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How do you deal with friends, family and others who don’t yet understand?

NICOLE:  It can be easy to fall into the “Why me” syndrome, and I think anyone with diabetes has been there. It’s understandable—you can tend to feel that you’re the only person dealing with your particular types of challenges.  There will always be people who just never grasp what diabetes is all about—don’t sweat it.  Once you realize that some people will just never “get it,” you have jumped a huge hurdle. One of the keys to overcoming that sense of isolation is to get plugged into a group of people who have diabetes or another similar challenge. You can tap into the resources of the American Diabetes Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a local hospital or medical practice, etc.  Good support systems are a key to good diabetes care and control.
 
You can also volunteer for events like bike-a-thons, walk-a-thons or other diabetes-related events. They’re a lot of fun, you make new friends and sometimes action has to come before being in the right mood. 
 
Recently, some new on-line resources have emerged that give kids and adults access to current information and access to other people who have diabetes. If you’re a kid you probably already know about a few of them, because you’re constantly teaching us adults about the Web and what our computers can do!
It is true that unless someone lives with this condition, they cannot fully understand the psychological, emotional and physical effects.  However, it is also important that we accept the support of anyone who is offering it. Again, I believe you can never get too much positive power. That’s true for those who are 8 or 88.