Niece with Type 1 -Psychological effects

[Babycakes1]

hi,

My Niece has diabetes and she is 6 years old. What types of psychological effects can we expect as she gets older?

Thanks.

[JDRF-Team-sgg]

I am one of the Forum Team who happens to be a female type 1 diabetic since childhood, so I speak from experience. While you don't want her to be ashamed of having this disease, she will feel "different" from her classmates and will probably go through a phase at some point where she wishes to keep her treatment as discreet as possible in order to keep her friends from focusing on her disease rather than on her as a person. She may be uncomfortable with questions verbalized publicly about what she can or cannot eat, and may wish to keep her fingerpricks and insulin shots or pump adjustments out of public view. I would encourage her parents to be sensitive to the possibility of these feelings cropping up at times. At some point as she grows older, she may rebel a bit at the tight dietary restrictions and occasionally cheat when with friends. If this happens, I would encourage her family to be understanding and to treat each episode of possible high blood sugar from "cheating" separately, while trying to show her ways that she can snack more safely. Also, as puberty hits, she will have the added mystery of possible low or high blood sugar affecting moods as well as hormones. If depression or irritability is due to low blood sugar (which is usually the case), it will lift quickly as soon as your niece addresses the blood sugar low. But parents will have to be aware that moods ARE affected as a physical symptom of hypoglycemia. If glucose levels go high, she may feel bad and may be irritable as a result, also. All in all, the emotional effects are very treatable with sensitivity and awareness. Parents should not be afraid to let her try new things or to be active in sports because of her disease, but be smart at to how to work activities into her normal life.

[pumpgirl03]

Well I am also a female with diabetes and i am 18 yrs old. I want to say that The JDRF team member shows an excellent point about the rebellious stages that usually happen in teenhood. I went through them myself and realized there was no point. When I was first diagnosed I was 11 and was very self concious about my diabetes. I couldn't even say the word diabetes for almost 2 yrs. i also didn't want anyone to know what i had to do as far as shots were concerned. But then around 16-17 or 2-3 yrs after diagnosis I could care less about who know and took it as kind of a unique quality if you want to say about me. I just control my diabetes and not my diabetes control me. That is just what she has to remember. She can live just like everyone else.
JDRF-Team-EM

[JDRF-Team-sgg]

Pumpgirl03 has made a terrific point about what stages she went through until she got to the point where she is comfortable with people knowing about her diabetic condition. I am now a healthy grandma, by the way, and can attest to the fact that parents' overprotection can be a tendancy when a child has something like diabetes. Pumpgirl's last comment: "she can live just like everyone else" is absolutely true. As young as she is now, she will grow so accustomed to the daily routine that it will simply be a way of life for her if she is allowed some privacy during the ages when kids tend to persecute those who are "different." I used to cringe as a child when a friend's mother would ask the inevitable question of what I could eat if I was at a friend's house. At some point, she will become self-confident enough so that her fear of people knowing that she has the disease will go away. But that doesn't tend to happen until she is past those teen years when self-esteem is usually terribly low. As she grows older, talking about these feelings with her mom may be helpful, for she won't be able to share them with friends who are healthy.

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Great comments, and I'll add mine, too.

Encourage her parents to seek out other parents with children who have diabetes (local JDRF chapter is one place to look), so that your niece can enjoy the experience of being just like everyone else from time to time.  Those DM (diabetes mellitus) buddies can be very helpful to her as she grows up.

I was dx'd as a teen and have had a rich full life so far (I'm nearly 50) doing pretty much whatever I've wanted.  As others've said, that message should be reinforced whenever possible.

Good luck ...  she's a lucky little girl to have an involved extended family!