Changing the Way We Talk About Diabetes Complications

Diabetes is a highly stigmatised health condition, and diabetes-related complications attract their own particular brand of stigma. For many people living with diabetes, talking about complications is considered taboo and off-limits, often because they believe that a complication diagnosis means they have somehow failed in their diabetes management.But what if the conversation around complications changed? Instead of the fundamental message being about blame and shame, we shifted to open, safe, and non-toxic discourse. Instead of complications being spoken about with shame and in hushed tones, people felt comfortable sharing their experiences and seeking help. That has been the motivation behind a recent online initiative which hopes to get people to comfortably #TalkAboutComplications.