Diabetes Affects Patients’ Spouses: Diabetes is a hard disease to manage and so many people are being diagnosed with the disease that it is becoming even harder and for far too many, depression sets in. The thing about depression is that it never just hurts the one who is depressed. According to research from Purdue University, spouses are finding themselves highly impacted as well.

“Responsibilities and anxieties can differ for patients with diabetes and their spouses, but each may experience stress, frustration and sadness at times related to the demands of living with this disease. We know spouses often support their partners, but in our work we want to know what form their involvement takes and how the disease and its management affect both the patient and spouse.” said Melissa M. Franks, an assistant professor of child development and family studies.

The research showed that the impact spouses were feeling was highly similar to what patients were feeling. For example, many spouses and diabetic patients would feel saddened or irritable. Depression during diabetes comes from the impact of having to live with the disease itself. The researchers found that men who were diagnosed with diabetes had an increase in their mood when they were confronted about management of their diabetes, while women went unchanged by the same scenario.

Franks commented. “This gender difference is consistent with prior work showing that male patients who are not managing their disease well tend to experience greater depressive symptoms. And while we saw this difference between male and female patients, we did not see the same pattern of distress between their respective spouses. This is surprising, because one might assume that the spouse would be as worried, or, according to family roles, that wives might worry more. However, more research, especially long-term observations, is needed.”

The study was based on 185 couples who were over the age of 50. Each couple completed their own survey, which measured the depression that was related to diabetes. To find out the gender differences, the responses were measured individually. There were 67 female patients and 118 male patients and each couple was medically screened to ensure only one person within the couple had diabetes.

“Because spouses’ distress is not always directly linked to feelings of their partner, it tells us that we need to pay more attention to the spouse as well as the patient. Understanding the triggers for depressive symptoms can help practitioners and experts better care for patients and spouses as individuals and as a unit. We also found that many people reported some depressive symptoms, and some reported levels indicative of risk for clinical depression. It’s important to consider depressive symptoms because they may signal concerns and problems that could be alleviated with treatment.” Franks said.

Diabetes is a very powerful disease and affects so many people’s lives, not just the people who are diagnosed. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in America. While many people can help their diabetes with exercise and diet, others are forced to give themselves shots of insulin to keep their blood sugar levels stable. Amazingly, one in five American’s over the age of 60 are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.