Coping With Your Emotions

Learn to understand and accept your feelings, and live well.

A diabetes diagnosis can turn your life upside down. It's normal to feel overwhelmed. Here are some common feelings.

Assemble your team. Learn about your disease. Understand your feelings.

Here are some ways to cope:

Never stop learning

Your diabetes management may change as your body changes over time. Treatment for diabetes may also need adjusting. Stay current. Attend a diabetes class. Research treatment developments via the Internet. Talk to your health care team. Ask them for a recommendation.

Share with loved ones

Friends and family care and want to help. But they often don't know how. Maybe they can make the appointment, or join in at the appointment, or pick up medications. Let them know specifically how to help. Communication is key.

Set limits

Don't overcommit. Diabetes demands time and effort.

Learn life management skills

Life in the 21st century is challenging. Learning how to control your own response to life stressors is a valuable skill. Local hospitals and community organizations may offer a myriad of classes, such as stress management, time management, anger management and behavioral change classes.

Support one another

There is something very powerful in interacting with others who have diabetes. The connection is instant. Low blood sugars, high blood sugars and "holes" in the finger are understood without explanations. Being with other people who have diabetes can offer a sense of comfort. Whether it is at your local hospital, diabetes camp or through the Internet, support groups are worth checking out.

Get involved

Diabetes advocacy improves health care and bolsters research to find a cure. Being a part of this endeavor not only helps to achieve these goals, it makes you feel good about yourself. And when you feel better about yourself, you are more motivated to take better care of yourself.

Self-assessment Quiz

This marks the end of the Coping with Your Emotions section. To find out how much you have learned from this section, take our self assessment quiz. The quiz is multiple choice. Please choose the single best answer to each question. At the end of the quiz, your score will display. If your score is over 70% correct, you are doing very well. If your score is less than 70%, you can return to this section and review the information.