Megan, 27, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 14 years ago. Last year Megan quit her job working as a management consultant due to lack of support and understanding from colleagues about the impact of diabetes on her day-to-day life.
Here, Megan explains how the many myths and misconceptions about diabetes can place an emotional toll on people in the workplace.
“I’ve experienced a lot of problems in the workplace due to staff not understanding my diabetes. In my previous job as a management consultant I was constantly undermined and told that my diabetes wasn’t that serious.
This included being told off for having medical appointments during the day, and being made to feel bad for talking about my diabetes, even though it’s really important for staff to know I have diabetes in case of an emergency.
"I even had staff react negatively towards me after I ended up spending a night in hospital and taking a bit of time off work due to very high blood glucose levels."
The impact of all of this left me feeling frustrated, anxious and stressed, and in turn meant I struggled to manage my diabetes. I eventually decided that enough was enough, and I quit my job so I could spend some time taking care of myself.
There are a lot of misconceptions about diabetes. It’s often seen as a bit of a joke condition, but lack of understanding is another emotional stress, on top of having to manage the condition, that people with diabetes have to deal with every day. I think it’s really important people with diabetes get support to deal with the emotional stresses of living with the condition.”
