As a diabetes health care professional, I have been known to say, “until someone’s depression is managed, don’t even bother with the diabetes.” I started rethinking that a while back when I read that both can be handled together with good results. And now I just read an article that implies maybe we should push ahead with diabetes management first.
The article quotes Dr. Satish Garg (from the Barbara Davis Center, where I go, yea!) as saying that out of range blood glucose levels can actually lead to depression. If that’s the case, all the work in the world on the depression (therapy & meds) isn’t necessarily going to change those numbers. If the numbers are brought into a safer, healthier range, perhaps the symptoms of depression will subside, and then therapy and meds can be figured out. On the other hand, working on depression, and diminishing the sometimes debilitating symptoms, can free someone up to actually manage their diabetes.
Now I’m back to thinking that addressing both at the same time is a good approach. At any rate, I will not necessarily suggest putting diabetes management on hold. The truth is, and the article states, we don’t actually know which comes first (wacky blood glucose levels or depression). And of course, as always, different approaches work for different people.
What has worked for you when dealing with both diabetes and depression?