During the 61st Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Professor Jacqueline Sturt delivered an in-depth discussion on how to precisely address psychological challenges in diabetes and innovate psychological support strategies within diabetes management.
Professor Sturt emphasized that people living with diabetes often carry an emotional burden due to the long-term nature of the condition. This psychological distress is not static; it fluctuates over time and with life changes, such as pregnancy, switching healthcare providers, or changing medical teams. In most cases, such emotional swings are normal, and patients can adjust and recover on their own. However, some individuals experience persistent negative psychological states that are difficult to alleviate without support.
Notably, this diabetes-related distress differs from diagnosable and treatable generalized depression or anxiety, as its core feature is episodic fluctuation. If such suffering persists long-term, patients may become overwhelmed by daily self-management tasks—such as blood glucose monitoring, regular medication adherence, and strict dietary control. This burden can trigger complications like hypoglycemia, directly threatening physical health.
Eight consensus practice statements have been established for assessing diabetes-related psychological distress. First, healthcare professionals should discuss emotional aspects of diabetes during every consultation and use open-ended questions to explore its psychological impact. Second, validated scales—including the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS) and Diabetes Attitude Scale (DAS)—should be used to precisely quantify distress severity. These assessment tools deliver dual core benefits highlighted in subsequent guidelines: they help patients clearly recognize their emotional health, encouraging them to express inner struggles and avoid suppressed negative emotions. Meanwhile, they provide critical evidence for clinicians to determine the need for further intervention and select appropriate management or follow-up strategies, supporting personalized clinical decision-making. Finally, the assessment process prompts healthcare providers to reflect on their professional skills and knowledge gaps, enabling timely collaboration with colleagues or mental health teams to optimize patient support.
The guidelines provide recommendations for both Type 1 Diabetes (T1DM) and Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM). For T2DM patients, psychological interventions, psychoeducational interventions, and educational interventions combined with routine care demonstrate positive outcomes. For T1DM patients, psychological interventions integrated with standard management (based on 16 randomized controlled trials, n=1642) are proven effective in reducing diabetes distress. Additionally, Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) serves as an adjunct tool for T1DM patients (based on 6 randomized controlled trials, n=425), minimizing the discomfort of finger-prick testing and thereby easing psychological burden.