Uncontrolled diabetes really is something to be scared of. It’s a serious, potentially fatal disease. If you don’t take care of yourself and learn to control the disease, some pretty awful things can happen.
Driving a car is something to be really scared of. Driving a two-ton machine at seventy miles an hour—only a few feet from other two-ton machines—is a serious, potentially fatal endeavor. If you don’t do it with care and learn to control that machine, some pretty awful things can happen. When you’re a teenager behind the wheel for the first time and you release the brake and roll out into traffic, you’re petrified. There seem to be a thousand things to remember, and it feels like millions of other vehicles are racing toward you, intent on crashing into you—or at least trying to make your life on the road thoroughly miserable.
In reality, there are only a few things to remember about the mechanics of driving: accelerating, braking, steering, and watching what’s going on around you. And in reality, there are only two or three cars at any one time that are close enough to ram into you, and most of the time you can control your distance from them. It’s the fear that makes you feel out of control and panicky. Diabetes is similar.
In reality, there are only a few things to remember about the mechanics of diabetes control: your blood glucose, the food you eat, and your amount of physical activity. And there are only two or three serious side effects that you have to worry about at any one time, and you almost always have some control over how serious a threat they become.
It’s good to recognize that people have realistic fear—it keeps them on their toes and prevents them from doing stupid, dangerous things. It’s not good to allow that fear to grow and develop until it paralyzes you and you can’t release the brake and roll out into traffic, or you’re too scared to test your blood glucose, or you’re unable to think clearly about whether to have dessert tonight or save it for Saturday evening when you’re out on the town.
Use your fear of diabetes to take control of the disease, but if you find your fear controlling you, call your doctor and ask to be referred to someone to talk it over with (a psychotherapist or a diabetes educator).
