Last Updated on April 24, 2024
Scientific evidence shows that anxiety can increase the risk of diabetes. Many studies have found anxiety and depression symptoms to be significant risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
People with anxiety may become worried over a variety of things. These can include monitoring their work, health, school, diet, and weight.
They may also have worries about health complications, as well as long-term effects. People with anxiety are at higher risk for certain health complications, such as depression, heart disease, and poor diet, a sum of which can culminate in Type 2 diabetes. Knowing this can lead to further anxiety.
Chronic worrying about life, money, life insurance, and other general things, the coronavirus included poses higher-than-average health risks for stress and anxiety.
Higher levels of stress hormones may elevate blood sugar levels and prevent insulin-producing cells in the pancreas from working optimally.
Research data shows that anxiety bedevils nearly 40 % of all people with diabetes. The prevalence is higher than in the U.S. population, where anxiety affects 18.1 % of the population.
It’s critical to note that anxiety can be both a risk factor and symptom of diabetes. People living with diabetes type 2 are at higher risk of developing hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Many symptoms of low blood sugar resemble those of anxiety.
What’s more, data from a 2015 clinical study shows that getting several hypoglycemia episodes increases the risk of anxiety. Experts believe that the reason for this could be that low blood sugar triggers metabolic and chemical changes that physically upset the brain’s region responsible for controlling and processing natural anxiety.
What Is Anxiety? How Does It Link to 2 Diabetes?
Every human being gets bouts of anxiety now and then. For people diagnosed with anxiety disorder, the feelings of fear and worry are continuous, overwhelming, and uncontrollable — and they may even worsen in time.
If you have an anxiety disorder, you may get intrusive thoughts, evade certain situations that lead to distress, or have physical symptoms, including but not limited to high blood pressure. Anxiety is a serious medical condition much the way diabetes is.
The main difference between normal anxiety and a medical diagnosis of the same is how much the condition affects your daily life.
A clinical diagnosis of anxiety means that anxiety has or is causing a higher degree of impairment to your normal life, making it hard to fulfill obligations.
Even though people living with anxiety can take care of their family and do all their duties at work, anxiety impacts how well they attend to these obligations.
How Anxiety Disorder Increase the Risk for Diabetes
When you experience persistent emotional stress, your body releases hormones that elevate your blood sugar. Adrenaline and cortisol are the two major hormones involved in anxiety and stress.
High blood sugar in times of stress is a natural response. If a panther is chasing you, you will need both adrenaline and cortisol to prepare your body for “fight or flight” and give you the energy (sugar) you need to act.
But when you have an anxiety disorder, your body increases these hormones’ production, even when there isn’t any physical threat around.
The result? Constant gushes of adrenaline and cortisol can raise your blood pressure and increase your risk of heart attacks. It can lead to mourning anxiety and insomnia, weight gain, and headaches. Higher levels of cortisol, particularly, cause high insulin resistance. Over time, all these can increase your risk for diabetes type 2.
People with Diabetes have a Higher Risk for Anxiety.
Diabetes can cause anxiety. For people living with diabetes, the causes of anxiety are complexly multifaceted. For one, the everyday worry of testing blood sugar levels, watching over their health, taking medication, and living with the condition can be stressful.
People with diabetes might also worry about new foods, diabetes complications, the pressure of the condition on their families, and healthcare costs.
Based on data from a 2019 survey by Diabetes Life Solutions about 50 % of 30 million diabetes patients worry they won’t get a life insurance policy because of the condition. Some are worried that they will be too costly. While many people with Diabetes will qualify for life insurance at rates less than they imagine, the perceived notion of getting declined will prevent many from applying for coverage.
Symptoms of Anxiety When Linked to Diabetes
Determining whether anxiety is due to blood sugar fluctuations or psychological can be challenging because it has similar hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia symptoms.
However, unlike blood glucose level fluctuations, the symptoms of an anxiety disorder are long term,
Symptoms of anxiety disorder may include:
- Restlessness and feeling edgy
- Trouble concentrating/ the mind going blank
- Muscle tension
- Irritability
- Insomnia
- Constant fatigue
How is Anxiety Diagnosed in People with Diabetes?
Because anxiety can be mistaken for symptoms of blood glucose level fluctuations, it’s critical to consult a physician to rule out hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia before talking to a mental health provider to diagnose and treat anxiety.
If you get frequent anxiety symptoms, anxiety treatment NYC therapists or primary care physician will diagnose the condition by asking you a series of questions.
Treatment of Anxiety
People living with diabetes and anxiety have an imperative need to distinguish between reasonable concerns over their health and unreasonable, anxious thinking.
The first step is working closely with healthcare experts to create a treatment plan. The plan ought to include:
- Medication use
- Nutrition strategies
- Monitoring practices
- Weight loss goals and strategies
- Emotional support system
Although anxiety responds well to medication, only 36 % of people seek treatment, based on insights from ADAA.
If you are living with anxiety, you don’t have to suffer in silence. The condition can cause or worsen diabetes and its symptoms and generally prevent you from living a happy and fulfilling life.
2017 research data published in The Journal Diabetes Care show that people living with both anxiety and depression are more at risk of premature death
There are many forms of anxiety disorders, and the treatment approach for each varies. Generally, though, the most leading anxiety treatment approaches include:
Lifestyle changes
The mix of diabetes and anxiety may create a vicious cycle of emotional and physical health problems. Those who make positive strides in learning to manage their anxiety often find it easier to manage diabetes.
The critical lifestyle changes needed for people with anxiety, diabetes, or both include:
- Daily physical exercise activities
- Sticking to a well-balanced, nutritious diet
- Creating and maintaining a healthy sleep schedule
- Reducing or stopping alcohol intake
- Reducing caffeine intake
- Allotting time to connecting with family and friends
These practices can help to calm anxiety and reduce the symptoms of diabetes. For better success at reducing anxiety, patients may need to consider therapy.
Therapy
Sometimes lifestyle changes aren’t enough to reduce anxiety. In that case, your doctor might refer you to a licensed mental health provider. There are several therapy techniques used for anxiety, including:
Cognitive-behavioral therapy: CBT teaches you to learn to recognize irrational anxious thoughts and actions and overcome them.
Exposure therapy: As an approach to overcoming anxiety and irrational worries, a mental health expert may expose you to the same things that you fear or worry about so you can learn to control your feelings.
Medications
In many cases, lifestyle changes and therapy are used together with prescription medication for anxiety to help patients live a normal life. Types of anxiety medication include:
- Antidepressants
- Buspirone
- Benzodiazepine
In summary
There’s a strong correlation between anxiety and diabetes; either one can cause the other. People living with anxiety and diabetes can manage both conditions through lifestyle changes such as switching to a healthy diet and physical exercises. For a happy and normal life, medication and therapy are also critical.
Author Bio- Sara Anderson is a writer and editor at thehealthparadise.com. As a health writer, she specializes in diabetes, pharmaceutical advancements, and mental health.
