Diabetes is a metabolic disease. While many people think it is so that sugar causes diabetes, this is not the case. It is so that sugar is fattening and that people who are overweight have a larger chance of getting diabetes. but here, diabetes is caused by a metabolic issue, not by the intake of sugar. While diabetes is a physical illness, our psyche has an effect on it. Stress can namely worsen the symptoms of the illness.
Diabetes: the symptoms
People with diabetes often have issues with drinking a lot and peeing a lot. When the sugar levels in your blood are high, this increases the frequency which you need to go to the bathroom. Loss of weight is also typical for diabetes, especially for type 1. You do not need to follow a diet or move a lot, you will lose weight either way. This can indicate diabetes. People with diabetes often feel fatigued and weak. This is because the glucose in the blood cannot properly be taken up by the cells. This leads to this feeling of weakness and fatigue. If the glucose levels in the blood are high, someone with diabetes might experience tingling sensations. Less common symptoms of diabetes are: lowered libido (in men), loss of hair, issues with the eyes,....
Diabetes and stress
Stress does not cause diabetes, but it can be so that stress worsens the symptoms of diabetes. If you experience excess stress, you can namely feel tired or fatigued. If you feel tired already because of the diabetes, your fatigue will have an even heavier effect. Stress can also make it so that you need to use the bathroom often. if you already do this because of your diabetes, stress will only make this worse. People who suffer from hyperventilation can suffer from tingling feelings in the legs or arms a lot. Like you just read, diabetes can cause this too. Adding the two together means that the symptoms will only get worse. Because your symptoms get worse, you will often become more stressed, because you do not know what causes it. Because you experience more stress, your symptoms will get worse. As you can see, we are speaking of a vicious cycle, in which stress causes symptoms, while the symptoms cause stress.
Diabetes? Treatment
Diabetes is not specifically treated in the online self-help program "15Minutes4Me.com". However, it can help you with dealing with your stress. Because your stress is reduced, the severity of your symptoms might do so, too. You will get daily videos, questions and tips, which you can personally use to lower your level of stress. Research shows that stress decreases up to 77% after one month.
Stress in diabetes? Free stress test
Except for the online self-help program, we also offer a free stress test, which will tell you more about your level of stress. After filling out the test, you will get an interpretation of your scores, and how your scores would be affected by one month of using the online self-help program.
