Feelings living by teenagers with diabetes mellitus type 1

Abstract

Introduction: Some studies reveal that in the time of the diagnostic discovery, teenagers don’t count with the experience of an unknown chronic disease. Thus, it is common that their reaction be of many different feelings like fear, anguish, depression and apathy, even putting their daily life routine at risk. That is why it is important that the healthcare professional be able to deal with the psycho social elements of the diseased. Objective: To identify the feelings that arose in teenagers during the time of diagnostic of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Method: A descriptive and qualitative research that included 12 teenagers aged from 13 to 19 years with type 1 diabetes mellitus, of both genders, being 6 females and 6 males, carried out at the Endocrinology Pediatric Ambulatory, of Hospital Regional de Sorocaba. It consisted of an interview recorded in audio approaching the subject matter. The technique of the Discourse of the Collective Subject was used for the analysis of the data. Results: Twelve feelings were described, the ones with greater prominence being of coexistence and conformity with the disease and doubt about the diagnoses and about the correct diet and medication; 10 of the interviewed had some kind of doubt about the time of the diagnosis. Conclusion: There are still a lot of doubts when a teenager finds out they are diabetic, as there is not enough exposure of chronic diseases for children and teenagers. They can experience many feelings beyond doubt, like anger, revolt and shame, which may lead to negligence and to an unsuccessful treatment.