Since diabetes is a chronic disease it requires a long-term commitment to diabetic care and management. Such commitment may include overcoming challenges in order to achieve optimal outcomes. Learning to recognize and understand these challenges is the first step. Developing the coping skills and overcoming any negative impact diabetes can have is the second.

Physical and Emotional Variables:

Current Health Status - Feeling great can affect people differently. Hopefully the response to good health is to continue to practice healthy habits. Don't let good days allow you to fall into bad habits such as poor diet and not checking your blood glucose level.

Complexity/Difficulty Of Your Management Regimen - Your diabetes care plan may seem complex, and difficult to learn and follow. Find the tools to make the learning process and regimen work for not against you.

Diabetes Self-Care Interfering With Your Lifestyle - Having diabetes can cause a sense of loss of function, freedom and control in your life. Good diabetes control and self-care returns that capacity to you.

Emotional Challenges - It is not uncommon to experience emotions such as fear, denial, or a sense of powerlessness. Other feelings may include lack of self-confidence, poor self-image, and your own resistance to learning self-care.

Personal Beliefs - Understanding that diabetes, although serious, can be controlled and have significant impact on the outcome of your plan of care.

Developing Coping Skills:

Continue To Learn - Self-management is based on the concept that most of the responsibility for making decisions about your diabetes care rests with you. You are in control.

Develop Strong Support Systems - Overcoming the physical, emotional and external challenges you face will be easiest if you work to build a strong support system for yourself. Effective self-care means involving others, including family, friends and your health care team.

Manage The Stress In Your Life - Trigger events, stress, stigma, and insufficient resources are all major external challenges to coping with diabetes. It is important to work with your various support systems to identify the sources of stress in your life and develop effective strategies for removing or managing those sources.

Be Realistic About Managing Your Diabetes - Various emotional and physical challenges may cause you to want to do everything you can at once to gain control of your situation. It is important to realize that learning self-management is a lifelong process. You will not be able to achieve all your goals at once.

Focus On Success - A sense of failure and the resulting lack of self-confidence can be a devastating emotional challenge. It is crucial to accept that you will have bad days and focus on the successes you are having.