Holistic nutritionist Izzy Ansary said living with Type 1 diabetes while managing her mental health is a constant balancing act.
Ansary, now 29, was diagnosed with the disease at age 11 in 2004.
“I didn’t know what it was,” Ansary said. “When the doctor came in and let us know, my mom burst out into tears, and my mother is not a crier. So, I knew it was something serious.”
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to support the body’s needs, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) said.
The CDC said without insulin, sugar builds up in the bloodstream, which results in many high-risk complications of diabetes and damage to the body.
“Diabetes is a 24/7 disease, and you don’t get any breaks, there’s no vacations from managing your disease, and that constant burden of having to manage yourself is one of the biggest struggles that people living with diabetes experience,” said Amanda Hailman, JDRF National Manager of Mental Health.
The two most common mental health illnesses related to diabetes are depression and anxiety.
Tina Drossos, an associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at University of Chicago, said diabetics are 20 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety and depression than those without diabetes.
“Depression affects 1 in 4 people with diabetes. The prevalence rate of depression is about three times higher in patients with type 1 diabetes,” Drossos said.
Hailman claims there is a term unique to mental health and diabetes called diabetes distress, which encompasses the powerlessness, stress, and guilt that comes with living with diabetes and the burdens of self-management.
“Up to 50 per cent of adults with Type 1 diabetes experience diabetes distress,” she said.
Ansary said when her blood sugar levels go too low or too high, it feels as though her brain is not functioning. Many non-diabetics may not realize just how dangerous Type 1 diabetes can be and the importance of time.
“Anything can change in a matter of minutes, that’s what I want people to understand,” Ansary said. “We can change our moods, our sugars, our amount of urgency, everything in minutes.”
She said that diabetes is an invisible illness and people are quick to stereotype.
She has been told she does not look diabetic because she looks healthy.
Ansary said regardless of people looking at her diabetic technology — the insulin pump and the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device, the majority of people are still unaware of their purpose.
“People still think the pump is a pager, like people stopped using pagers in the ‘90s,” Ansary said. “We’re still out here advocating for diabetes awareness and people still don’t know what it really is.
“They’re not really seeing how it’s truly affecting us on the inside,” she said.
Drossos said invisible chronic illnesses can be treated differently because other individuals cannot see the disease.
“When people cannot see the disability, they do not know it exists or even if they know it exists, they may assume it is not serious because it does not cause a physical disability,” Drossos said.
Hailman said there is a stigma around diabetes, as well as mental health disorders, which can cause added hardships for those managing both.
She said balancing both invisible issues might keep diabetics from disclosing their conditions and seeking help from social services support or health care providers.
Healthcare Operations Consultant and Type 1 diabetic, Kylene Redmond, said she does not personally consider diabetes to be invisible. She now uses her Instagram, DiabeticBlackGirl, to advocate for Type 1 diabetics.
“It’s me living my black life as a person with diabetes on Instagram, right? Just showing representation,” Redmond said.
“I live out loud with diabetes,” Redmond said. “I don’t live it quietly, because it’s not quiet.”
Ansary said even her family did not realize how much she went through on a day-to-day basis until she started her online platform, advocating across social media.
She said the more years that she lives with diabetes, the more she realizes how much of a mental impact it has and how important it is to speak to oneself with kindness and grace.
“We have a little bit of extra weight to carry, but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep going, you’re just going to be stronger than the average person,” Ansary said. “Although sometimes we make it look easy or like that it’s not heavy, it doesn’t mean it’s not heavy, right?
“And I can still carry it.”