Published: 29 August, 2024 Did you know about half of all people with diabetes (that’s about 700,000 Australians) have faced a mental health challenge? The mental toll of managing diabetes is significant and for many, it can feel overwhelming. If you feel like this, you’re not alone. This September is Mental Health Month, and the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) has launched Looking after your mind – a one-stop digital shop dedicated to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of people living with diabetes. Whether you’ve just been diagnosed, or have been living with diabetes for a while, Looking after your mind is your place to find practical tools to help you look after your mental health and wellbeing. Let’s take a look at some key benefits of this new resource and how you can use these tools to help ease stress and anxiety, set realistic goals, improve sleep, and strengthen relationships with those close to you. Understanding your mood can help you better manage your blood glucose levels (BGLs) Did you know the relationship between your mind and your body is a two-way street? How you feel can impact your BGLs and your BGLs can affect how you feel. By understanding and being aware of your body’s signals it can help you better manage your mood and diabetes. Discover what causes mood changes and what they mean. Setting goals helps make your diabetes management easier Setting goals can help you to focus, build healthy habits, and keep you on track when life wants to take you off course. It’s important to choose goals that get you excited, but that you feel you can achieve. Having a mix of short-term and long-term goals is good for your motivation levels. Explore how to set realistic goals and achieve them. Be kind to your mind – it will help you tackle the hard days It’s easy to be hard on yourself when you live with diabetes, to focus on the things that go wrong instead of right. However, taking the time to celebrate your wins (no matter how small) helps build confidence and strength to tackle the harder days. Discover how to be kind to your mind with these top tips. Get the most out of your night’s sleep It’s no surprise that quality sleep is essential for good health. It helps balance and restore your body, from mood to blood glucose levels. But getting a good night’s sleep can be hard when you have diabetes. Getting up in the night for the bathroom or to check glucose levels is often unavoidable. However, there are things you can do to help make falling (and staying) asleep easier to get the most out of your night’s sleep. Get your guide to a good night’s sleep with these practical tips. Build strong relationships through talking about diabetes It’s not always easy to talk about the challenges of living with diabetes. However, being open with those close to you can help them understand what you’re going through. Learning to navigate diabetes together as a team can help share the load and reduce feelings of stress and isolation. Discover how to talk about diabetes through these common relationship challenges. This Mental Health Month make your mental health a priority by exploring the tools and practical advice in Looking after your mind. Share this resource with your friends and family to encourage the conversation about diabetes and emotional health.
