Diabetes Isn’t a Punchline To Your Joke
For as long as I’ve had diabetes I’ve been battling the stigma associated with this disease. Even though diabetes has been around for such a long time, it’s still a hard wall to break down.
The ever so common assumptions:
Sugar causes diabetes
If I eat this — I’ll get diabetes
Diabetes is caused by being lazy, poor diet, and from being inactive.
All of which are FALSE
These assumptions place blame and guilt on those that could have never prevented getting the disease in the first place.
Yes, there are two different types of diabetes. Type 2, which the body isn’t producing enough insulin and diet and exercise play a role in management. But with Type 1 Diabetes an autoimmune disease (which I have) my body doesn’t produce insulin at all. There is nothing I did to cause it and there is no cure.
So this week on World Diabetes Day I came across a post by a popular food Facebook page (not mentioning names) but they posted a video named “The Diabetes Pizza”. My first thought was “oh this must be a nice healthy recipe”. WRONG. It was a video showing the toppings and ingredients that included things like: candy, bacon, and unhealthy food choices.
I was astonished that “this pizza” was representing diabetes as a punchline. Yes, I have a sense of humor and can enjoy a good laugh. But really, on World Diabetes Day of all days? Kind of ironic! It wasn’t the joke that bothered me. I get it. It’s the underlying message for others not aware of diabetes. This is diabetes awareness month after all. Diabetes is not a joke or a laughing matter.
Say for example someone is not aware of diabetes and starts experiencing symptoms. Their first thought might be — “it can’t be diabetes because I eat healthy and I’m not overweight”. These stereotypes and misconceptions can inhibit someone’s perception of this disease and delay diagnosis which raises the risk of complications or death.
I went ahead and brought it to the attention of the diabetes community. Where one parent of a diabetic thought it would be a great idea to post memes and awareness facts on their post to get the message across and many other diabetics and family members soon followed. Yes, it seems redundant and pointless to some. But if at all it can save ONE life, that’s at that really matters.
The post was later taken down the following day, not sure as to why. But regardless, I think that was one small victory in our favor. Not because someone posted something funny about diabetes, and we just didn’t like it. But because we had a voice for diabetes. We raised awareness for a disease that is serious, life-threatening and affects our lives everyday.
It could have easily been a day where someone told a joke about diabetes where many are the brunt of the joke. But instead, it was a day where we stood up for our disease and risen above the stigma.
Happy Diabetes Awareness Month!
Let’s End Diabetes Stigma!