Your self-esteem involves who you think you are, what strengths you feel you have, and what you feel you have achieved. Your level of self-esteem will have a great deal to do with how you react to having diabetes. If you have low self-esteem you may feel overwhelmed, become too dependent, be afraid of change, and even, through poor choices, be self,destructive. Or you might respond in an opposite manner, being too boastful or ignoring other people's feelings. In either case, you need to improve your level of self, esteem.

Your self,esteem can be assessed by considering your mental, emotional, and physical self. This assists you in developing a realistic image of yourself. Once you accept yourself as you are, you can take pride in the things you have done. Your activities and accomplishments assist you in developing self, confidence a very important part of self-esteem. Recognize that it is all right to fail, and that you have the courage to learn from failure and to go on. You may also have felt guilt. Recognize that guilt is a thing of the past. Use it as a learning experience about yourself, without condemning yourself.

You can improve your self-esteem by developing a knowledge about your good points. Use these good points to assist you in enhancing your self-confidence. Become a friend to yourself. Know that you are a unique being. Choose to risk to allow yourself to grow.

Family Support

There are a number of things you can do to support yourself and that your family can do to help support you. The first step is to aid your family in recognizing that diabetes is an illness that will not disappear. Get some help for all of you if you or they seem to be dwelling on any part of the grief process. A professional therapist or counselor can support and guide you and your family through the thinking process. Most of all, allow you and your family time. Adjusting to any disturbing news takes time. You may want to think about going to a diabetes camp, either as a camper or a counselor . Encourage your family members to learn as much as they can. Help them to know the definitions of diabetes related terms . Encourage them to attend topic meetings of the American Diabetes Association. Both you and they can become support persons for others.

Some people say they have never adjusted to having diabetes. Others, however, say that once they and their family reached the point of acceptance, they chose to fight the disease and its potential consequences with all the weapons available to them. One of the most important weapons is family support. Such people choose to feel that they are controlling their diabetes rather than that the disease is controlling them.