Emotional diabetes: does it really exist?

Do I have emotional diabetes? As striking as it may seem to us, many patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes often ask their doctor if perhaps the origin of this disease lies in worries, stress, daily anguish and those emotions that alter the quality of life and even the health. Now, can this be possible?

For a start, Type 2 diabetes is a condition that basically consists of one fact: the body does not process insulin well, a type of basic and essential hormone produced by the pancreas. Thanks to it, the glucose in the food we consume is converted into energy. Resistance to this hormone (or its low production) causes the blood sugar level to rise little by little and cause serious alterations.

This is the mechanism by which a person is diabetic. If we now introduce the emotional factor we could talk about how stress, for example, alters many metabolic processes. It is true that strong emotions raise the level of cortisol in the blood and thus also increases the release of glucose.

However, let’s think. By that rule of three, possibly, almost 90% of the population would be diabetic. If this disease depended “exclusively” on the emotional aspect, many of us would also have developed this problem. However, one thing is evident: stress factors can often be promoters of lifestyle changes that can lead to this health problem.

We analyze it.

Emotional diabetes does not exist: for what reason?

There are diseases that, despite being with us since the beginning of time, constitute a challenge. Diabetes is still a major public health problem. and every day the number of those affected increases. Studies, such as the one carried out at the University of Manchester by Dr. Juliana Maina, point out that it is more important than ever for the population to know the causes that lead to type 2 diabetes.

The pace at which it grows and the way it affects life expectancy forces us to become aware of its reality. Its development can be silent and gradual at first until clear symptoms become apparent around the age of 55 or 60. However, this chronic disease appears with great frequency among the child population. Its causes? The following.

What causes the appearance of diabetes?

As we noted at the beginning, the development of diabetes stems from a problem: the body either does not produce enough insulin or does not process it as it should. We know that there are a series of factors that cause this problem:

The complet abandonment of healthy eating habits. Leaning toward a poorly varied diet, rich in sugars and processed foods, is an important factor. The increase in body mass index and overweight. Hypertension.The sedentary life.Genetic factors are another common trigger.

Why does emotional diabetes not exist?

Emotional diabetes does not exist as a disease or as a diagnostic category. We can only talk about type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Well it is true that There is a relationship between chronic stress and elevated blood glucose.When the body experiences a greater release of adrenaline and cortisol, the brain understands that we need more energy. This is when a higher level of glucose is released into the blood. But this does not make us diabetic. That is, non-diabetic people have no problem recovering their normal glucose values. They metabolize it without problems. On the other hand, there will be people whose pancreas does not produce enough insulin or who are resistant to it, in which case they will not be able to resolve that high blood glucose spike.

What science tells us about diabetes and our emotions

We insist, There are no diabetic people as a sole and exclusive consequence of having experienced stressful situations.. Now, the studies carried out on the subject point out interesting aspects that are worth talking about.

In 2006, Tel Aviv University carried out research on the relationship between burnout work and diabetes. There was a significant relationship that we will now explain.

The same thing happened in a large population study carried out by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. We cannot talk about the existence of emotional diabetes, it is true, but there are interesting nuances. Emotions can sometimes act together with other decisive factors in the development of this disease.. We analyze it.

Depression and chronic exhaustion can alter our lifestyle and predict diabetes

Let’s imagine a person who has spent years suffering from a situation of burnout in his work. Over time it leads to depression and with it your entire lifestyle changes: your eating habits change, your life is very sedentary, you suffer from insomnia… All of these are more than obvious factors that increase the risk of suffering from diabetes. .

That is, we cannot speak of emotional diabetes as such or conclude with the fact that adverse emotions turn us into diabetics. However, Factors such as depression do alter our behavior and eating habits. enough to lead (in certain cases) to this chronic disease. It is worth keeping it in mind.

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