Diabetes is now classified as a worldwide epidemic. Blindness, kidney disease, impotence and many other illnesses are often the direct result of out-of-control or undiagnosed diabetes.

Fortunately, there are several ways hypnosis can help. See which one of the following statements applies to you or someone you know. (1) As a person with diabetes, do you ever feel stressed? (2) Are you the parent of a child with diabetes? (3) Do you wish that you, your child or spouse were more motivated to exercise? (4) Wouldn’t it be great if it were easier to make better food choices? (5) Is your diabetes causing embarrassing, personal problems?

Now, since a hypnotist is by definition, a stress management consultant and a motivational coach, all of the above challenges can be powerfully addressed by using hypnosis but please note the following: a hypnotist is only part of your diabetes support team. Always be sure to have your doctor’s approval before beginning any hypnosis program that can have any influence on your medical condition.

The primary method by which hypnosis helps a person with diabetes is by reducing harmful stress. There are two fundamental ways in which stress negatively affects a person with diabetes: (1) Stress robs a person of necessary personal power that is crucial in giving a person the emotional ability to make choices that benefit their health and well being. (2) As a diabetic’s stress levels increase, so does their blood sugar. This is due to the ‘fight-or-flight’ response that people experience as a result of negative stress. When a person enters this state of mind, their body releases chemicals known as ‘insulin-antagonists’. These chemicals temporarily block the action of insulin while simultaneously causing the release of stored sugar in the liver and muscles.

With the above understanding about the two ways that stress affects a person with diabetes, let’s see how that information, specifically point one (as point two is self-explanatory), then applies to the five problems listed in the second paragraph.

Regarding statement one it is obvious to anyone with diabetes that having that disease is very stressful. This harmful state of emotional affairs then makes it more difficult for a diabetic to follow their doctor’s recommendations. Also, when a person is in emotional pain, they usually reach for whatever makes them immediately feel better. This can be any addiction, though it is usually food and typically too much and not the kind that is good for a person with diabetes.

Looking at statement two, it can be noted that stress packs a powerful double punch for parents of children with diabetes. This is because first, the parent is stressed out caring for an ill child and second, the child has overwhelming stress because they are not as equipped as an adult to deal with the enormous responsibility of successfully managing their disease. The parent must also then have to deal with their child’s stress. This double-whammy makes it very difficult to achieve the kind of precise care that is needed for good child diabetes management.