Diabetes is a serious chronic disease and there are some legitimate reasons to fear being diagnosed with it. When fear of diabetes starts having a negative impact on your life, you could be experiencing diabetophobia – the official name for fear of diabetes. Like any phobia (an irrational fear that goes beyond normal response) a fear of diabetes can turn the diabetophobe’s life into a series of challenges.

Some people manage to live relatively normal lives by suppressing their fear reactions and actively avoiding triggers. More severely affected people can experience disabling reactions to the mention of diabetes or anything that brings the disease to mind. The good news is that it’s perfectly possible to change how you react to the various triggers that cause your fear, so long as you know what to do and how to do it.

The root cause of the fear of diabetes may be related to the complications of diabetes or the fear of the treatments for the disease. Complications such as blindness or loss of limbs may be the basis for fear of diabetes, even though you know that most people don’t suffer to this great an extent. Fear of regular insulin injections or the pricking of fingers for glucose tests are sometimes behind the fear of diabetes. Many people are scared of needles or injections.

Modern diagnosis and treatment of diabetes will delay or prevent many of the complications. The fear of insulin self-injections can be eased with insulin pumps. Some of the causes for the irrational fear of diabetes can be eliminated by educating the diabetophobe. Convincing the sufferer that many of the reasons for the fear are ungrounded is a good first step in treatment.

Most phobias respond well to treatments that reprogram the unconscious mind’s fear reactions. Fear of diabetes has been shown to respond well to a combination of education and reprogramming techniques. Some doctors prescribe medication to treat phobias. Most medical professionals believe medication only masks the symptoms and does not treat the causes.

If you are having problems with daily activities because of a fear of diabetes you should consult a professional for a correct diagnosis. A professional can run tests to be sure you do not actually have diabetes and to check for underlying conditions that increase you susceptibility to fear or anxiety problems.

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