One of the common topics in the psychosocial adjustment to diabetes is empowerment and reducing the feeling of being “different from others” among people with diabetes, especially children and adolescents. Being in a group of peers or other people while having diabetes, regardless of age, brings up the question of adequate self-care and responding to questions about actions related to one’s condition.
Sometimes this can be interesting and inspire a desire in people with diabetes to educate others, but it can also be exhausting and tiring, and they may encounter misunderstanding. This is especially true in situations when they receive unwanted advice on how to “cure” diabetes or what they should or should not eat. However, good adjustment also means repeatedly educating others while consistently performing all behaviours needed to keep glucose levels within target ranges. It is extremely important that other people’s reactions do not prevent us from continuing the behaviours essential for our well-being.
But what happens when we are in a group of people who also have diabetes?
Intuitively, we might say that “being among your own” is beneficial for people with diabetes and brings only positive outcomes—information, emotional support, a sense of connection… Especially today, when such effects can be found quickly through social networks, online platforms and diabetes groups. Yet both clinical practice and research show somewhat contradictory results regarding the exchange of diabetes-related information on social media, especially in type 1 diabetes.
Why is this the case, and what kind of information exists on social media?
One of the key factors influencing the benefits of information exchange for people with diabetes is social comparison. Many social media content creators have their own platforms where they share their lives with diabetes and offer advice so that others might achieve similar outcomes. On such platforms and social networks, people with diabetes often offer ready-made solutions: how they exercise, their choice, preparation and consumption of food, and even their therapy and technology use. And this can be a potential difficulty for others. These routines work for that individual, and while they may come with valuable insights, such regimens may not work for everyone.
Additionally, the information shared is often framed as “successful”—we are generally more inclined to share content that portrays us in a socially desirable way: when our Time-in-Range is high, when the regimen is working, and when test results are excellent. For some people with diabetes, such content can have the opposite effect of the intended motivation boost—leading instead to feelings of failure and reduced motivation for self-care.
One study on a sample of 234 people with diabetes examined the effect of motivators who were either doing better or worse than the participants. The goal was to determine how both groups influenced the motivation for self-care.
Individuals who were more motivated by improvement responded better to role models with better results than their own, whereas individuals who were more prevention-oriented responded better to role models who were in a worse health situation than themselves. This is why it is important to understand your own motivators and to identify the types of information that help you maintain good self-management, so that you can navigate the sea of online information and choose what truly aligns with you.
Does this mean that we should limit the way people write about diabetes and set rules for it?
Among the many available pieces of information that individuals wish to share, there is no place for bans or rigid approaches. Every person who wants to educate others about diabetes, about living with it, and about their own daily routines is more than welcome and brings many useful and encouraging messages to others. In the broad diversity of information that exists, everyone who puts effort into sharing contributes and helps others, showing altruistic motives. It is up to us to choose those who do us good, who encourage us to take even better care of ourselves, and who teach us psychological flexibility towards content that does not align with us.
And that is exactly what good adjustment to diabetes looks like 🙂
Author: Ivona Poljak
