Psychosomatics of Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is directly related to a person’s hormonal background. And the hormonal background largely depends on the emotional state and the presence or absence of stress. This shows the psychosomatic nature of diabetes mellitus.

What Causes Diabetes Mellitus

The first cases of psychosomatic diabetes were recorded in the second half of the 19th century. It was diagnosed in former soldiers, linking the onset of the disease with a feeling of fear. Later, this disease was included in the international list of psychosomatic diseases (a modernized version of the “Holy Seven”). Any internal tension became considered a cause of development. Modern researchers assert that the cause should be sought in the last five years before the development of the disease.

Interesting! Besides the causes of development, the influence of diabetes mellitus on the psyche is actively studied nowadays. Some mental disorders associated with diabetes mellitus have already been identified: neurosis, psychosis, irritability, panic attacks, decreased libido, hyperexcitability, diabetic insulin coma, hallucinations, and others.

Psychosomatic Causes of Diabetes

Chronic or acute stress, overexertion, mental disorders, neuroses – all this and much more can be the cause of the disease. Can blood sugar rise on nervous grounds? Yes, blood sugar can rise due to stress. Let’s examine the causes in more detail.

How Emotions Affect the Onset of Diabetes

A quarter of all cases of diabetes are caused by constant psycho-emotional tension in patients. Everything we experience is the result of chemical reactions. Hormones are to blame for everything. The more negative irritants around us, the more harmful stress hormones are released.

When excited, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated. This suppresses insulin production, and blood glucose levels rise (cortisol, produced during stress, promotes glucose synthesis, as it provides energy for fighting). The more often this happens, the more the pancreas suffers, the more energy accumulates. If it is released and hormones return to normal, the body quickly recovers. If stress is chronic and energy does not find an outlet, it eventually leads to diabetes.

Diabetes According to Louise Hay

Causes of diabetes according to Louise Hay: negative thinking and chronic dissatisfaction (with work, family, lifestyle, etc.). Work on your beliefs and emotions. Learn to enjoy life, discover your desires, and start realizing them. Choose your life goals, not someone else’s. You deserve love, attention, care, respect, happiness. So give it all to yourself.

The second cause of the disease identified by Louise Hay is the inability to express love. Balance is important for harmony. You need to both receive and give love. And it’s better to find both in yourself. The ability to love is a personal quality that does not require a specific object. You can love yourself and the whole world, give love to yourself and to everyone.

Professor Sinelnikov’s Opinion on the Psychosomatics of Diabetes Mellitus

According to Sinelnikov, diabetes is caused by personality thinking patterns. Understand what benefit the disease brings. Then find a healthier way to obtain that benefit. Focus on developing positive thinking and achieving harmony with the world. But for this, you need to work on perception and self-perception, change your attitude towards yourself and the world.

Lise Bourbeau on Diabetes

Disorders in the pancreas arise against the backdrop of emotional turmoil. Diabetics are overly devoted to others and simultaneously have unrealistic expectations of others and themselves. They are very impressionable and emotional people with great desires and ambitions. But usually, they desire for others, not for themselves. They try to do better, help, care for others. But due to inadequate expectations and perceptions, this rarely ends in success. This leads to feelings of guilt.

Whatever the diabetic does, dreams about, or plans, it all stems from their unmet need for love, tenderness, and care. This is a deeply unhappy and sad person who does not love themselves. They lack attention and understanding, their soul suffers from emptiness. To gain attention and care, they get sick, and in attempts to find love, they overeat.

To heal, stop trying to control everything and everyone. It’s time to think about yourself and try to make yourself happy. Learn to live in the present and enjoy life. This affirmation can help: “Every moment of life is filled with joy. I joyfully meet today.”

V. Zhikarentsev’s Opinion

Psychosomatic causes of diabetes according to Zhikarentsev: living with thoughts of the future and the past, i.e., people live with dreams, regrets, thoughts of what could have been. To heal, you need to accept what has happened and love life in the present. You need to bring back the joy of life. The author advises using this affirmation: “This moment is filled with joy. I now choose to experience and feel the sweetness and freshness of today.”

Personality Type and Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes often develops in overweight individuals. However, this is not so much due to eating habits as it is to personality traits:

• Irritability;
• Low performance;
• Low self-esteem;
• Insecurity;
• Self-dislike;
• Dissatisfaction with oneself;
• Regret over missed opportunities;
• Craving for care and even dependency on others;
• Feelings of insecurity and emotional abandonment;
• Passivity.

All these become the cause of constant internal tension. External negative factors intensify it. As a result, a person starts to eat away their problems or tries to satisfy needs through food. Often, food is used as a substitute for love. But the need remains unmet, and the person constantly experiences hunger. This leads to overeating, weight gain, and exhaustion of the insulin-producing apparatus.

Psychosomatics of Type 1 Diabetes

In type 1 diabetes, insufficient insulin is produced, causing deterioration in well-being. This type of diabetes is more common in children, adolescents, and young people up to 30 years old. Psychological causes of type 1 diabetes include chronic dissatisfaction and a feeling of insecurity. Due to the fear of being abandoned, a person suppresses personal needs and desires.

The psychosomatics of type 1 diabetes have childhood roots. Likely, there was a tense, unfavorable atmosphere in the family, which provoked the development of anxiety, a sense of danger, and fear of loneliness. Or the child experienced trauma related to separation, the death of a close one. Constant tension due to anxiety is compounded by overeating and an unhealthy lifestyle. Emotional hunger is mistaken for physical hunger. This leads to overeating and, over time, the development of diabetes.

Psychosomatics of Type 2 Diabetes

In type 2 diabetes, the body produces too much insulin and eventually cannot cope with the elevated hormone level. Type 2 diabetes develops against the backdrop of fear and anxiety, but it is generally not related to a feeling of insecurity. It is more associated with negative emotions that are suppressed and eaten away or drowned with alcohol. Due to harmful habits, there are disturbances in the pancreas and liver, and the endocrine system, leading to a hormonal imbalance.

Psychosomatics of Diabetes in Children

Stress can be caused by a single strong psychotraumatic event or a series of minor traumatic situations. Possible psychological causes of diabetes in children:

• Parents’ divorce;
• Parents’ busyness (the child feels unwanted and unprotected);
• Violence, punishments, humiliations;
• Death of someone close;
• Conflicts and scandals in the family;
• Starting kindergarten or school;
• Conflicts in relationships with peers;
• Others.

Sometimes diabetes is caused by a subconscious childhood fear of being defeated or offended, wounded. The child does not feel safe, constantly being in a state of stress.

The risk of developing diabetes is intensified by personality traits such as:

• Indecision;
• Avoidance of difficulties and responsibilities;
• Anxiety;
• Fear of failure;
• Underdeveloped self-organization and planning skills.

Important! Childhood diabetes is more acute than the disease in adults. There are sudden drops in blood sugar levels. During these times, the child experiences pronounced weakness, hunger, anxiety, irritability, aggression. Their skin becomes pale. In such a state, it is necessary to immediately raise the blood sugar level. This can be done by giving food with fast carbohydrates: candy, banana, chocolate, etc.

Treatment and Prevention

According to research, anxious individuals, those prone to depression, and those with family problems are more susceptible to diabetes. Personal psychological traumas and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also have a negative impact. In PTSD, the body can maintain a “combat readiness” for decades, even if the problematic situation is in the past.

How to Prevent the Development of Diabetes – Advice from a Psychologist

Never eat away stress. Yes, eating sweets does help stabilize the hormonal background for a while. However, this effect is short-lived, and the “rebound” afterward creates even more stress for the body. It’s better to combat stress through sports, favorite activities, massage, warm baths. The result is the same: a surge of endorphins, neutralization of cortisol and adrenaline, and muscle tension relief. During stress, energy accumulates, and it needs to be released: shout, do push-ups, dance, etc.

Treatment

For complete healing, work with an endocrinologist and psychotherapist is necessary. In psychotherapy, positive results are achieved through conversations, training, exercises. Sometimes the prescription of antidepressants, sedatives, or other drugs is indicated. But only a psychotherapist can prescribe them. Diabetes rarely affects active, cheerful, positive people. So cultivate these qualities in yourself. Get rid of fears, bring back the taste for life.