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DECODING CORRELATION BETWEEN MENTAL HEALTH AND DIABETES IN PATIENTS

When we talk about diabetes management and care, we talk about the obvious – nutrition, physical activity, HbA1c and other medical terminologies connected with the condition; but we hardly talk about mental well-being. What we don’t realise is that one’s mental health has a significant impact on one’s blood sugar levels. Neha Verma – HOD […]

When we talk about diabetes management and care, we talk about the obvious – nutrition, physical activity, HbA1c and other medical terminologies connected with the condition; but we hardly talk about mental well-being. What we don’t realise is that one’s mental health has a significant impact on one’s blood sugar levels.

Neha Verma – HOD – FitterflyAre mental health and diabetes related?

Often a diagnosis like diabetes brings with it some amount of distress. This kind of distress is genuine and overwhelming, also termed as diabetes distress. Diabetes distress can also manifest in different ways:

• Emotional distress

• Physician distress

• Regimen distress

• Interpersonal distress

Diabetes distress has been associated with poor self-management and increasing levels of HbA1c. Dr Neha Verma – Department of Psychology and Wellbeing, Fitterfly Healthtech Pvt Ltd spoke about the link between mental health and diabetes, importance of psychotherapy and more.

Q. How does taking care of one’s mental health impact the management of diabetes?

One needs to understand that type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle disease. Its prevalence has a lot to do with lifestyle factors like diet, mood, exercise, stress, sleep, motivation, behavioural aspect, alcohol consumption and more. If someone has issues with stress or has chronic stress, even with nutrition and exercise interventions, it becomes difficult to manage the blood sugar levels. Despite your best efforts, your elevated sugar levels might not budge. At Fitterfly, after working with around 250-300 patients we have seen that when they are provided with psycho-therapeutic interventions helping them to take care of their thoughts, behaviour, feelings, emotions, moods, it has helped them lower their sugar levels and achieve better outcomes.

Q. So, is psycho-therapeutic intervention equally crucial along with nutrition and exercise for patients living with type 2 diabetes?

Yes, because there is usually a high stressful incidence preceding the diagnosis of diabetes. Like death in the family, hectic working hours, joblessness; these stressful situations can contribute to type 2 diabetes. So, tackling these issues becomes essential in achieving the outcomes faster and sustaining them for longer.

At Fitterfly, we offer psychological support and therapy for all our diabetes care programs. Now, understand that bringing down your blood sugar levels with lifestyle changes is not as easy as it sounds. It needs one to bring in change in their belief system and thought process, only then will one be able to incorporate small actions into lifestyle habits. Whatever might be your goal, whether it is weight loss, timely monitoring your blood sugars, taking medications on time or doing regular exercise needs a paradigm shift in your thought process, which can be done effortlessly with help of a therapist else they usually give up after the first 15 or 20 days.

As therapists we help people to make conscious choices when it comes to food, work on their stress levels and also improve sleep hygiene. Many times disturbed sleep has led to episodes of hypoglycemia in people at night. This goes to prove that mental health and diabetes care are correlated.

Q. How much convincing or counselling does it take to understand the relevance of medication and corrective lifestyle approaches to managing diabetes?

It takes some time to make them understand that with corrective nutrition, exercise and controlling stress, they can reduce their doses of medication and insulin if not reverse the condition. With our programs, we give people personalised care, understand the issues that lead to type 2 diabetes and help them make the right lifestyle choices to overcome the same. So even with psycho-therapeutic interventions, the care given is very systematic and personalised.

Q. What kind of impact have you seen in patients with psycho-therapeutic interventions with people living with diabetes?

A baseline analysis done on 250 patients at Fitterfly saw that 44% of patients suffered from diabetes distress and about 56% of patients had a high emotional burden of the condition (were emotionally disturbed). This could impact one’s sugar levels drastically. However with proper intervention and counseling 83% of people were ready to incorporate the various lifestyle changes suggested to them for proper blood sugar control. These numbers speak for themselves.

Q. How can people take care of their mental health to control their sugar levels?

Mental well-being is crucial in getting your blood sugar levels down and having your HbA1c within a healthy range. But getting all of this right can be difficult and that’s why you need some professional guidance. That’s where our diabetes care programs come into play. With our Diabefly program you get personalised nutrition, physiotherapy and psychological guidance, that can help you navigate the ups and downs that come in the way of your diabetes management.

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