Married to diabetes Sharing is caring…
A diabetes diagnosis affects the whole family, but handled well it can nurture love
When someone you love is diagnosed with diabetes, it could provide the perfect climate for controlling, obsessive and potentially joy-smothering behaviour. But hang on! Your role as a carer – as the partner or parent of someone with diabetes – is to be supportive and empathetic. While you can’t leave diabetes management to the gods and just get on with life, together you can work out an approach that’s right for you.
Nobody’s saying it’s easy. “The emotional rollercoaster of anger, frustration, denial and sadness is experienced by the partner or carer as well as the person diagnosed,” says Janine Clarke, clinical psychologist at Mend Psychology and The Sydney ACT Centre. “And it’s important to know this is normal.”
When anxiety over someone’s wellbeing generates unhelpful responses, it’s time to tap into the alternatives. Here are some examples of what you may feel like saying but probably shouldn’t.