The Stigma of Being a Type 2

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on September 26, 2009 at 11:08pm

Susi,

Yea, my mother does say those things. She's usually the most supportive, loving person. I've asked her never to mention her theories & how much hurts me. She has Hashimoto's & I've asked her what she did this to bring it upon herself. I don't appreciate being held up as a negative example to my teenage nephews.

Great idea about a YouTube video!

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Permalink Reply by wil v on September 26, 2009 at 9:38pm

I guess I am the other side of the coin. I do sometimes blame myself for my condition. I dont really blame myself to feel bad about what happened, but I blame myself because of the lifestyle I lived. The only one thing I dont agree with is that all obese people will get diabetes. I think we are predisposition for certain diseases based on family background. I did not know my father or his family so I could not make better judgment calls or anyone beyond my mother. I think they should focus on predisposition for certain diseases and the lifestyle choices that will help people make better decisions. Like heart disease information, not everyone shown in campaigns are obese people, but they show the skinny guy who just had a heart attack and is now on lipitor.

To answer your questions

1. The campaign should be focus on predispositions and lifestyle. I lived a very unhealthy and stressful life that i believe woke the sleeping giant in me called the big D.

2. Preconceptions made me think about the lifestyle I lead that could put me in a position to wake the giant. The gene was there I just activated by an unhealthy lifestyle. Because when I live a better lifestyle my numbers come in check with less medication. I even managed to stop using insulin or pills for 3 years when i slowed down from work and eating bad and dropped some serious weight.

3. I do sometimes blame myself for where I am today. It may be because of the stigma or I just need to put my finger on what to do to control. If I do the opposite of what I did to start the problems, maybe the reverse will happen and it has for some months. I think stress makes my pancreas go on strike. If I work too much for a long period of time then numbers shoot up, If I exercise and take it easy, they come back down.

4. I really dont resent others. I wish they take better care of themselves and I oftern see people i around who are overweight and smoking and I think, man you are killing yourself. I guess I am more aware

take care

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Permalink Reply by MomsL8 on September 27, 2009 at 6:28am

I am a little like wil v. I, too, had gestational in my 30s. I took very good care of myself throughout my 30s and staved off my prediabetic condition until I turned 40. And then I feel I let myself go. I could not keep up with the demands of exercise and weight watching (especially since I had become so insulin resistant that my weight was not keeping steady with exercise and I got sick of eating below 100 carbs a day) that I just gave up.

So I do feel guilty for not managing my condition as well as I should have. And I shouldn't have whined - look at the Type 1s who DON'T have the option of just giving up.

However, do I believe it's my fault? Not so much. I know it's in my genes.

Do I believe the stereotypes have hurt us? Yeah.

But I know that my motivation and lifestyle did contribute to me getting full blown diabetes. If I lived my life in regret, where would I be?

I pick myself up, move on, and continue. That's the best we all can do, right?

:-)

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Permalink Reply by Dori S on September 26, 2009 at 9:51pm

Hi Kelly.

I think the media and Drs tie the obesity link to T2 a little too much. While that is one factor there are many others and the exact mechanism is not known. I think the fact that so many people here in the States are overweight factor into a lot of the campaigns: diabetes, heart disease, etc.

I have a long history of not eating right and skipping meals while working and then grabbing junk food to get by so was not really surprised to get the diagnosis. My symptoms crept up on me and that took me by surprise.

I really don't feel that there is a stigma. I grew up with the fact that my mother was a T1. I am a nurse. And I have no problem talking to someone and letting them know that I am a diabetic. I have no problem checking my BG in public. I think there needs to be more awareness and education. I do blame myself for the way I ate growing up and occassionally I have to admit that I fall back into old habits but not near as bad or as frequent as I used to. I get a little better all the time.

I don't resent others as much as I wish they knew what they were doing to themselves and what they are/could be missing out on. Right now my husband (not a D) and I are both trying to lose weight and get healthier so we can do some of the things we want to now that the children are out of the house (hiking, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, etc.)

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Permalink Reply by Teena on September 27, 2009 at 12:08am

I’ve never viewed my condition as something “I have done to myself” I was diagnosed 2 year ago at the age of 32. With height of 5’4” and weight of 115. By “normal weight scale”, I was 10 pound underweight. Regardless of weight, I was pretty active. Though heavily stressed at work (I was still working then), I routinely workout 3 times a week and plays sports (tennis or golf) most weekends. I was advised to rest for 6 months because of asthma exacerbations. That’s the time I noticed the classical symptoms of diabetes. I’m so stubborn though…didn’t pay attention…until one day found myself in the ER having a bg of 400.

Yes…I think that type 2’s are stereotyped to be obese, older, sedentary lifestyle, maybe disregard for healthy food. Personally I have pictured a diabetic as such (guilty here). Until it happened to me. Until now it amuses me, when I casually tell somebody that I’m a type 2 diabetic, the amazement on their questioning eyes.

Was devastated and depressed at first but a wonderful support system (friends, family and community) and an insatiable clamor of diabetes knowledge easily turned depression to challenge.

I have never blamed anybody, much more myself.

I do not recent others for not taking care of themselves. BUT being diabetic myself, I cannot help sometimes playing “police” and be critical of others…especially to the people I love most. I tend to be a bit “protective” with them emphasizing healthy eating and exercising regularly.

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Permalink Reply by Cathy Jacobson on September 27, 2009 at 12:41am

Do you think the awareness campaigns that link obesity and Type 2 diabetes are giving us a bad rap? I think that this linking the two is a disservice to us all. Yes, obesity may have something to do with diabetes, but we aren't certain about that. People who are very thin, or right on their target weight are diabetics, also. Maybe that's where we have to do some educating of the public ourselves....fat doesn't equal diabetes anymore than red hair equals heart disease.

Did your preconceptions of Type 2 cause you question or deny your diagnosis? Or perhaps even prevent you from investigating your symptoms? My reason for denying my diagnosis were related to my grandmother who didn't take care of her diabetes. I have a mental pic of her curled up in a fetal position at 76 lbs before she died, that was my idea of a diabetic before my own diagnosis. I decided when I got my diagnosis, I would ignore it, because I wasn't going to be my grandmother. I know it's silly now, but quite traumatic when I was 47.....I didn't go looking for a diagnosis, it found me, thank goodness

Does the stigma around having Type 2 cause you blame to yourself in any way? I have been overweight since I was 13....I was diagnosed when I was 47 --- I don't think there is a connection. I don't blame myself in anyway, except to say that "my brother got the money, I got the family diseases, as I have several of them that other family members have had". What I don't understand is the word "stigma" When I think of stigma, I think of blame or a curse....I don't see diabetes as a curse in that sense of the word. I think of it as a malfunction of my body, that I didn't cause, I didn't make happen, I certainly didn't ask for it, it happened, and now I deal with it. I am diabetic, diabetes is not me.

Do you resent others who don't take care of themselves and are not diabetic? The people that I have the hardest time with are those diabetics, who know they are diabetic and don't take care of themselves, those who ignore their docs advice, eat and drink what they want, don't take their meds, don't journal their BG's, and don't see a doc. I want to scream at them, because they are literally throwing their lives out in the street. People who are healthy and don't understand that I am a healthy diabetic are my next to have difficulty with...they are usually the helpers who try and help me walk, eat, make choices, take my meds as if I were a child. The people you are talking about are unaware....of what not taking care of themselves can mean in the long run. They may live a long and happy life, they may die tomorrow...but isn't that true for all of us?

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Permalink Reply by jaxmeier on September 27, 2009 at 5:53am

Hi Kelly

I don't see any bias or stigma, but in my particular case I definitely blame myself. I watched what diabetes has done to the firstborn members of my family an I ignored it. I was 6' 180 lbs in college and ignored it. By the time I was diagnosed last year I was nearly 250 lbs. While I ran my business, I didn't work out, didn't sleep, and wound up with my blood pressure at 175/105. Needless to say the sudden weight loss without trying was alarming.

Do I think others brought it upon theselves? I am sure there are others like me. Did everyone? No. Do I beat myself up about it?No. I work out hard 3-4 days a week, I eat far more healthily. I don't have my business anymore and I stop working at 5pm. It is a beneficial lifestyle change.

Bonus? My kids are eating better and my 13 year old son asks if he can go with me to work out at 5:30 am when he doesn't have crew practice.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Manwaring on September 27, 2009 at 6:08am

unfortunately there is way more ignorance than can be dealt with. You have to ignore people and what they say. Or when someone might share their wrong info with you, ask them where they got their medical degree (usually they don't HAVE one). Then tell them to keep their unsolicited advice to themselves. They aren't worth spending the brain glucose on trying to explain the different flavors of type2. Only SOME cases are brought on by the person. But this would be too hard for the average joe to comprehend.

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Permalink Reply by Megha on September 27, 2009 at 12:09pm

im 17 and i was diagnosed at 15 with type 2 with a BMI of 26 and it didnt even make sense to me that time...ppl automatically asume that im a juvenile t1 and others just think that its because of eating to much or being lazy...i dnt deny that it was a bit of a lifestyle problem...but it was more genes nd all...
i think that the campaigns do give us a bad name but they do create awareness and thats imp too...
i also do totally envy those fat foodie ppl who eat all they want and still dont get sick...
take care
bye

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Permalink Reply by Cathy on September 27, 2009 at 1:10pm

You got it. That is how I felt too. I was 18 and weighed 115 so I can relate. I am on a pump now and doing better now than ever, but those campaigns trying to make us feel like a oddball does not help. Just causes us to put off getting diagnosed.

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Permalink Reply by Kaileen on September 27, 2009 at 6:51pm

I get frustrated at other parents of type 1 kids. I'm tired of hearing, "Oh, type 2s really don't understand what it's like to have diabetes" and, "Let those type 2s keep the name diabeetus. We need a new name for what our kids have." That is so much malarkey, in my opinion. I think more people need to be educated about diabetes: I also think it's a long upward climb. But I feel that the more people we educate, the more people will understand.

BTW, my husband is type 2: I had gestational with our daughter, who now has type 1. We have a son who, thank God, is healthy. I am obese, and have no sign of diabetes: but I am losing weight because I know what my chances are after having gestational. Hubby is on metformin and insulin: daughter has an insulin pump.

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Permalink Reply by Barrie on October 22, 2009 at 7:06am

Interesting questions, Kelly.

1) I totally think awareness campaigns linking obesity & T2 give all T2ers a bad rap. I challenged someone once to randomly read ten articles on diabetes & find one that doesn't mentioned overweight or obesity in the first paragraph. It couldn't be done! Isn't it obvious that the connection could go both ways - that T2D can cause overweight & obesity as well as being overweight or obese can exacerbate it?

2) Yes, my own preconceptions DID cause me to question & deny my own DX. I was lean, active, otherwise healthy, and had no known family history. My c-peptide was 1.3 - the low end of normal - but my GAD antibody test was negative so LADA has been ruled out. MODY may be a possibility, but there are so many kinds that I've been told the tests aren't worth the cost & the treatment the same as what I'm now doing.

3) No, I totally don't blame myself & never have. I know that I have always eaten healthfully & I am slim & relatively active. What else was I supposed to do?

4) And, yes, I really do resent those heavier folks all around me who are not diabetic! It doesn't seem fair. I know perfectly well that life isn't fair. I still resent them. But, I am afraid for them, too, especially the young ones who may not fully realize the risks they are running by not taking care of their bodies.

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