Type 2 diabetes plays havoc on one’s health with the increase of blood sugar levels. The symptoms of diabetes does not just affect a person physically but can affect you emotionally too. It occurs when the blood glucose levels are too high. In type 2 diabetes, the body doesn’t make enough insulin and when too much glucose stays in the blood it doesn’t reach the cells properly. This causes major health problems such as blurred vision, sores that don’t heal properly and a numbness or tingling feeling in your hands or feet.
A symptom of type 2 diabetes that often gets overlooked is a change in a person’s mood.
Diabetes can affect a person’s mood causing rapid and severe changes. Feelings such as irritability, high emotions that causes a person to cry for no reason or even anger are common symptoms of type 2 diabetes.
The reason for this is due to the brain not getting enough glucose.
As the brain is the centre for thoughts and emotions, it needs glucose to function properly and if it doesn’t function properly it can cause your brain to go haywire.
When the blood sugar levels are too high a person can feel grouchy and not in control of their emotions.
The severity of the mood swings are different for each person with some explaining feelings of weirdness, uncomfortableness and being emotionally off-balanced.
Ways to help with the change in mood caused by type 2 diabetes:
Talk about how you feel
Expressing your emotions to loved ones and work colleagues is the first step to helping you feel better. Offloading some of what you’re feeling has many benefits. Sharing the burden will help you feel less alone and can take a weight off your mind.
Choosing the right kind of food
Having to pay close attention to what you eat can be stressful and some people find they eat more when they are stressed. The food we eat has a major impact on how we feel as many processed foods and saturated fats will make you feel worse. Choosing a healthy well-balanced diet will not only help you blood sugar levels but will also make you feel better.
Getting regular physical exercise
Exercising makes you feel better as the endorphins released will elevate your mood. When you exercise the insulin resistance is decreased and the cells can use the glucose in the body more effectively. Exercise will not only help you physically but emotionally too.
Doctor Dawn Harper
its important we think carefully about how we can reduce the sugar content in our diet
Learning to control the fluctuations in blood glucose levels can result in stabilising your mood.
Avoiding sugar as much as possible will help greatly Doctor Dawn Harper explained: “Excessive sugar consumption has a massive impact on our health and is a major factor in problems with diabetes, so its important we think carefully about how we can reduce the sugar content in our diet.
“There will always be times we want to eat treats or celebrate special occasions and when we do, its about managing this appropriately.”
It is important to speak with your doctor if you have experienced a change in your mood such as irritability, anger or sadness for no reason.
Luckily, if managed correctly your mood disorder can go away and learning to cope with type 2 diabetes will be easier.
Meditation and being mindful are other ways to help you control your emotions.
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