Mind Over Mellitus

My self-acceptance took a big hit when I got diabetes at 26. While I was depressed for the first 6 months, it took seven or eight years to completely include diabetes in my overall identity in a healthy (and even fun) way. So I’m a slow grower.

Prior to that I felt profoundly let down by my body. I was balled up in my underwear - stuck on all the stigma and stories I made up in my head about what having diabetes means. “There is something wrong with me”, showed up in my mind in one way or another again and again. That happened when my numbers were out of whack, when my memory was hammered by hypoglycemia, even when I considered inviting someone into my life. I didn’t like my inner world, so why make it crowded in there?

But five important things made the difference for me. Five factors transformed my experience of myself and this disease, which I will share in my next post…