When you’re living with diabetes, self-care takes on a whole new meaning. After all, you’re tending to a part of yourself that needs (and deserves) a great deal of attention. Self-care includes all the things you do to keep your blood sugar levels as balanced as possible, which can play a vital role in your overall health and happiness.
Even just a little mindfulness in your daily routine can help mitigate the stress of living with type 2 diabetes—or what many experts call “diabetes distress,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes. This term refers to the unique challenges and emotions that people with diabetes may experience, from the rigorous treatment regimen, to dealing with a complex medical system, to the daunting financial burden. Feelings of isolation, frustration, discouragement, anxiety, burnout, and anger are all common manifestations of diabetes distress, Diana Licalzi, RD, a certified diabetes educator and the cofounder of Reversing T2D, tells SELF.
Diabetes distress may negatively impact your blood sugar levels, too, because it makes it harder to take good care of yourself, according to Stephanie L. Leung, PhD, the director of psychology at the Fleischer Institute for Diabetes and Metabolism at Montefiore Einstein and an assistant professor of endocrinology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. This can become a vicious cycle: Less-balanced blood sugars leave you feeling crappy, and ultimately even less able to engage in the self-care that supports your diabetes and overall well-being.
You can turn that vicious cycle into a virtuous one by practicing genuine self-care, and witnessing the positive downstream effects on your physical and mental well-being. In this way, “prioritizing self-care allows a person with type 2 diabetes to be in the best place possible for good health outcomes,” Dr. Leung explains. Not to mention, you’ll hopefully experience more peace, joy, and ease in your day-to-day life. Here are seven ways to get started.
1. Get back in touch with your why.
If you’re feeling burnt out on the day-to-day of blood sugar management, “remind yourself why it is important to you to take care of your diabetes,” Dr. Leung recommends. It’s more helpful to focus on the positive with this approach: Think about the good stuff you want to enjoy, instead of the potential health complications you want to avoid. “Getting in touch with your values can be a powerful way to reinvigorate motivation,” she says.