Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common life-style diseases of the modern era. There are about 46 million diabetic patients worldwide and about 40 lakhs of people die of this disease every year. India ranks second among countries in terms of patient load. The socio-economic ramifications of this disease are far reaching. In India, the annual spend for diabetes is pegged at 2 lakhs crore, about 5 times the Union Government’s allocation on health. Since about 85% of Indians are not covered under any health insurance scheme, most of this spending is done by patients and their families making them vulnerable to debt and poverty. Being a chronic disease, diabetes is known to considerably reduce the quality of life and life-expectancy especially in India where diabetes control remains sub-optimal.
Living with this challenging disease can trigger a variety of emotional responses like anxiety, frustration, disappointment and stress. These emotional issues may make it harder for patients to take care of themselves leading to poor diabetes control. In addition, they might resort to unhealthy behaviours to reduce stresswhich can contribute to diabetes complications. These complications escalate the cost of treatment leading to financial distress, thereby creating a vicious cycle.
Destressing oneself is crucial to break free from this perpetual cycle. This will not only improve diabetes control but also helps to better the quality of life.
There are many things one can do to reduce stress. The following are some suggestions:
- Wake up early in the morning, do breathing exercise (pranayama) and meditation.
- Positive affirmations and positive thinking are helpful.
- Build up a regular routine in your life (sleep, wake up, dining, exercise etc) and have 6-7 hours of quality sleep.
- Regular physical activity reduces stress and helps in controlling blood glucose levels.
- Improve your awareness about diabetes and its management with the help of your health care team ( diabetic nurse, medico-social worker and doctor)
- Stay connected with your friends and family. If you talk about your problems, you can help to relieve your stress and perhaps solve those problems.
- Remember to keep your sense of humour. Laughing helps to reduce stress.
- Join a support group. You can meet people with problems similar to yours and make new friends.
- Enroll in a Health Insurance Scheme at an early stage to meet the future health expenditure.
- Seek out professional (psychologist for example) help in order to talk about what’s troubling you.
To summarise, stress among diabetic patients is left unaddressed by both patients and health care providers in our country. Stress leads to catastrophic consequences if not identified and treated in a timely manner. It is time to incorporate stress management in the mainstream treatment strategy of diabetes mellitus.