Depression can develop among people who have been diagnosed with diabetes. Not having control of depression after the diagnosis of diabetes, or after the diabetes progresses, can have a negative impact on medical treatment. Studies have shown that depression, when associated with diabetes, can impact the psychological, physical and social outcomes. Another complication that has been associated with development of depression in association with diabetes is the increased use of tobacco and lower satisfaction with one's treatment for diabetes.
Before a person can get help with depression after a diagnosis of diabetes, or after he experiences complications as a result of diabetes, he first needs to know how to spot depressive symptoms. The American Diabetes Association has recommended the following guidelines for detecting the symptoms of depression, if you are feeling sad or down in the dumps for an extended period of time. Symptoms include:
- Not taking pleasure in what you used to enjoy. Some examples can include not enjoying reading, no longer exercising, no longer wanting to go to social events, not wanting to spend time with family or friends, or not working as hard at work as you did before being diagnosed with diabetes.
- Changes in sleep behaviors. Studies have shown that depression is a risk factor for daytime sleepiness, and individuals with diabetes are two times more likely to experience daytime sleepiness. In Type 1 diabetes, changes in glucose levels during sleep have been shown to cause a person to awaken during sleep at night. In Type 2 diabetes, since this form of diabetes is usually associated with obesity, a person could experience sleep apnea. Some of the other changes in sleeping behavior can include getting up early or not being able to get to sleep at night.
- Changes in your eating behavior. You start to eat more, or different, food than you use to, you start putting on weight, you start not following the recommended diet plan provided to you by your health care provider, or you start to lose weight that can’t be explained by other factors, such as increased exercise.
If you start to notice any of the aforementioned symptoms, it is important to get help. Meet with your doctor, if you think you are experiencing depressive symptoms, because some complications during the progression of diabetes can lead to a person experiencing symptoms that resemble depression but are not actuallly a result of this disorder.