When technology doesn’t meet expectations
Sometimes, people can start using technology but find after a period of time it is not working out for them as they expected or hoped because of some of the reasons outlined in the section above.
When the expectation and reality of diabetes technology do not match up, people might experience a range of difficult thoughts and feelings. Some of these are listed below:
“This should have made my life better, not worse”
“Why does technology help others but not me?”
“I am failure”
“I have let myself and everyone down”
“I hate diabetes”
“I should be able to use this”
“This technology has cost so much time and money to set up”
“I can’t admit to my family/friends/team that this isn’t working”
“I should be grateful for this [sensor, pump]”
Frustrated
Angry
Sad
Overwhelmed
Ashamed
Guilty
Disillusioned
Anxious
When these thoughts and feelings show up, they can significantly impact the person’s behaviour. Here is an example of a cycle that might develop:
In this example, the person avoids talking to their family/friends and diabetes team about the difficulties they are experiencing with technology, and takes a step back from their diabetes management.
This is a common and understandable reaction when faced with the difficult thoughts and feelings outlined above; it can be really difficult to speak up and say technology isn’t working as planned. However, it can make things more difficult in the long run.
Go to ‘Diabetes technology and emotional wellbeing’ to return to the main topic page, or choose another section.
Read
My consultant gave me a trial sensor before, I had it in for one day and in the morning I bumped my arm on the shower door and it half came out, so had to take it off, apart from that I was getting completely different readings from my monitor, so what do I believe is right.