I developed diabetes at the age of 43, 20 years ago, and I have gone through periods of rebellion. It's not just for adolescents!
I don't think Polonsky included rebellion in his book -- a gaping hole.
My rebellion has manifested itself in eating things that will raise my BGs, omitting insulin, not testing, and in general ignoring my diabetes. It doesn't usually last very long, but last year, the rebellion overlapped with severe clinical depression and I ended up in a coma -- if my friends hadn't come looking for me when I didn't show up at a picnic, and gotten me to the ER, I would have died by morning.
I think there needs to be far more attention paid to the emotional aspects of diabetes, not just for children and adolescents, but for everyone -- diabetes hits adults hard, too. It's unsurprising that depression is more common in diabetics than in the general population; the tragedy is that it's not being addressed.
Thanks for sharing Natalie! I think this subject is all too often ignored, or simply looked at as though it is too be expected.
I remember years ago going to an endocrinologist who asked me how many times I had skipped taking insulin and I replied, "you mean accidentally missing a shot?" He said, in a matter of fact tone, "No, deliberately not taking insulin." I gave him a blank stare and finally said to him, "I don't understand why anyone wants to feel that bad?"
Not testing is classic and that has often been my rebellion, but I put that to an end when I bought my cgm. By no means am I obsessive about my diabetes, but I just know that I would rather feel good, then to feel run down and constantly on the verge of getting sick. I guess that's been my saving grace!
Thank you for sharing your experience. This is very helpful for us to hear what our 16 year old daughter is going through. We thought we were the only ones to have this experience! She has heard all the lectures from us and her doctors and it continues to not effect her behavior. "We can't make" her test and take her insulin ~ she got to want to feel better. Sounds like we should stop the lectures and the monitoring of her meter and just be supportive as she goes through this. It's so frightening!
Thank you for sharing your experience. This is very helpful for us to hear what our 16 year old daughter is going through. We thought we were the only ones to have this experience! She has heard all the lectures from us and her doctors and it continues to not effect her behavior. "We can't make" her test and take her insulin ~ she got to want to feel better. Sounds like we should stop the lectures and the monitoring of her meter and just be supportive as she goes through this. It's so frightening!
Thank you for sharing your experience. This is very helpful for us to hear what our 16 year old daughter is going through. We thought we were the only ones to have this experience! She has heard all the lectures from us and her doctors and it continues to not effect her behavior. "We can't make" her test and take her insulin ~ she got to want to feel better. Sounds like we should stop the lectures and the monitoring of her meter and just be supportive as she goes through this. It's so frightening!
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Ann, So unfair that you had all those restrictions your siblings didn't when you were young. We're all glad you didn't carry your rebellion to extremes, and you survived in good health. Now you're using your experiences to try to help other young people avoid going through what you went through.
Bravo!
I second that!
DrC