How to Deal with the Diagnosis of Diabetes

Common Emotional Reactions

Ann Bloise was so ashamed to learn she had type 2 diabetes that she didn't tell her family for three weeks. "I thought I got diabetes because I'm so overweight," the Dallas resident says. "I really felt that it was my fault."

On top of her shame, she was terrified about how diabetes would affect her vision, her feet, and her heart. She also became depressed. "I was staring mortality in the face," she says. "Here I was, 44 years old, and I hadn't done half of the things I wanted to do in life."

Being diagnosed with diabetes is an emotional experience that can arouse difficult feelings. Some people deny their illness or feel outrage. Others become depressed, feel tremendous guilt and shame, or are stricken with fear about the future.

"All of these are common emotional reactions," says John Zrebiec, M.S.W., CDE, associate director of mental health services at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and a member of the Diabetic Living editorial advisory board. "Diabetes can often bring with it a normal grief reaction. But the stages and intensity will differ from person to person, depending on life experiences," he says.