Depressed

By Jan Chait Nearly 7% of people in the United States are diagnosed with depression, says the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH). And if you have diabetes, you’re twice as likely to be depressed as somebody who doesn’t. NIMH says scientists don’t know if diabetes increases your risk of being depressed...or if depression increases the risk of having diabetes. Perhaps it’s both, as current research suggests. “In addition to possibly increasing your risk for depression, diabetes may make symptoms of depression worse,” according to information from NIMH. The stress of managing diabetes every day and the effects of diabetes on the brain may contribute to depression. At the same time, some symptoms of depression may reduce overall physical and mental health, not only increasing your risk for diabetes but making diabetes symptoms worse. For example...fatigue or feelings of worthlessness may cause you to ignore a special diet or medication plan needed to control your diabetes, worsening your diabetes symptoms. Studies have shown that people with diabetes and depression have more severe diabetes symptoms than people who have diabetes alone. I can identify with depression being related to stress. In fact, my depression is stress-related. Just the stress of dealing with life in my shoe (yes, that’s singular) and taking care of my Type 2 diabetes in addition to everything else is enough to keep me on a low dosage of an antidepressant. J...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs