Diabetes distress: Majority of diabetics have it, says survey

Althea Lovell is fit, healthy, and living with diabetes. Photo / Dean Purcell

Althea Lovell is a bit of a gym bunny. She was exercising, eating well, feeling good and expecting her first child when she found out she had gestational diabetes.

"It was a shock. My mum has diabetes so it runs in the family, but still," she said.

That was 2014, Now 33 and a mother-of-two, the communications and PR executive had gestational diabetes during both pregnancies before she was diagnosed with Type II diabetes two years ago.

She didn't know it then, but she had diabetes distress.

"I felt like a failure. You try and do everything right when you're pregnant, and suddenly it's like, what have I done wrong?" she said.

A big part of the distress was worrying about what others thought of her, she says, recalling people's responses when she told them she had diabetes. "They're like 'Ohhh, do you eat really unhealthily, do you eat lots of sugar?'"

"On top of that, constantly worrying about what you can eat, shouldn't eat, how bad it is for your blood sugar, rather than relaxing when you're out somewhere."

Lovell is one of many. A new survey by Diabetes New Zealand shows 81 per cent of diabetics have experienced diabetes distress, the little known emotional burden of living with and managing the 24/7 condition that is diabetes. Symptoms include feelings of failure, frustration or guilt in relation to diabetes management, or of being overwhelmed by the demands of living with diabetes.

More than 1000 Kiwis with Type I and II diabetes took part in the survey, a first on diabetes and emotional health in New Zealand.

Key findings

• 81 per cent of Kiwis with diabetes have experienced diabetes distress; 30 per cent in the last week.
• 78 per cent say their emotional wellbeing is affected by diabetes.
• 44 per cent have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder since their diabetes diagnosis.

International research shows a strong link between greater diabetes distress and poorer blood glucose control, so emotional factors can have a real and measurable impact on physical health, says health psychologist Dr Anna Friis. "Stress management practices such as self-compassion can help to lower blood sugar levels," she added.

Lovell ticks several statistical boxes for diabetes. Of Indian descent, her community shows higher diabetes prevalence at 4 per cent of the population, behind Māori (5-10 per cent) and Pacific peoples (4-8 per cent), compared to Pākehā (3 per cent), according to a 2014 report by the Health Ministry. Having gestational diabetes also made Lovell 50 to 60 per cent more likely to develop Type II diabetes.

"It's so annoying. When I first saw the statistics, I thought, that won't be me!"

Life has dealt her a different hand, but she remains determined to keep her diabetes under control. A combination of dietary and lifestyle changes have shown results: her blood glucose levels were in the normal range when she last tested. "Food and exercise," she says.

She goes to the gym several times a week, but knows it's not for everyone. "Start with small changes. I go around the block at lunch time, up my activity level at any given opportunity, run along the kids at the park, jump on the trampoline."

An estimated 253,000 people had diabetes in 2018, up from 245,000 in 2017, and the number is increasing every year.

Negative attitudes and a lack of understanding are a factor in the emotional wellbeing of people living with diabetes, says Diabetes NZ CEO Heather Verry.

"With one global pandemic in full swing, it's important not to lose sight of the other pandemic facing New Zealander - diabetes," she said.