Hi Cait, thank you for your question.

No matter how long someone has had type 1 diabetes it can affect the way they feel – either from blood glucose levels (BGLs) going up and down or just by managing diabetes every day and realising it’s always there and it’s not going away.

Puberty is a stage of rapid growth and development where lots of things in the body change including different hormones. Hormones affect how the body changes and can also affect BGLs.  During this time people may find that the insulin they’re giving themselves doesn’t seem to work in quite the same way as before.  This can cause BGLs to be up and down. When BGLs go up and down it can make people with diabetes feel emotional and sometimes angry or sad. 

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition which means it requires constant monitoring and management. In the long run this can lead to burn out, where the person may feel overwhelmed and negative about themselves and their diabetes. These feelings are normal and may come and go from time to time. It is okay to feel like this sometimes, but feeling down all the time, does not make diabetes any easier.

It’s really important for the person with diabetes to speak to someone who understands and can help. This can be someone at home, someone from the diabetes team at their local hospital or someone like a social worker or psychologist. For the young person with diabetes, sharing some of the diabetes care with another family member (e.g. parent) may also help make diabetes more manageable.  

Check the links below to find out more about feelings.

http://www.diabeteskidsandteens.com.au/head_around_it.asp