Psychological challenges for adults with type 1 diabetes

People with Type 1 Diabetes are continuously forced to adapt in different ways to integrate the demands of their illness and its therapy into their daily life. A lack of resolution in these psychological challenges can result in problems with self-management. Some people with type 1 diabetes live with chronically elevated blood glucose values despite having had the benefit of well-structured diabetes education programmes and individually tailored guideline-oriented therapy recommendations. As a reaction to the challenges experienced by people with type 1 diabetes, diabetes distress appears to play an important role and is related to problems with glycaemic control and avoidance of therapy. For this reason, in order to prevent the development of chronic distress, the establishment of regular screening for diabetes specific burdens - be it by questionnaire or as part of the clinical conversation - is recommended. Diabetes-specific psychological interventions can reduce diabetes-specific emotional distress as well as glycaemic control but are not currently available in Germany as part of standard care.