The Debate: Diabetic Or Person With Diabetes?

Well written and food for thought.  I work for an advertising agency with many healthcare clients.  I will be mindful of your article as I proofread the next brochure, ad or white paper.  

It would be nice if JDRF would stop using "stricken with" and "awful disease" in their PR and speeches!  Last year, I had to give a speech at the gala and they added a several suggestions that used those terms.  I simply wouldn't do it!  I gave a speech that encouraged hope, not fear.  I still brought people to tears and let them feel encouraged with the look back to the beginning and how far we have come.

Messages about a person afflicted with a disease can so easily leave an unnecessary feeling of doom. As Ted Kennedy told his son "I know you'll do it, there is nothing you can't do. We're going to climb that hill together, even if it takes us all day!"  

Here's to being a person who lives with diabetes!

I have always considered myself as someone who has diabetes, not as a diabetic. I decided that I would not let a disease define me or be a major descriptor of who I am as a person. I was rather taken aback when, during my first appointment with a new doctor, I told her my preference—her reply was that I would probably not live as long because of that!! I continued to see her for 13 years, but I am not sad to have been moved to a new physician.

I am a person with diabetes and, therefore, diabetic.  For me, it simply describes a disease process I have and nothing more.  It does not diminish me. 

There's nothing wrong with "diabetic" as an adjective: Joe is diabetic. Just as Joe is French and Joe is skinny. We don't say "Joe is a skinny."

What some of us object to is "diabetic" as a noun: Joe is a diabetic.

Compare "He is a drug addict" (probably sleeping on the street and breaking into houses" and "He is addicted to drugs" (might be getting medical attention). Or "She is an alcoholic" vs "She is alcoholic."

Of course, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Call your friend "an arthritic" or whatever <G>.

a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

I am diabetic. 

I'm also clinically depressed, dyslexic, OCD, ADHD, a colon cancer survivor, I suffer from IBS. To simply say I have IBS does not do justice to my condition.  8 stomach surgieries in 22 months while fighting cancer has left lots of internal scar tissue and my stomach looks like a relief map. My belly button isn't in the middle anymore. But you know what??? I don't care because I SURVIVED!

Call me diabetic, hyper-active, obsessive compulsive.... doesn't bother me.  Oh, I'm also disabled. And mildly deaf.  ... a person with dibetes, a person with a hearing impairment, a person with a disability" oh, pu-lease...... 

My self esteem is not so fragile that I care about any of those terms.  Any characteristic can be a slur if said in the right tone.... that long haired girl... the kid with braces ... the girl who's dad is rich... the girl who's dad is poor... you can even say "The Nobel Prize Winner" in a way that is derogatory. 

There is one term that can only be said and perceived in a negative way: Mentally ill.

If I'm diabetic, people know I have to be careful with my diet. If I'm disabled, I have to be careful of physical activity. If I'm a little deaf, people need to get my attention before talking to me.

But call me mentally ill.....  and people will steer clear.  They'll wonder if I'm 'safe'.  They'll get visions of people going postal, murderers, etc.

I have only seen my granddaughters 1 time in the last 5 years.  My son's divorced.  His ex-wife knows I'm on an anti-depressant.  She believes that people should not take drugs that 'alter their perception of reality.'  She says if someone is unhappy with their situation, change their situation, don't give them medicine to make them "perceive their reality as ok."

There is nothing I can say to convince her otherwise.  She is afraid that an emergency will arise and I won't recogize it as an emergency.  She considers me "mentally ill."

In reality, I have a chemical imbalance in my brain.  I take a medicine every day that  balances the chemical in my brain. Without it, I get depressed, sad.  I am not mentally ill. 

That BTK criminal in KS, is mentally ill. [He developed his own nickname. It stands for bind, torture, kill.] That guy who killed and cut up young boys, he is mentally ill. 

If you want to champion a cause of 'correct names', start with 'mentally ill'.  That label hurts and keeps thousands of people from jobs, family, social activities.  That label will affect far more people than 'diabetic' everwill.

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm going to just start wearing a scarlet D embroidered on my shirts. That way there won't be any confusion as to who that wasteful 20% of the insured is driving up costs for everyone according to our HR representative at work. It will also make it easier to identify me when they down size to save on insurance costs and start rounding us up for relocation. I clearly contracted type one because of the terrible life choices I was making and will continue to be a burden on the system until I do the right thing and crawl out onto a ice flow.

Labels aren't as important to me as is how we are being portrayed by the Insurance companies to scare people into submission and acceptance. If I sound bitter it's because I am.