Diabetes and Wellbeing (eBook)

Managing the Psychological and Emotional Challenges of Diabetes Types 1 and 2

Jen Nash (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2013
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
9781118485446 (ISBN)

Infos

Diabetes and Wellbeing presents a range of effective psychological principles proven to positively impact the emotional wellbeing of individuals with type 1 and 2 diabetes. The guide takes an explicitly CBT approach to motivate sufferers in essential self-care tasks.

• Written in a practical style, for those newly diagnosed with diabetes, individuals managing its challenges for many years, and healthcare  professionals
• Reveals how the stress of daily diabetes management can affect an individual’s ability to stay motivated and engaged in essential self-care tasks that are vital for good health
• Presents proven techniques for improving emotional wellbeing
• First book to take an explicitly CBT approach to diabetes, simultaneously drawing on solution-focused behavioural therapy and mindfulness approaches
• Fills the gap information of this kind among healthcare professionals and individuals with diabetes

Dr. Jen Nash in a Clinical Psychologist living with diabetes since childhood. She is the founder and director of Positive Diabetes (www.PositiveDiabetes.com), an international service- providing therapy, education and training services to promote the psychological wellbeing of people living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. She is also a keynote speaker for national diabetes charities, trainer for NHS professionals, consultant to leading diabetes pharmaceutical companies, and co-author of My Sweet Life: Successful Women with Diabetes (2011).

Inhalt

Acknowledgements vi

1 Introduction 1

2 Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Diabetes 11

3 Dealing with Diagnosis 23

4 Depression, Low Mood and Burnout 49

5 Managing Fear, Anxiety and Worry 80

6 Managing Food, Weight and Emotions 109

7 Diabetes and Relationships 152

8 Implementing Change 185

9 Managing Setbacks, Staying Solution-Focused and Embracing Mindfulness 205

10 Recommended Resources 218

Index 223

Rezensionen

"It is an excellent introduction for clients and health
practitioners into the range of psychological interventions that
are available." (Behavioural & Cognitive
Psychotherapy, 1 March 2014)

"This book is written to be read in its entirety and is a
good addition to the current literature on the psychology of
diabetes. It will support many of the web-based learning facilities
that are available to patients and healthcare
professionals." (Diabetes Update, 1 October
2013)

Textauszug

Chapter 1

Introduction

Life with diabetes can be hard work. Diabetes has been likened to a job—not just any job, but one in which you have to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with no holiday, no praise and no pay. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't stay working in a role like that for very long! But the individual with diabetes doesn't have the option of walking out or giving up; they have to keep ‘working’, day in and day out, for the rest of their life.

I really like this analogy of diabetes being like a job as I think it helps put into perspective how much of a struggle life with diabetes can be. None of us can do anything in life that requires effort over a sustained period without getting support and respite—and diabetes is exactly the same. You are probably reading this because you are someone with type 1 or type 2 diabetes yourself, a professional who works with individuals with diabetes, or perhaps a family member or loved one of someone with the condition. You are aware that although diabetes is a physical health problem, it affects the person in other ways too; and you want to know how to understand, help and support the person with diabetes. This book aims to offer both a person with diabetes and those around them a range of insights and practical strategies to help.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease in which the body fails to produce or properly respond to insulin, a hormone that the body needs to convert food into the energy needed to live throughout daily life. There are two different types of diabetes—type 1 and type 2—and each has its own causes, symptoms and treatments.

Type 1 Diabetes

The causes

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin. There are a number of different causes of type 1 diabetes.

Problems with the immune system

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Your immune system is essential for fighting off infections. It works by attacking ‘intruders’ in the body that it doesn't recognize, such as germs. In diabetes the body reacts against and destroys the vital insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas.

Abnormal characteristics on your chromosomes

There is evidence of certain abnormalities in the chromosomes, or DNA, of people with type 1 diabetes. Although these don't guarantee the development of diabetes, abnormal chromosomes are one factor to consider amongst others.

A virus

No one virus has been identified as responsible for causing type 1 diabetes; however, there is evidence that if a virus attacks the pancreas directly it can reduce its ability to produce insulin.

The symptoms

Increased frequency of urination

When the body isn't producing enough insulin, blood glucose levels rise, as the energy from food is not being converted into energy your body can use. The excess glucose ends up in the urine and makes it concentrated, then water is drawn out of the blood and into the bladder to reduce the concentration of glucose in the urine.

Increased thirst

Linked to increased urination. When you lose a lot of water in your urine, your body starts to dehydrate, causing thirst.

Weight loss

Glucose is being lost in the urine, so your body starts to break down muscle and fat in an attempt to obtain an alternative energy source.

Increased hunger

The body doesn't have enough insulin to allow the glucose being consumed through food to enter the cells. Although the person is eating enough, the cells are malnourished, so hunger increases.

Weakness

The glucose consumed from food isn't being used properly, which causes muscle cells to fail to get the energy they need from glucose. The result is physical weakness.

Treatment

Insulin

Type 1 diabetes is treated by administering insulin, the hormone that is no longer being released by the pancreas. In the past, insulin was obtained from the pancreases of cows, pigs and some other animals. Now, however, almost all insulin is human insulin, produced in the laboratory. A number of different types of insulin are available, with short-acting and long-acting properties. So that the patient doesn't have to take many injections a day (four is the most common), different types of insulin have been developed to work for different periods of time.

Insulin can be delivered via a syringe, an insulin pen, a jet injection device or an external pump. Your healthcare team will advise you which option is most suitable for you.

Type 2 Diabetes

The causes

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body responds to insulin in abnormal ways. It usually occurs later in life than type 1 (although it is increasingly occurring at younger ages with rising obesity levels) and there are a few different causes.

Insulin resistance

Unlike people with type 1 diabetes, those with type 2 do have some insulin in their bodies. People with type 2 are insulin-resistant: their bodies resist the healthy functioning of insulin. It is the combination of this insulin resistance with not enough insulin to overcome this resistance that causes type 2 diabetes.

Genetic causes

Type 2 diabetes runs in families: a person with diabetes usually has a family member who also has the disease.

The symptoms

Fatigue

In order to feel energized, the cells in your body need fuel from the glucose provided by food. Fatigue occurs because the cells are not getting the fuel from glucose that they need.

Frequent urination and thirst

As the body can't make use of the glucose in the normal way, it needs to find another means of flushing it out of the system, so it stimulates thirst in order to ensure regular bladder emptying. The increased urination in turn leads to dehydration.

Blurred vision

The eyes are affected by rising and falling glucose levels: high blood sugar causes the lens of the eye to swell. Vision becomes blurred as the eye can't adapt quickly enough to these changes in the lens.

Slow healing of skin, gum and urinary infections

The white blood cells (responsible for healing infections) don't function well when there is a lot of glucose present in the body. This means the body is more susceptible to infections.

Genital itching

The glucose lost through the urine makes the genitals an ideal environment for yeast infections, such as thrush.

Numbness in the feet or legs

Type 2 diabetes affects the nervous system, and can lead to a condition called neuropathy, which causes loss of sensation or tingling and burning sensations in the feet and legs.

Obesity

People who are obese are more likely to develop diabetes, as the body has to work harder to convert glucose into energy.

Treatment

Diet

About four out of five people who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Many people with type 2 diabetes can control their condition through diet alone. This means reducing calorie intake and eating a good balance of foods from each of the food groups: vegetables and fruits; protein, through meat, dairy and non-animal sources; carbohydrates, through bread, rice, pasta and cereal; and a small quantity of fats, oils and sweet foods.

Oral medication

There are a number of different oral medications for type 2 diabetes. Sulphonylureas are drugs that reduce blood glucose levels by making the pancreas produce more insulin. Metformin works by suppressing glucose production by the liver. Arcarbose blocks the action of an enzyme in the intestine, which leads to a slower rise of glucose in the bloodstream after meals. Glitazones are a group of drugs that directly reverse insulin resistance.

Insulin

Sometimes oral medication does not provide good enough control for the person with type 2 diabetes. In that case insulin may be required. Often one injection at bedtime is adequate, with more frequent ones added as needed.

What is the Emotional Impact of Diabetes?

Now you have a better understanding of the physical aspects of diabetes, we can move on to think about the various emotional and psychological issues that will be addressed in this book. There are a wide range of emotional factors that can impact the wellbeing of someone with diabetes—some of which affect people with type 1 or type 2 only, but many of which affect individuals with either type.

Dealing with diagnosis

The diagnosis of diabetes is a life event that has been likened to the experience of grief. In the same way as it is natural to grieve for a lost loved one, being given a diagnosis of diabetes can trigger a grieving for one's lost health. It is common to live life as if we are invincible, rarely considering our health or mortality. This dramatically changes when you are diagnosed with diabetes: you are suddenly acutely aware that your life is not without limits. You now have to rely on regular medication, frequent visits to a medical setting, and a team of doctors and nurses to keep yourself well. Chapter 3 will describe the stages of grief to help you better understand the process of managing diagnosis. By becoming aware of these different stages and recognizing the stage of the process that you or your patient or loved one may be in, you can manage the potential challenges better.

Depression and low...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 5.3.2013
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Krankheiten / Heilverfahren
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Lebenshilfe / Lebensführung
• Themenwelt: Medizinische Fachgebiete ► Innere Medizin ► Diabetologie
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Medizinische Fachgebiete ► Psychiatrie / Psychotherapie
• Schlagworte: area • broad • ConText • daily • Dealing • demonstrated • Diabetes • Diabetes Care • Emotional • FACT • Health & Behavioral Clinical Psychology • Impact • Klinische Psychologie / Verhalten • Management • Medical • Medical Science • Medizin • persons • Principles • Psychological • Psychologie • Psychology • Range • rarely • researchbased • Settings • spectrum • Stress • Type
• ISBN-13: 9781118485446 / 9781118485446