Juvenile Diabetes

[Marylouise]

My nephew is 24 and has had juvenile diabetes since he was a pre-teen.  During his teen years, a therapist said he had Oppositional Defiant Disorder.  He does not take care of himself, can't keep a job.  He lives in Oklahoma and family has been buying his medicines.  He seems to be rebelling.  What can we do and is there any help available for him in Oklahoma?  His parents went through all kinds of education with him and diabetic camps with him when he was diagnosed.

[par2323]

My daughter is type 1 and also 21 with similar problems.  She refuses to take responsibility for her diabetes.  She is in college and doing well but will make no attempt to get a part time job during the summer.  She just sleeps during the day and parties with her boyfriend at night.  We do all of her testing and injections.  We have tried to get her to take responsibility for her diabetes care, but she refuses. She also refuses to talk about her diabetes with anyone. I wonder if she has this psychological condition too.  We forced her to go to a therapist for several years, but she hated it and refuses to go now.  The therapist was kind but was unable to help turn her around.  I would like to force the issue but my husband says time will straighten out her problem.

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Hi Mary Louise,
Perhaps you've already visited this site, but if not, it seems to have a wealth of information on ODD. The term describing the condition seems to change as the person ages from a youngster to a teen and beyond.  In addition to ODD, I've seen the term Conduct Disorder ...
http://www.emedicine.com/PED/topic2791.htm
http://www.strongmodel.com/odd.shtml

I'm also not a physician but would assume that he will not choose to manage his diabetes unless/until his ODD is reasonably stable.

Parent Management Training is another term/approach that's often referred to with this very difficult type of problem.
http://www.apa.org/divisions/div12/rev_est/pmt_child.html

Good luck with all this; it a tough problem indeed.

[jdrf team dm]

Dear marylouise,

None of us here are doctors and cannot give you medical advice. I can however share my own knowledge of living with someone with diabetes and what I have learned from others dealing with these issues.

Unfortunately,what your nephew is doing is not that uncommon. I wish that I had an easy solution to give you, but dealing with type 1 is never simple. I have been a JDRF volunteer for many years. Some children are wonderful at testing and taking care of themselves. Then there are those that rebel, have ADHD, ODD or are suffering from depression. My son dealt with some of the same problems and has discovered in the past few years what taking care of himself means. He is only a few years older than your nephew and has turned his life around in a major way, but it defintely took time.

What I would like to suggest is to find a therapist who may specialize in type 1 and depression that can make a definitive diagnoses.WAK is correct in checking around for help in your area. If he is seeing an Endo it maybe a good place to start. At his age he would have to agree, but from your post it sounds like he has a very loving family (including a very special Aunt)that are involved with trying to help him in any way that you can. It is frustrating, but know that it can also take one "click" to change things around. Don't give up. Many young adults do come around, but as a layperson it sounds like he may have more going on than type 1.

I would like to suggest that you contact our other JDRF outreach program. It is called the Online Diabetes Support Team. They match up one volunteer to respond to you personally with people with like experience. Log onto www.jdrf.org, click on ODST and they will respond.

marylouise, your a loving Aunt and I wish you the best. Please look for further comments here and let us know how your nephew is doing. This is such a hard situation for both him and your family.

My Best,

dm

[JDRF-Team-wak]

I am a volunteer for JDRF, a mom of a diabetic child.  I would suggest contacting your Local JDRF chapter to see what resources are available in your area. I would also suggest checking with the local hospitals for support groups.  
Since your nephew is not working and has a disability he might be eligible for welfare, and Medicaid. I would suggest looking into it.  Unfortunately your nephew is old enough to know what the consequences are if he does not take care of him self. There is little at his age you can do to over see.
I hope that this helps.