Shock | Runt | Consent | Self analysis | Acceptance of diagnosis
I have diabetes. Each of us has experienced a similar situation or maybe experiencing it now. Perhaps someone from your relatives or friends will face this. And it will be very good if we, the knowledgeable, manage to help somehow. Support in word or deed. Tell others why the patient has this or that reaction to the problem. After all, the disease is quite serious.
Every person diagnosed with diabetes goes through 5 main stages of perception.
Stage 1: SHOCK The first and perhaps the most natural reaction of the body is shock. A person denies the new disease, cannot accept changes and practically does not accept any doctor’s recommendations.
Stage 2: RUNT Having recovered from shock, a new psychological state is characterized by aggressive attitudes towards others. Here a lot will depend on the doctors. An experienced doctor must show restraint and not succumb to provocations. Rebellious behavior will fade over time, so do not immediately insist on a psychiatric evaluation.
Stage 3: CONSENT Finally, when the excitement and anxiety has subsided a little, comes the stage of consent. Consent to the illness, the doctor’s recommendations, a course of treatment, and a new way of life. Some internal struggle is still going on, the patient tries to argue, puts forward his conditions and demands, looks for a compromise.
Stage 4: SELF ANALYSIS Depression and hope are almost side by side. The problem makes you think about everything that happened in life before the diagnosis. At this stage, the endocrinologist is required to help eliminate residual anxiety, exercise maximum patience and insist on training to control the disease.
Stage 5: ACCEPTANCE OF DIAGNOSIS Sooner or later, a diabetic patient resigns himself to the diagnosis and takes the first steps in a new life. He tries to adapt as much as possible. The doctor and the patient finally reach an understanding, develop an individual nutritional plan, coordinate the daily routine and medication regimen.
A patient with diabetes should be clearly aware that medical care can only be provided within the walls of a hospital. Outside its borders, health directly depends only on himself.
If the doctor receives consent from the patient to follow all the recommendations, and there are some first positive results, then we can talk about complete mutual understanding. In medical terminology, this is called compliance. It is very important that these stages do not drag on for long. The patient, his family and the endocrinologist must do everything possible as soon as possible so that diabetes mellitus turns from a frightening diagnosis into a new way of life, with which millions of people around the world successfully live.