Combating Stigma in Diabetes Online Content

In today's digital world, the internet has become a significant source of information and support for individuals with chronic conditions such as diabetes. However, despite its many advantages, the online sphere is not immune to the perpetuation of stigma and misinformation surrounding the condition. You may have read a lot about stigma via your social media platforms of late. I apologise if my own content has been focused on that subject. However, I do believe it is a hugely important issue and one which can be addressed within the general population. I understand that to many of you stigma is not the most exciting subject to read about. Indeed, some of you may have never experienced stigmatising content. Stick with me, have a read, it will only take a few minutes.

So, we know that diabetes is a chronic condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It is characterised by the body's inability to properly regulate blood sugar levels. Unfortunately, diabetes is often associated with stereotypes, misconceptions, and blame. Stigma arises from these preconceived notions and societal attitudes, resulting in discrimination, shame, and psychological distress for those living with diabetes.

The internet has revolutionised the way we access and share information. It offers a wealth of resources and online communities, such as #GBDoc, that can be immensely beneficial for individuals with diabetes. However, the online sphere is also a breeding ground for stigma and misinformation. Many platforms lack proper oversight, allowing harmful content to spread unchecked. As a consequence, diabetics often face an uphill battle in navigating the online landscape, leading to increased anxiety, self-stigmatisation, and poor mental health.

Stigmatising content can have severe consequences for individuals with diabetes. It not only perpetuates harmful stereotypes but also hinders our ability to manage the condition effectively. Stigma may discourage individuals from seeking necessary medical care, adhering to treatment plans, or even disclosing their condition to others. Consequently, this can lead to poor glycemic control, increased complications, and a diminished quality of life.

To combat stigma effectively, it is crucial to empower individuals with diabetes through education and awareness. Creating and promoting online content that accurately represents the realities of living with diabetes can play a pivotal role in challenging misconceptions and dispelling stereotypes. At #GBDoc, we recently launched the #StopTheStigma campaign to do precisely that. By providing evidence-based information, sharing personal experiences, and embracing empathy towards others, we can reshape the narrative around diabetes and create a more inclusive online environment.

Online communities such as GBDoc can serve as a lifeline for individuals with diabetes, offering support, validation, and a sense of belonging. These communities should prioritise the creation of safe spaces that are free from stigma and judgement. As a volunteer, I work hard to ensure everybody feels safe to engage in and express themselves in the communities that I am a part of. If you notice or experience otherwise, just let me know.

Healthcare professionals CAN play a crucial role in combating stigma surrounding diabetes. By staying updated on the latest research, guidelines, and treatments, they can provide accurate information to their patients and the general public. Sadly, there are some HCPs with a different agenda. I strongly encourage diabetics of any type to avoid engaging with or acknowledging HCPs who are promoting diets or lifestyles via a subscription based service. There are a few of those guys kicking around, even in the UK!

Additionally, healthcare professionals can actively engage with online communities, offering expert advice, clarifying misconceptions, and addressing concerns. By bridging the gap between medical knowledge and the online sphere, healthcare professionals can become allies in the fight against diabetes stigma.

Despite it being 2023 and despite many words of advice and correction, stigma surrounding diabetes persists in online content today, creating barriers for individuals seeking support and information. However, by recognising the impact of stigma and actively working to combat it, we can create a more inclusive and supportive online environment for individuals with diabetes. Through education, empathy, and the promotion of accurate information, we can break down barriers, empower those affected by diabetes, and contribute to everyone's overall well-being.

I'd like to ask you all to share your experiences of stigma on your social media accounts. If you can, post that content where people could benefit from learning about stigma (where people without diabetes might read it) and use the hashtag #StopTheStigma. Raising awareness has the greatest impact among the unaware.

If you enjoyed this blog and you'd like to support me over the time that I give to others, my online content, or if you'd like some direct support from me then check out these links:

BUY DIABETIC DAD A COFFEE HERE

BECOME A BLOG MEMBER

GET MENTORING SUPPORT FROM DIABETIC DAD

Prefer PayPal?

BUY DIABETIC DAD A COFFEE THROUGH PAYPAL  

Diabetes Abuse

 

Living with diabetes can be a challenging experience, and connecting with others who understand what it’s like can be incredibly beneficial. However, as with any community, there can be issues that arise, including abusive behaviour. Unfortunately, even within the diabetes community, there are people who engage in abusive behaviour towards their fellow diabetics. This can take many forms, from bullying and shaming to outright harassment and intimidation.

It’s important to recognise that abusive behaviour is never acceptable, regardless of who is engaging in it or why. No matter how frustrated or angry someone may be, it is never okay to take that out on another person, especially someone who is dealing with the same struggles that you are. In fact, engaging in abusive behaviour towards other diabetics is particularly harmful because it can undermine the sense of community and support that is so important in managing diabetes.

Here are some of the reasons why it’s essential to not accept abusive behaviour within the diabetes community:

• It undermines the support system

One of the most significant benefits of the diabetes community is the sense of support and understanding that it provides. When you connect with other diabetics, you can share your experiences, exchange advice and tips, and find comfort in the fact that you are not alone. However, when abusive behaviour is present, it can erode that sense of support and understanding.

People who are subjected to abuse may feel isolated and alone, as if they have no one to turn to who will understand what they are going through. This can make it more challenging to manage diabetes, as the support that they would usually rely on is no longer available. It’s essential to create a safe and supportive environment within the diabetes community to ensure that everyone feels comfortable seeking and offering support.

• It can have negative mental health consequences

Abusive behaviour can have a significant impact on mental health. For people with diabetes, who already have to manage the stress and anxiety that comes with living with a chronic condition, this can be especially harmful. Abuse can lead to feelings of shame, guilt, and worthlessness, which can exacerbate existing mental health issues or even lead to the development of new ones.

It’s crucial to prioritise mental health within the diabetes community, and that means not accepting abusive behaviour. People with diabetes need a supportive environment where they can feel safe discussing their struggles and seeking help when they need it. If abusive behaviour is present, it can make people feel even more isolated and alone, which can be detrimental to their mental health.

• It perpetuates harmful stereotypes

Unfortunately, there are still many harmful stereotypes and misconceptions about diabetes. Some people believe that diabetes is a result of poor lifestyle choices, and that people with diabetes are lazy, unmotivated, or lacking in willpower. These stereotypes are not only untrue, but they are also harmful and can contribute to the stigma that people with diabetes face.

When people within the diabetes community engage in abusive behaviour, they are perpetuating these harmful stereotypes. By shaming or bullying other diabetics, they are essentially saying that they believe these stereotypes are true, and that people who struggle with diabetes are somehow to blame for their condition. This can be incredibly damaging, both to the individual who is being targeted and to the community as a whole.

• It creates an unsafe environment

Abusive behaviour can create an unsafe environment within the diabetes community. People who are subjected to abuse may feel uncomfortable attending diabetes-related events or engaging with others in the community. They may feel that they are at risk of being targeted again, and that they have no recourse if that happens.

Creating a safe environment within the diabetes community means ensuring that everyone feels comfortable and supported. No one should feel as though they are at risk of being targeted or harassed. When abusive behaviour is present, it can undermine that sense of safety within the community.

If you enjoyed this blog and you'd like to support me over the time that I give to others then check out these links:

BUY DIABETIC DAD A COFFEE HERE

BECOME A BLOG MEMBER

GET MENTORING SUPPORT FROM DIABETIC DAD

Prefer PayPal?

BUY DIABETIC DAD A COFFEE THROUGH PAYPAL

Out Of Order

You might remember two of my earlier blog posts if you're a regular reader; Hobnobs in Hiding part 1 and part 2 are two of my more popular posts. If you've never read those or you'd just like a refresher then:

Hobnobs in Hiding Pt.1 is here

Hobnobs in Hiding Pt.2 is here

Those posts contain detail of my early diabetic life through school, my struggles to come to terms with my diabetes and the extraordinary lengths which I went to, to hide my condition.

Why am I revisiting those posts? Well, back to the present day, you may have noticed some controversy on Twitter surrounding a very tiny newspaper piece which was sent in by an anonymous reader. Liana tweeted a photo of the offending article but if you haven't seen it, it looks like this:

Alongside many others, I expressed my displeasure at using column inches for such a stigma breeding opinion. The Metro published replies to that opinion and that is perhaps some saving grace for them. However, should it have been given the time of day in the first instance? We can't assume readers pick up and read The Metro on consecutive days to hear both sides of the "argument" - Three responded to the offending comment.

Not that there is an argument to be had or any kind of debate, really. I strongly believe that anybody should be allowed to treat their illness in a public place when necessary but, as a Type 1 Diabetic, I am only going to write about Type 1 Diabetes in this post and the incredible dangers of causing people like me to hide their diabetes.

It is only relatively recently that I gained the confidence to talk openly about my diabetes and even more recently that I have gained the confidence to do diabetes "stuff" in public. Many have simply bitten the bullet and never hidden their diabetes, public injecting and blood glucose checking has never caused them any anxiety and they just crack on with things. Others have always had a problem in that regard and, to this day, should I need to inject in public rather than use an insulin pump I would have anxieties over the process, being watched and being judged. Reading through the Twitter threads following the Metro controversy, it became apparent that some are going through what I did in the 1980s and what I still would be going though over public injecting. 

Bathrooms, toilets, the WC, whatever your preferred term, appear to be the go-to place for many to hide away to do their diabetes necessities. Some even recalled incidents of being told or asked to use the bathroom to check their BG or administer a bolus - Hence the image used for this post. The bathroom might not be out of order but demanding that a diabetic use one to inject absolutely is!

Nobody with diabetes should feel ashamed to have the condition. I doubt that many of the diagnosed woke up one day and decided it would be cool to be a diabetic and actively tried to make it happen. Millions of people have diabetes of various types. It is incredibly common. So, why are we being shamed, stigmatised and made to feel like second class citizens?

The media.

Society still takes on board a lot of media influence. That might be TV, Internet or "newspapers" such as The Metro. Influence isn't as difficult as you might imagine. A few carefully chosen words and images can cause many to act and think in the most horrendous of ways. Sensationalism sells much copy, too. Could that be the reason why The Metro published the thoughts of "Shocked" the anonymous person from Tyne and Wear. With much attention and even reader responses, the following day, I wonder just how real "Shocked" is and just how truthful their little comment actually is. The British press are well known for the somewhat bending of the truth. It sells copy, remember? 

"Shocked" suggested an injection into the hip, too. I've injected in various places but never into the hip, have you? and the lifting of the skirt to the hip? I've never worn a skirt but I can only imagine that hip exposure is easier from pulling the top of a skirt down a few inches. 

Things don't add up with this little opinion piece but that's by the by. It's published and the easily influenced may feel the need to verbalise how shocked they are should they see a diabetic doing what they need to do in a public place. 

A person may then neglect to inject, pump, check their BG, flash a sensor or check their CGM in public from then on. Purposefully neglecting their T1D management, conditioning themselves to hiding it and potentially causing complications issues in the long run, hypo issues in the immediate term. A person who didn't ask to be a diabetic and who is just trying to manage their chronic illness to stay alive and well.

We talk about language in diabetes a lot. Sometimes, that's very valid. Sometimes, not really. In this case and in every stigmatising piece published or broadcast by media, I firmly believe it needs to be called out and corrected in the loudest ways from the most senior people working as advocates. Stigma and the discrimination it breeds is absolutely out of order. 

BUY DIABETIC DAD A COFFEE HERE

BECOME A BLOG MEMBER

GET MENTORING SUPPORT FROM DIABETIC DAD

Prefer PayPal?

BUY DIABETIC DAD A COFFEE THROUGH PAYPAL

 

Due Diligence

How is your Diabetes Awareness Month going? Still aware, I know. Hilarious jokes aside, there has been a lot of really good information and experiences shared on social media. Yesterday, World Diabetes Day, saw the awareness posts increase further and I think that's a great thing. If we want others to understand the condition which we try to manage 24/7 then it makes good sense to talk about it openly. 

It makes good sense for the people living with D, the Diabetics, to talk openly. Even if the facts aren't always correct, you'll still read first-hand lived experience. I've been an advocate of talking for several years now because, for me at least, it is a source of therapy, information exchanging and a super way to just vent about my T1D.

As individuals, we don't really need to perform much due diligence ahead of publishing our thoughts. It might be a good idea to hold fire if you're angry or upset or going through a rough time with your mental health but I think on a general day we can simply hit the Tweet, Post, Submit, Send buttons without much of a care.

In the world of health care, for profit or otherwise, I think far more care is needed and I think that there is enough information and help around for any business to avoid the brown hitting the fan. That is especially true if your business is Diabetes focused. Then you really need to be getting the right people to give you the right advice because nobody loves a pile on like social media folk while trying to balance their blood glucose levels. Some of us are happy to highlight the damaging, too. What sort of advocate would I be if I didn't vilify the hurtful and stigmatising of my peers? A pretty bad one, I reckon.

I don't actively hunt for the trash content, I have a life. I will amplify it when I see it. I might have a little sarcastic rant or simply pose an open question. Of course, how a business reacts to that is their "business" and how I give my support to them in the future, if I amplify their campaigns, if I accept any work from them, then depends on that next reaction. I think that's the correct way to behave in most aspects of life. See a mistake, highlight the mistake, wait for correction (or not) then move on in whatever direction is most morally comfortable for you.

The World Health Organisation posted some pretty awful things in relation to Diabetes on World Diabetes Day. Normally, I would include a link or a screenshot here but I think many of you have already read that rubbish or it won't take you very long to find it if you haven't and you're very interested. It's disturbing to think that an organisation of that size cannot hire somebody to perform some fact checking over their Diabetes posts and infographics. A little due diligence for the care of their 10.1 million Twitter followers, especially those who live with Diabetes, shouldn't break the bank. I imagine the right Diabetes advocates would offer their time for free for such a thing. 

That is not the WHO's only "gaff". They were busy stigmatising during their Compact summit in April. 7 months later and more trash from the same organisation. I could talk about some of their Covid-19 posts, next. The list is starting to look pretty long and very, very trashy. 

So, right now, that's me done with the WHO and everything related to them. I'm sure they'll cope without me. It was all a bit downhill after Baba O'Riley anyway.

Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

BUY DIABETIC DAD A COFFEE HERE

 

Stop Diabetes Stigma! But How?

"Stigma" is frequently heard in reference to Diabetes, especially in social media circles. Sometimes, an image is tweeted in all it's horrifyingly inaccurate and stigmatising glory. It doesn't take very long for the community, be it DOC, GBDoc or otherwise to pick up on such tweets before a torrent of strongly worded replies are sent. Often, the stigmatising tweets are recycled or edited slightly to suit the agenda of the tweeter. In my four years in Diabetes Twitter, I've seen that happen several times. The 'Ice cream cone for a leg' image has certainly been knocking around for a while and often resurfaces amid a fresh round of anger and vilification.

In four years a lot can happen. On the Internet and in the world of social media, MUCH can happen. Technology changes, attitudes change, we grow, we improve - don't we? I'm beginning to think that we haven't when it comes to stigma.

I remember the ice cream cone, and other such images and tweets, from the early days of my Twitter account. The outpouring of disgust and anger then was heartening as it was towards subsequent tweets of the same ilk. Now, in 2021 I'm beginning to think that we as a community of people living with diabetes, are wasting our time. Social Media is often described as "shouting into the void" and it feels very much like that when it comes to calling out stigma because, quite simply, nothing is changing in that regard.

Perhaps you're a keen advocate for people living with diabetes and you think that you're doing everything you can to stop the stigma surrounding the condition by expressing your anger, correcting the offending tweet and retweeting the message. Perhaps your friends notice your retweet and hop aboard the latest round of disgust and corrections and vents. And that feels great, you've had your say, somebody was wrong on the Internet and you told them! Back to posting black and white pictures of yourself or discussing last night's Line Of Duty. I've done that. I'll probably do it again.

You're probably understanding what I'm getting at here. The expressions of anger and correcting such stigmatising tweets are all fine and dandy but they are not changing anything. Other such "campaigning" continues but still the world is faced with the same issues; skin colour, sex, sexuality, disability, age, status, and on it goes. 

(Bizarrely we see those who are very vocal about discrimination, offer their disgust at stigma and the discrimination which they face, on one hand while talking disparagingly about skin colour, sex and age on the other. Something has been lost in the fight for equality, somewhere.)

If we, as individuals cannot stop the stigma surrounding diabetes then who can? Perhaps the charities and organisations that represent and support us!? A great idea. I thought I'd do a little searching around and I couldn't really find a great deal from the major diabetes charities in the UK in regards to the stigma faced by diabetics and the work they're doing to reduce it. I must be missing something.

I ran a poll on Twitter; Here it is 

I know, a small sample size but enough people took the time to vote and give their view here to make the results very concerning. Over a third of those voting think that charities are not doing a thing to help reduce the stigma we face. 2% think they're doing everything they can. 

Could it be that the charities are not aware of this issue? Perhaps. Perhaps they'll be tagged into a tweet for this blog and, indeed, more of the stigmatising tweets that we face in future. Then maybe we'll see some real work and real results when it comes to reducing diabetes stigma. 

Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

BUY DIABETIC DAD A COFFEE HERE