feeling you get when you’re riding on a rollercoaster or having a fight with your friend.
• Episodic  Stress —- Episodic acute stress is when a person experiences acute stress frequently. If you have episodic acute stress, you may feel like you are always under pressure or that things are always going wrong. This can be exhausting, both physically and mentally.
• Chronic Stress …..A consistent sense of feeling pressured and overwhelmed over a long period of time. Symptoms include aches and pains, insomnia or weakness, less socialization, unfocused thinking.

Stress may affect people in different ways. Constant stress from long-term problems with blood sugar may also affect you mentally and physically . They can make managing your diabetes more difficult.

Symptoms of stress.

It is quite possible that a stressed person feel difficult to explain any symptom of his/her stress. Stress affects one’s mental and emotional behavior and influence physical health. Some symptoms of stress are given below. If you recognize any of them, take immediate steps to manage it.

• General feelings of illness.
• Headaches.
• Muscle pain or tension.
• Too much sleeping or too little sleep.
• Fatigue

Beside above,  stress can cause you to feel :

• Anxious.
• Depressed.
• Irritable.
• Restless.
• Unmotivated.

The behaviors of stressed person could change . He/she  may act as mentioned below:

• Acting out in anger.
• Drinking alcohol in excess.
• Eating too much or little.
• Quitting from family and friends.
• Start smoking.

How to reduce stress levels.

Do you believe in will power? Believe me, if you are a victim of stress, say these words daily when you wake up in the morning and before you sleep ” I will defend stress”.  Beside that, these are a few things you can do to defend the effects of different forms of stress:

• Avoid known stressors, like high-stress social situations.
• Exercise regularly.
• Practice relaxing activities such as Yoga or Tai Chi.
• Practice mindfulness techniques like meditation.
• Reduce caffeine intake.
• Spend time with loved ones.

What to do with stress & Diabetes-related stress ?

There are many people around us ,  suffering from Diabetes -related stress. You are not alone. Try to contact with people on line or in your community for support/advise to cope with stress & diabetes.

There are many online support groups . These groups offer helpful tips and help to get rid of your stress & diabetes. Diabetic Connect is one of on line resources , trying to improve Diabetic people’s life. They provide articles, recipes and informative videos. For more details on Diabetes, pl. read our article ” Are you Diabetic?, Part-1″.

The following support groups are offering support to people having stress & diabetes, in U.S.A ;

• Diabetic Sisters: —– This group  for women with stress & diabetes,  offer nationwide meetups.
• Defeat Diabetes Foundation :—– Lists peer support groups in all 50 states , and the District of Columbia.
• The American Diabetes Association : —- Offers local offices focused on education and community outreach.

 Stress & Diabetes ?

Every body gets different affects of stress & Diabetes. These affects of stress have different influence on your body’s physical response.

When people with stress &  Diabetes  type-2 become under mental stress, they usually have an increase in their blood sugar levels.

People with Stress &  diabetes type -1 could have an extra varied response. They can experience either an increase or decrease in their blood sugar levels.

When any one is under physical stress, his/her blood sugar will also increase. It can happen due to injury or sickness. People with Stress &  diabetes  type-1 or type 2  will be affected.

Find your mental stress affecting your sugar levels.

A simple way to decrease your mental stress & diabetes affects  on your sugar levels is as follow ;

• Write down some information such as the date,  and what you were doing when stressed. This will help you to find the reason of stress.
• Take an example. You are always under stress on every Sunday morning. Write down a list of your yesterday’s  activities, foods eaten, how much alcohol you drank etc. Check your blood sugar levels. If it is higher than recommended levels, make a plan to decrease the items you think , are cause of stress.
• Keep doing above for next couple of weeks. You will definitely find what causes your stress, which increase your blood sugar levels.
• In case you notice that your blood sugar remain regularly high, it will point to the fact that your mental stress is affecting negatively your blood sugar.
• After rating your stress, check your sugar levels. Continue this practice for the next couple of weeks.
• See your chart of findings. You may see there a pattern showing what increase your mental stress & diabetes.

What to do ?

Having diabetes makes the life difficult. It is still possible to live with diabetes by managing it under control. Beside the daily Insulin injection, some other activities will definitely help to spend a happy and healthy life. Some activities are :

• Add short meditative sessions .
• Look into support groups and find one that best suits your personality and lifestyle.
• Daily walk is a great help to control stress &  diabetes.
• Being proactive will help ease the tension in your life.
• Some people will like to talk to a professional about their stress & diabetes.

A therapist knows better how to treat with stress. A therapist can provide medical advice that on-line support groups can not offer.

source: healthline.com