 Objectives ◦ Discuss the psychological impact of diabetes.  Family Relations  Emotions  Depression  Stress ◦ Explain how the disease affects students academically.

◦ Diabetes will affect how the person interacts with family members. Often, they will become emotional, with intense mood swings. Often the diabetic will be unaware of his mood swings and the effect on those around him. In turn, diabetics can ostracize family members by criticizing them or making erratic decisions that negatively affect family members.

Guilt, anger, anxiety and sadness often affect diabetic individuals. These emotions can be very strong and will affect mental stability and hormone levels. Guilt is a response the diabetic will feel after hurting a family member or friend emotionally. Anger will occur if the diabetic has violated some personally held values. Often diabetics become overly anxious because they do not have control over future events and the disease itself. Diabetics often feel extreme sadness that they have a disorder that cannot be fixed.

 Diabetics are more likely than normal individuals to experience depression.  Depression suppresses motivations and might cause a diabetic to stop taking the required insulin shots. This activity should be closely monitored.  Also, depression can increase insulin production in the body, which exacerbates a person's diabetes.

 Having an ongoing disorder can be particularly stressful for the diabetic. Stress can be a strong physiological reaction, and it causes the secretion of specific hormones.  These hormones might counteract the normal functioning of insulin and disrupt correct metabolic functioning.  Stress can cause emotions that alter a diabetic's schedule for eating habits and exercise. This might lead to hyperglycemia (excessive sugar in the blood system), which affects insulin dosage and diabetes management.

 The simple fact is that when a child is sick they miss school. Missing school means missing instruction time. This leads to poor academic performance.  If they fall ill while at school, repeated trips to the nurse and being sent home also mean missing instruction time.  By maintaining control over blood glucose, the child will not only feel better but be able to perform better academically.

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