How Does Diabetes Affect Behavior?

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What Behavioral Changes Are Common for People with Diabetes?

Changes in mood and behavior are quite common among people with diabetes. These changes occur in individuals with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. A person with diabetes may experience the following changes in their mood and behavior:

Feeling sad or depressed
Feeling irritated
A constant feeling of tiredness and lethargy
Being angry or easily agitated
Feeling restless

Why do these changes occur?

The changes in behavior occur from a number of reasons. These reasons include:

Changes in blood sugar levels

Behavioral changes can be directly connected to changes in blood sugar levels. Many people with diabetes get irritated, feel restless or get tired when they have not eaten in some time. The main reason for this is the change in blood sugar levels.

The fluctuations in blood sugar levels are even more common among people with diabetes. Changes in mood or behavior can occur with both high and low blood sugar levels.

There may be an increase in diabetes-related stress

Diabetes is a serious medical condition. It’s quite natural for anyone to feel worried after getting diagnosed with it. Moreover, managing diabetes is a challenge on its own. Under such circumstance, it’s quite normal to get irritated or feel stressed.

Diabetes makes you lethargic

The body needs a good supply of sugar to work properly. In diabetes, this ability of the body gets impaired. Moreover, diabetes also leads to anemia- a condition in which the number of blood cells decrease in the body. These factors add up and may leave you with feelings of constant lethargy and tiredness.

It’s common for a person with diabetes to get depressed

Dealing with diabetes is a challenging task. Eating a handful of medicine every day or injecting yourself with insulin can be depressing. Moreover, lack of support may make the situation even harder to bear. If you’re depressed, it’s important to consult with your doctor, there are ways to deal with depression without taking more drugs.

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