What Is the Relationship Between Diabetes and Depression?
For many years, people thought that it was obvious that depression was the result of having diabetes. For example, when I was in nursing schoolin the late 1970’s, I have a distinct memory of hearing one of my instructors tell my class that depression and diabetes seemed to go hand-in-hand. “After all,” she said, “Who wouldn’t be depressed? You have to give yourself shots every day. You have to restrict your eating, and you never get to eat a real dessert. And no matter what you do you’re still at risk of having an amputation, going blind, or losing your kidneys.” But, of course, many people with diabetes handle their self-management without getting depressed and more recent research has shown us that the relationship between diabetes and depression is more complex than people once thought. While it is true that some people become depressed because of the stress of having and treating diabetes, other people have an episode of severe depression several months or years before they have hi
