Peer Support and why it is so vital
I came across is headline from Diabetes team, which is an American Facebook page for people with type 2 diabetes which I follow.
“It’s not until you ??????? with people who have shared your struggles and fears, that you can truly begin to adapt and learn how to live your best life with #diabetes.“
Face book https://www.facebook.com/theDiabetesTeam/
I thought that this was so true. I have been married to my diabetes for nearly 21 years. T wasn’t until I moved from Edinburgh Scotland to Bromley in Kent that I started to understand my diabetes. Having moved from an environment where I thought I was getting good support to one where, suddenly, I got none, this opened my eyes and was quite stressful at the time.
I thought that others might be in a similar situation as me (no specialist care) so I started a type 2 peer support group in Bromley. I was right there were a few people that wanted some sort of support. We now have around twenty people come to our monthly meeting and we sometimes have a speaker. However, what I find great about the meeting is that we share experiences an help each other.
I 2019 I became an Advocate for Diabetes where I have met so many other people from around the world who live with diabetes. (diabuddies).
When you are first diagnosed with diabetes it is such a scary thing an knowing that support from those of us that have lived with diabetes can offer you support and help, so that you can manage your diabetes and not diabetes managing you must be a good thing.
Just sitting down with a cup of tea or coffee and having a chat helps you to feel and be better about yourself.
So if you are new to living with diabetes or if you have had diabetes for a long time then do join a support group or create your own and lets help each other no matter which TYPE of diabetes you have as we can all learn from each other.
And remember being a person with diabetes is NOT your fault.