Burnout - Lambo

My Thoughts on the Diabetes Burnout Event, Melbourne Town Hall , Saturday 28th July 2007

by Lambo 

7am. It’s cold….damn cold. I am surrounded by cheese. I can here you thinking…I shouldn’t write when I’m hypo…but no, friends…it is the morning of the Diabetes Burnout event and I am cold, it is 7am, and I am surrounded by cheese. OK so it is stocktake at work but it did make for an intriguing opening.

Anyways I bade farewell to the cheese and made my way to the Melbourne Town Hall for the Diabetes Burnout Session.

As I drove through the back streets of Port Melbourne I couldn’t help but ponder my own years in the diabetic wilderness, and there were more than one. My first couple of years I was too scared to fall off the wagon. It was all new, it was all different, it was all fear of bad kidneys and going blind… and then I just got really, really bored with it. Don’t get me wrong – I never missed injections, I was still fairly careful with the diet, I just took much less conscientious care of myself. The blood ‘checks’ became less and less, the visits to the Endo got too hard to schedule (i.e. dropped off the face of the Earth) and I settled much too comfortably into the no man’s land of minimal care. This lasted a good couple of years.

Getting in touch with other people with Type 1 diabetes and hearing their stories of struggle and success was what helped me get re-energised.

So I was interested to see what other people’s experiences were, and hear other techniques to address the burnout issue.

The first thing I was struck by was the demographic of the assembling crowd. My friend Dan and I thought maybe an average age of 45? That’s interesting don’t you think? Perhaps a lot of parents worried about their recalcitrant kids? I would have thought that the theme would appeal to a younger crowd? But no matter, on with the first presentation.

Dr Sarity Dodson, Health Psychologist took to the stage to walk us through the psychology of burnout. Now I am going to say up front that there was some good material here – and I’ll get to that in a minute – but it was long at 80 minutes, and came across as a university lecture.

The explanation of burnout as being a result of long-term physical or psychological stress was interesting. The physical signs of burnout read like a Catholic autobiography – guilt, fatigue, low self asteem etc, all leading to the main point… poor self care. This point was well made a number of times.

More good stuff was the fact that we should all avoid ‘Black and White thinking’. Depression often leads to ‘All or Nothing’ thinking and this can be quite destructive. We need to recognise and challenge this if we see it creeping into our thinking.

Onto why burnout is common in Type 1 diabetes

good, some relevance. And the reasons are: 

• The time and attention required to manage it 
• The impact that illness may have
• Worry about complications 
• The focus on perfect control – ‘5.5’
• Doing everything and not getting the results you want (uh huh, this resonated)
• Pressure from your family

So what to do?

• Understand and recognise if you have unrealistic expectations –
•   ‘Hello, my name is Lambo and I have unrealistic expectations of my diabetes management’. Go on, say it out LOUD, you know you want to.
• Improve your health and fitness
• Look for support groups – the whole ‘you are not alone’ thing can be quite powerful
• Seek advice from a trusted Health Professional

At this point in proceedings Dr Dodson was told that she was going over her allotted time and she went into a rather comic fast forward.

Then we had a coffee break. A group of us discussed the demographic a bit more, the length of the coffee line, the fact that they had to go looking for some Equal and whether or not I had any more chocolate frogs. Also where to go for a drink afterwards. Time was called – so on with the sheeew.

Enter Kate Gilbert, Founder of The Type 1 Diabetes Network and the Reality Check website – stage right.

Kate was great. I actually didn’t end up taking too many notes as I was too busy listening and laughing.

Kate talked about the fact that even if you are ‘burnt out’ you should at least do the minimum in terms of complications testing. We often feel that our Endos actually can’t do that much for us beyond monitoring, but if you are showing signs of retinopathy or kidney damage – there are doctors who can do real things to help you. 

Kate went into the language of T1. The way we describe blood ‘tests’ as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and the guilt that these things imply. From now on they should be ‘checks’ that are either ‘high’ or ‘low’ and just require some little bit of action and attention from yourself. You know, I had never thought of this, and considering I myself laid a little guilt trip on Ms Gilbert due to her ‘extremely bad’ blood ‘test’ result about 2 minutes before taking the stage – it is a lesson well learned (sorry Kate… but it was sky high, folks).

There was some very practical and helpful advice on having your very own T1 Emergency Kit – as discussed on the Reality Check website not long ago. My kit would also have a little photo of Halle Berry in the Catwoman Lycra suit…you know…just for inspiration.

Other great tips shared included:

• Even if you are on a pump, get your scripts filled as a Flexpen. One day that pump is going to pack up and then you have the next best thing already sitting in your fridge.
• Find a Diabetic Mentor (is this a Dementor?). A person who can help you through the T1 maze when you need a little support.
• Tips to get the most out of your Endo appointments. I personally liked the bit about asking your Endo what they hope to achieve from today’s appointment. Loved it.

A very powerful moment was when Kate described that twice in her life – that she can recall – she felt so overwhelmed by life with diabetes that she just sat on the end of her bed and balled her eyes out. And hey, sometimes that’s what you need to do, and that’s OK. I’m hearing you, Kate.

Kate reminded us that laughter has a very important role to play too. I agree and I like to think of it as a circuit breaker for the soul. My circuit breaks a little too often, but there you go.

I hope more people get a chance to hear Kate speak on this topic. I loved it and found it inspirational. Thanks Kate.

A group of us then retired to Transport at Fed Square for a quick drink. Can I suggest that if you are burnt out, sitting with a group of friends who happen to have diabetes, having a couple of quiet Sav Blancs, and laughing so hard it hurts, is not a bad antidote? Thanks guys.

Published June 1, 2008